How much would a 9' x 10' HO scale model railroad cost. I'm just looking for an estimate.
I can give you an estimate for a 5x9 HO scale layout.
I decided to build a "modular" 5x9 layout, so I planned on 3, 3'x5' rectangles bolted together, plus legs. I decided to use foam rather than plywood or homasote for the subroadbed and scenery base.
Now I would redo that with plywood subroadbed and foam only for scenery base. I am not going to count tools unless they are model railroad specific. I went with Code 83 track (it's finer than code
100 but a LITTLE harder to work with) on cork roadbed. My layout is a fairly simple oval with two passing sidings and two industrial spurs and a double track "spur" that is designed for expansion
later. I like quality running locomotives and realistic rolling stock, so I won't count that here. Most of my stuff is Atlas, Kato, Spectrum locomotives with Kadee, P2K and Intermountain rolling
stock and resin or brass cabooses. You can choose Athearn, P2K or similar locomotives for less cost and still fine quality and Athearn or similar rolling stock AND cabooses for a lot less. Here's
what I got:
Benchwork
enough 8 foot 1x4's to make 3 "boxes" each 3'x5'. I think each was about $1.50 ($12)
four sheets (2'x8') of blue insulating construction foam at $8 a piece ($32)
They didn't have 1x2's at the lumberyard for legs, so I get 3 2x4's and had the yard rip them into 1x2's. ($7)
I found some inexpensive 1"x1" garden stakes in just over 3' lengths to use as supports inside the boxes and under the foam at a nursery ($10 for 30 stakes)
I'm not including drywall screws, nails, bolts/washers or glue in this estimate, but you've got to have something to keep it together.
Track and roadbed
I bought Atlas Code 83 flextrack ($30) and 9 Code 83 turnouts ($72),
Caboose sprung handthrows ($30) and enough cork roadbed (can't remember price, say $35).
Atlas double pole double throw switches so I can block the sidings and spurs and use two throttles.
Two Atlas girder bridges ($14) I wanted the MicroEngineering deck bridges, but couldn't find and the Atlas models turned out well after weathering.
Ballast (I haven't ballasted yet since I am having some problems with switches but I want Arizona Rock ballast at $3 a bag, probably need 2-3 bags since I want spurs to be different ($10)
Wiring (bought spools of radio shack #18 gauge in three colors at $10 plus several terminal strips at $2)
Powerpack (traditional non-DCC MRC powerpack with two throttles was given me as birthday present, but about $50)
Scenery
I think scenery (including structures and figures) is the most variable cost in the whole layout. It's also the cost that is most easily spread out over time. Structures can be all scratch built or
can be simple kits or incredibly detailed craftsman kits with lots of expensive accessories. I'm not even going to bother to start on structures, but even the relatively undetailed kits are in the
$10 range and step ups like Walthers Cornerstone line are in the $20-40 range! Scratchbuilt from cheap materials is the only way to cut costs on structures and even then the "detail" will add
significantly to the cost. Doors, windows, corbels, etc are only $1-2 a package, but when you have 15 buildings and multiple packages, this stuff starts adding up!
I wanted a mostly forested southeastern U.S. locale. This requires almost as many trees as a pure Appalachian setting. I didn't like the uniformity of polyfiber ball tree canopy modeling. I had
experimented with super trees and like them a lot. So I bought a big box of them to make about 300+ trees ($100), plus some Woodland scenics pine tree kits (2 dozen for $18).
I chose the Dave Frary water soluble scenery method, so I had a couple "gallons" of ground foam (Scenic Express "quart" containers of several varieties of green color and textures plus one small
"bog" mix and a couple of small "leaf" mixes) to make sure I could cover the layout AND the trees ($50).
I bought the basecoat latex paint in the "mistake" section of the home center. It was a terra cotta that looked more like Carolina red clay! (1gal. $5).
Matte medium for the foam texturing (ended up so far using up 2 quarts at about $5 each).
Rock mold (could have used crinkled foil or carved foam I guess, but this seemed like an "investment" and it was only $6).
Hydrocal plaster (for rock molds) $4
Sculptamold (for covering cracks in foam scenery and because I like working with this stuff $10 for huge bag).
Summary of my estimate:
Benchwork was about $61.
Track and roadbed about $253.
Scenery was about $203.
For a grand total of about $500 less trains and buildings.
I know from my RailBase dataset that I have over $2500 worth of locomotives and rolling stock. But I could get by with 2 locomotives of at least P2K quality for $100 total and 25 cars (to allow some
"off layout interchange" for variety) at $6 each for ($150). I know that I have at least $300 in structures and scratchbuilding supplies and that doesn't include a lot of detail castings or
figures.
So you could do a 5x9 layout with quality equipment for about $1000. You can see from my estimates of particular items where costs would increase for a larger size layout. 9x10 is a weird size though
unless that were the size room and the layout was walkaround. Otherwise you'd have a hard time putting ANYTHING even scenery in the middle of such an expanse. So my solid 5x9 may not be so far off in
terms of track and scenery materials needed.
One other note. I bought most of my lumber and foam at once and built the benchwork. Then I bought most of my track and wiring and got that running. Then I bought the scenery stuff and am slowly
working on that when I'm not running the trains :-) So it can be done in stages, but you've got to put at least $300 in materials plus whatever for locomotives and rolling stock before you'll
actually be running anything. Once it's running at all, you'll be able to slow the pace and still have fun. At least that's what I have found.
Of course, you'll get hooked and buy things like track planning books, software, historical information on the railroad you're modeling, magazine subscriptions, etc. But those are the "hidden" costs
(meaning hidden from your spouse :-).
Well, hope this helps you and others.
Dave Bott