costs

[EVaNS42]

how mutch did you spend setting up the track

[chris]

About £2000, all in.

 

[jimbob]

Unfortunately covid 19 has meant there is a shortage of track like Peco Flexitrack and rail joiners.  Set yourself a budget and dont go mad. Ebay is still a good place to look, there was always a good selection of used, good condition track before the problems started but prices have gone up. Check the photos though because some sellers are a bit naughty in there descriptions. Don't pay over the odds either £1.50 to £2.00 is a fare price for a used 3ft length , but postage may be expensive because of the size.

[ba14eagle]

Cost is a very good reason to make plans!

Without them, you could spend a lot for little reward or progression. With plans and research - from a site such as this - you can avoid silly, costly mistakes. A small setup shouldnt cost more than about £100 in track to start with - as Jimbob says, at the present time because of the demand, prices are high. Shop carefully!

My recently completed concrete trackbed, cost between £700 - 800. The track is all recycled from previous layouts.

 

[mick]

It's been that long and spread out over so many years that I don't think I could even hazard a guess as to how much I've spent building the layout. In fact I'm not even sure that I'd want to be reminded! I don't even remember how many boxes of track I used.

I think the best value for money part of the layout without doubt has to be the two viaducts, built using aerated blocks that cost in the region of £1.40 each at the time, along with a little sand and cement. The smaller viaduct would probably have cost me no more than £30 to £40 while the larger one would have been in the region of £100 plus the added expense of the 2 girder bridges. My biggest outlay would have been for the shed if that counts.

It's possible to obtain cheap materials, such as the aerated blocks, that will do a perfect job, and also to fork out substantial sums on inferior materials such as some brands of plywood, that really won't stand the test of time. It's not always the case that the more you spend the better quality you receive.

A garden layout is generally a long term project so there's no need to be splashing out all in one go and it's an expense that can easily be spread over several years.

[traingeekboy]

My rule of thumb is about 90% of a garden railway should be made from found materials. Save your cash for track and trains.