Are model railways a good investment?

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week there were a number of items purchased at the Sleaford Model Railway Show that Mrs. Woody never knew she needed but if she doesn't want them then I know someone who does! Me!

Anyway, I am building up a rake of ironstone hoppers as although I volunteer at the Rocks By Rail Museum, shunt ironstone hoppers on quarry event days and have a Hornby model of the Sentinel locomotive Graham I don't actually have any model hoppers! That's changing, I got one at the Stamford show and by rummaging through the boxes under a traders stand at Sleaford I found another four plus a few other bits!

Now the two Dapol wagons in the blue boxes date from around 2010.

This Mainline one is from around the early to mid 1980s.

Finally this Dapol one is from around the mid 90s.

Now what is interesting is that the box still has the original price of 95 pence on it and the now second hand price of £7.50. Using the delights of the internet, 95 pence in 1995 is now, taking inflation into account, worth £2.33 which means that the current value of the wagon has out stripped inflation by over 300%. Now that is a good investment! However, Mrs. W fails to see sense in my foolproof plan to  invest all our money in model railways! Oh well!

Whilst rummaging in the boxes I also found some DVDs which at a £1 each were a bargain!

All in all, with a discount from the trader - thanks Chris, I walked away with all these items for £35! Now that is a good investment in my mind!

Sleaford Model Railway Show 2025

Yesterday I took Mrs. Woody to a model railway show that she didn't know she wanted to go to! The Sleaford Model Railway Club have an annual day where they exhibit members layouts. It is not the biggest show but there is always something of interest to see and like the recent show at Stamford there was a genre of layout I had never seen in the flesh before which was this Australian based layout Bluegum Hill.

An N gauge layout depicting the switch back railway at Lithgow in New South Wales not as I initially thought somewhere in the USA! Google AI tells me that 'The Zig Zag Railway in Lithgow, New South Wales, is an Australian heritage railway that utilizes a switchback (or zig-zag) design to climb the western escarpment of the Blue Mountains. This railway, which was operational between 1869 and 1910, was reopened as a volunteer-run heritage railway in 1975, using the original alignment. The Zig Zag Railway allows visitors to experience a historic rail journey and enjoy the scenic views of the Blue Mountains.'

Talking with the builder it emerged that whilst the layout is based on the real location it is not a direct copy but an interpretation. The biggest problem is finding n gauge Australian rolling stock as most commercially available equipment is to H0 scale. However, the delights of 2D printing are making life easier as this railcar is created using such methods running on a commercially available chassis.

Moving up to 00gauge this rather neat and small layout based on Sandside Quarry in Cumbria caught my eye with some great detail.

Probably the layout I liked most was this 00 gauge creation called Drabford!

Its builder had created a very detailed and period specific model. This was very much based in the 1980s and the Plaza Cinema is showing Jaws 2!

Many of the shops had interiors fitted.

The trains were also very 80's - lovely!!!

As you would expect of members layouts, many were modest in size but well build including this 009 gauge layout called Porthllechen.

You just have to love what I believe to be a Clyde Chuffer!

This was probably the smallest layout at the show but well detailed.

Very slightly larger was this.

And finally this four foot long model of the stores and workshops near a colliery - very nicely done.

A pleasant few hours and lots of chatting plus I bought some things that Mrs. W never knew she needed but more on that another time!