The model railroad budget

The BIG question…“How much does it cost?”
There are three ways to approach budgeting your railroad.

1. Freelance work (pay as we go) on your railroad.
2. A set budget of what you want to spend for the railroad.
3. No set budget and willing to pay for what you want.

Be realistic about how much railroad you can afford! Custom built model railroads do involve a significant cash investment. Why? Because the majority of the cost of a custom built model railroad is tied to the large number of labor hours involved, as with any high quality handcrafted item such as a custom-built car, furniture or a additional room on your house.

Costs range anywhere from several thousand dollars for smaller projects up into six or seven figures for larger, more elaborate, railroads. The cost of the railroad really comes down to how long it will take us to build it (Man hours) and supplies purchased. (we've had supplies cost over six figures)

We'll ask you questions either on the phone or through emails, to develop the right vision for your railroad. After consulting with you on the scale, size and complexity of your project, we can give you a free "ball-park" estimate and could be given over the phone depending on the details, or we'll suggest to develop a detailed estimate, with a supplies cost spreadsheet based on suggested retail prices, we do not mark up any products we are purely a service business. Our clients get all copies of the receipts for their records. Our labor charges are based on an hourly rate, and we'll consult time-sheets of our past projects, which will help estimate the labor charges more accurately.

Our detailed estimates could take a couple of weeks or months to develop. Each estimate would require a railroad plan supplied by you, or we can design one for you for a fee because of the extensive research and computer design time involved. This fee could be used as part of your deposit should you decide to hire us. We spend a fair amount of time estimating the details for your railroad; full estimates can take over 45 hours to complete, so that we can give you the most accurate estimate possible.

Our estimates are not “low-balled” to get you to buy, like some of our competitors, but are realistic. You will not pay more than what is on the original estimate, unless you make modifications to the original estimate. If you're looking for artistic talent and quality workmanship, then our labor rate is actually quite reasonable, when you consider the type of work involved. Unfortunately, most of our greatest modeling tasks take time - we will not "rush" to get it done.

The fastest and most cost effective way to build your railroad is in our shops, where we can have control and more focus on completing it on a scheduled time line, also our hourly labor time is much cheaper. However if you need us to work on your railroad at your location no problem just keep in mind we charge an extra $15.00 per hour labor charge, travel time to your location, mileage or gasoline reimbursement, lodging and dinner meals may be required, and would be an extra charge above the estimate. You also need to keep in mind working on location may hinder the work progress of your railroad or related projects and is subject to our crew personal schedule conflicts and weather conditions. During the winter months (December-March) we do not make travel arrangements.