Posing A Question About THe Hobby

[RobertInOntario]

I can't speak about the layout mentioned in MR, but I do know that there is at least one (I suspect there are actually several!) company in the UK that builds layouts for MRR customers. These professionally-build layouts will cost you a good $1,000 to $1,200, IIRC.

I guess it's OK if you have the money. If I had the money, I might consider hiring someone to do the benchwork and possibly the wiring for me -- but I'd happily tackle the scenery as I enjoy that. But this is only if I had the money. A good part of this hobby is learning and doing these things yourself. If you hire someone else to do this for you, what fun is there in that?

As pointed out here, I agree there are good reasons & circumstances for hiring someone to build a layout for you. But if you're able-bodied and have a reasonable amount of free time, I think it's best to try to tackle these things on your own. I'm not a handyman at all -- I struggle with all sorts of basic things!

I'd much sooner put money into this hobby gradually as I learn & do things myself. It's even fun running trains on a basic layout board while you gradually add in the scenery.

Rob