How much can we justify spending?

[ezdays]

Just to add to and agree with what most of you are saying, but what if someone had little money and bought only what he could afford (like most of us), even if it meant that his engines didn't have the correct details, the right shade of color or were noisy when they ran? What if his scenery wasn't that accurate or you could see glue joints popping out of his structures, his engines or cars were weathered too much or not at all, and what if his roadbeds lacked ballast in spots or was messy in others, and even couldn't ID all the parts of an engine, but yet he spent what he could afford and did the best he could. Doesn't he have a much right to enjoy what he has, as much as someone who is a stickler for details or has the money to spend $6,000 on one model? Does that make it wrong if his equipment or layout doesn't meet the standard of others? The very last thing that turned me off of that well-known forum of years past, was when someone had spend time and effort detailing and engine and was proud of what he did, yet the first response was "it would be nice if you used the right shade of yellow". :o ... Does it really matter if what you have or do isn't quite prototypical or if you haven't spent a bundle just to get things exactly the way others think you should? If you're happy, who cares?

To me, this hobby, like any other one, is what you want to put into it and what you want to get out of it. I'd never feel comfortable running sessions and so my layout is put together the way I want it, not being dictated by setting up my industries for pickup and delivery, probably not at all prototypical to some. I'm not sure if my layout would get a second glance by some modelers, but I'm happy when I build and place something even though it may not fit some people's ideas of what a layout should look like, but I really don't care what others think. And if I run a train for the sake of running something and not to make it accurate for an era, so what. I'm not even sure what makes an engine prototypically accurate, and yes I do have my share of Life Like and Bachmann. :? So, for those that want to run sessions, for those that need accurate details, run multiple trains, need sound and don't mind spending the money to get all this, I say fine, if you can afford to do it and if it pleases you, that's the important thing.