# #1 Motivator When Selecting Vehicles??



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Just curious....what is your #1 motivator when selecting vehicles for your layout?
Is it price?.....era?......fits the scene?......just "cool"......or a combination of everything?
Let 'er rip,
Bob


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I have a mix of new and used DCC locos on
my layout. Turns out my favorites are two used
Bachmann GP30s. Best pulling on my tracks.

But EVERY car, freight and passenger, that I
have was bought used, mostly at train shows.

So, I suppose you could say that price is a
major motivator. However, I do look for unusual,
interesting and quality as I tour the vendor
tables. Importnat too, the cars must have been
used in my 50s-60s era. 

Don


----------



## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

raleets said:


> ...what is your #1 motivator when selecting vehicles for your layout?..


Personal interest. What I find interesting drives my entire set-up. I try to keep to "prototypical plausibility", but plausible isn't a driver for me.

though no zombies.

or dinosaurs.

I have limits.


----------



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Okay, perhaps I wasn't clear enough......when I said "vehicles" I was talking about cars, trucks, busses, etc., NOT locos or rolling stock. I'm talking vehicles on rubber tires.
Shall we try again?
1-2-3....GO!


----------



## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

raleets said:


> Okay, perhaps I wasn't clear enough......when I said "vehicles" I was talking about cars, trucks, busses, etc., NOT locos or rolling stock. I'm talking vehicles on rubber tires.
> Shall we try again?
> 1-2-3....GO!


Period, I look for cars and trucks that could fit in the early 50's period, with a few exceptions, after all the layout will be very anachronistic. I will have vehicles and structures that I like, but didn't necessarily go together. BTW, that includes older vehicles that could still be around during the 50's. 

FYI, In April I needed to replace my real pick-up truck and I said that an 8' was the one thing that I wouldn't negotiate, and I wouldn't even consider a Ford V-6, so it was a V-8 or nothing.


----------



## Guest (Dec 26, 2016)

The number one motivator for me is era. My layout is 50s-60s so my vehicles all fit in that era. Price is second. I see some marvelous model cars and trucks but the price is just too much for me. I look for cars for $10 or less and trucks for $20 or less. IMHO cars and trucks set the era for a layout as much as the trains do. Most buildings can fit on a layout set in the 1940s to the present.


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I agree. Era (mid-50's for me) trumps everything. Vehicles more than anything else will date your layout. It's gotta be right for me (I had a Caterpillar skidder custom built for me because i couldn't find a model from the right era).


----------



## dee.and.dude (Oct 9, 2016)

Definately has to suit the era. My layout is 1900-1920 based, with very little of what was available even for then, as the area was so remote


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Era most definitely. Late 50s so anything from the 40s up to 1957.
Good quality stuff so cost is secondary.

Magic


----------



## 400E Blue Comet (Jul 11, 2014)

Well, to be honest, I don't have much of a permanent layout- I've collected and I run most of the scales but usually in temporary layouts on the floor. Marklin HO is the only one I've set up on a table (Only grass, no scenery yet) and I put a Z-scale oval on it, I might integrate it as a model model railway somehow when I add scenery  In other words though, I pretty much have no preferences on what vehicles I want to get, other than price range and interest in the vehicle.


----------



## daschnoz (Dec 12, 2016)

There really is no single "motivator" that drives what I get. Right now I have a single MTH PRR Madison passenger car. I plan to buy the passenger car 3 pack from MTH that will complete the passenger train so that the colors and scale of the cars match. For the rest of my freight rolling stock, it's a mix-n-match. I generally don't care too much about "period correct".

I have the locomotive from my childhood that I am reworking with a BlueRails board so I can run it on a CC layout. I'm going to make it into a PRR locomotive. PRR never ran a 2-4-2, but I don't care. My future plan is to have this locomotive pull the above mentioned passenger cars while my son is running his LionChief something or other on the same layout. If it pulls double duty with freight as well, fine.

This is an old (read - dormant for very many years) hobby of mine that I am resurrecting because of my kids. Michael (7) is a Star Wars nerd. The twins (boy/girl) are 5. Erin is into typical girl stuff; pink and purple sparkle princesses. Sean is the one who is REALLY into trains. I want to involve all 3 of my kids in this, so I see a layout with a Star Wars space port and a princess castle on the hill. If they want a dinosaur train, fine. We can always make a project of repainting it in the future; even if we paint it to look like a graffiti covered train from Brooklyn :smokin: .


----------



## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

Like others have said, for me its the era. I'm modeling the early 50s so I'm getting cars that are from the 40s and as late as 1953. (So unfortunately, I don't have any classic 1955 Chevys.)

Mark


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

raleets said:


> Okay, perhaps I wasn't clear enough......when I said "vehicles" I was talking about cars, trucks, busses, etc., NOT locos or rolling stock. I'm talking vehicles on rubber tires.
> Shall we try again?
> 1-2-3....GO!


Looks like some people still don't get it, or actually read the subject.....

Anyway, I collect VEHICLES/NON-TRAINS for my layout from the forties right into,the sixties, as my layout is set sixtyish.....


----------



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Old_Hobo said:


> Looks like some people still don't get it, or actually read the subject.....
> 
> Anyway, I collect VEHICLES/NON-TRAINS for my layout from the forties right into,the sixties, as my layout is set sixtyish.....


You noticed that too, Hobo? :dunno:
Yep, we're talking about those critters with a steering wheel and (normally) four tires. hwell:


----------



## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

*MOTOR VEHICLES*

i can pretty much model 20's thru 50's with various vehicles to match different steam era thru early diesel locos and rolling stock.

modeling a rural setting most of my structures will work thru out.

exceptions would be maybe early, compared to later service stations.


----------



## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

raleets said:


> ...we're talking about those critters with a steering wheel and (normally) four tires...


Like I said, what interests me is my primary concern. I had a 70's land yacht fetish for a time. Slightly out of era to everything else but it suits me.

Currently I'm an M2 fan. Not completely period for me either, but I like them. Mr. Johnson was delighted to find the upgrade to Desoto in the driveway.


----------



## Rip Track (Dec 15, 2012)

Mark VerMurlen said:


> Like others have said, for me its the era. I'm modeling the early 50s so I'm getting cars that are from the 40s and as late as 1953. (So unfortunately, I don't have any classic 1955 Chevys.)
> 
> Mark


I'm not sure if anyone makes a HO model for it, but I think the first generation of the Bel Air (50-54) was nothing to sneeze at. Especially the convertibles.


----------



## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

*Vehicles*

I set my era in the transition period, 1957 to be exact. Needless to say, I have nothing that is newer. 

In one town I have a Chevy dealership. 










Here are a couple of photos of another town on the layout. NOTHING newer than 1957. 



















I have been working on the layout for over 30 years and have been collecting correct vehicles for that time period for the same period of time. Classic Metal Works have come out with some excellent pieces over the years, but I wanted a variety and I am always on the look out for something that I don't have.

Vehicles are probably the easiest clue to the era you may be modeling.


----------



## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

Chet said:


> In one town I have a Chevy dealership.


I love this scene! Especially the Corvette convertible! The whole scene looks great, including the neighboring brick building with the billboard on top.

Mark


----------



## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

Here's another angle.


----------



## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

*Vehicles*

I have two vehicles so far: two Woodland Scenics "Mickey's Milk" trucks backed into the open roll-up doors of my Bachmann dairy façade. I'm old enough to remember when trucks like that made home deliveries. My "vision" is a little business where products made elsewhere are delivered in a reefer car by a "peddler freight" for distribution by truck.


----------



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks to all who replied. :thumbsup:
Your answers were pretty much as expected, with the era being listed as your #1 priority when selecting vehicles for your layout.
I share that with you, as my layout spans the 40's thru the 70's with vehicles to match.
Fortunately there's a good selection to be had in HO scale, but there are also quite a few made in O scale that I would love to have, but aren't available in HO. 
IMHO selecting and placing vehicles on the layout is one cool part of the hobby. 
Bob


----------



## doneuald (Jan 2, 2016)

If I like it I buy it and find a place at the car show for it!


----------

