All the Fun of the Fair...

So, I spent a swelteringly hot evening earlier this week at a local toy and train collectors' fair, where I reinforced my rolling stock with the above items.  Sourced from the 'bargain bins' of two of the traders, these six wagons and vans set me back the princely sum of £9.50.  Which is much better than anything currently on eBay in terms of value.  Even when you factor in the entrance fee - £1 - it still means that I spent only just over a tenner.  Obviously, some of these items have issues: the passenger brake and cement wagon need to be stripped and repainted, while the ferry van has a missing coupling, (I have plenty of spares).  The other three, though, are ready to run, with no obvious issues.  The two closed vans have had their wheels changed, (which is actually an improvement, as they would originally have had the notorious Hornby 'square wheels), while Lowmac is missing a load, (not really an issue).

I've already made a start on stripping the cement wagon and I already have some yellow enamel paint suitable for a repaint.  I've also found that replacement decals for it are available at a very reasonable price.  It won't be a perfect 'restoration', (there have been several other changes made by previous owners), but it will provide another, inexpensive, item of goods stock.  Which has been the object of this entire exercise.  New prices for model railway stuff is currently sky high, far too high for me, certainly.  Moreover, if you take eBay as your guide, (it is the biggest online marketplace for model railway equipment), then second hand prices also seem to be rocketing to crazy heights.  The same is true for the main online second hand retailers.  Yet, if you attend things collector's fairs and the recent Alresford Festival of Toy Trains, you'll find a lot of very reasonably priced second hand items available from smaller traders.  You can find a lot of 1970s and 1980s locomotives, (the vintage I'm usually interested in), in good condition for instance, for around the £40-£50 mark, which are the sort of prices I'm looking to pay.  Unboxed coaches are available for £5-£10, sometimes less, while, as I found, if you are willing to put some work into them, there's stuff to be found in the 'Bargain Bins' for far less.

This was the first time I'd attended this particular fair and it runs monthly, so I'll undoubtedly be making at least a couple more visits between now and the end of the year.