Lurker, but with a username

[Mountain]

Welcome. Don't be put off with prices. There are ways to enjoy the hobby without spending too much.

[aleopardstail]

Thanks everyone for the comments. My life is still a little crowded to start on this hobby in earnest but I did eventually get the lubricants kit that BigMet linked to and stripped down the ringfield motor, followed some YouTube tutorials, and there has been a noticeable improvement in the HST running (it's still not brilliant but it does move in fits and starts!)

So I occasionally have a tinker with it, if nothing else I find it very calming in a busy world I've picked up some more rolling stock I either had as a kid or always wanted but never got.

its all good fun, and actually you can go quite a long way with older eBay type purchases, just accept a few will be lemons and likely stripped for bits. I got my first four locos for about £60 in total, and it amazed me they do all actually work (after some cleaning, and in one case quite a bit). they are not up to modern standards but to be honest I doubt I could tell the old Hornby B12 train set model from a more modern one without knowing where to look when its moving on the scenic side of my layout.

and especially getting stuff you used to have does have a charm, I'm tempted by an old Lima LNET J50 even though I know its utter rubbish, just because I used to have one

oh, and welcome aboard