tac Foley said:
I’m not playing, having recently sold almost a hundred pieces of rolling stock and thirty locos. My teeny track is a matter of public record, since it figures on my YT channel.
I’m afraid to say that I see this thread as an excuse for a bragging match.
tac
Terry,
I’m “a-feared” I have to agree with you.
Hey thanks Forrest, i like your list I can compete for braggin rights on several of those. That made me feel a whole lot better.
Anybody tempted to brag needs to take a good long look at this (Dennis owns a very successful restaurant I think) and what’s really frightening is that he has MORE track than stock!:
edit: I can’t resist adding that this is just freaking unbelievable and I’m jealous (maybe).
Gee I didn’t think this was about bragging. Yeah it is a bit of a goofy post but I thought it would be fun to have guys take a look at their track and their rolling stock and see how many actually have more cars than track to run them on.
We all like to collect and collect this road name, that style of car, that era etc… and many times our favorite acquisitions never get to ride the rails. I know I’m guilty of that. I have 12 cars that live outdoors and those get shuffled around the RR whenever I’m running. The pretty looking shelf queens don’t get out much.
I just thought it would be a fun exercise to have those who wanted to participate measure their cars to see how many feet the train would be if all the cars were in a line.
In the end I think most of us wish we had more track then trains just like the real RR’s but it is often the other way in our collections.
That is impressive in a sense. I have to agree with the maybe part. I am maybe envious in his ability to do it the way he wants and in no way am I knocking him for doing it this way but it isn’t my cup of tea. Way to much for this kid. But it would be nice to be in a place where I can do it the way I want when I want. It is a sight to behold.
This video is at least 4 years old. Most of the bare (dirt) areas are now filled in with track, structures and landscaping. I have a picture from Google Maps saved to my freight shed, but cannot figure out how to add it to this reply. So if someone will walk me through it I will attach it.
By the way, Dennis will have his layout open to the Public on April 1 and 2. He is part of the Arizona Big Train Operators (ABTO) Spring Open House Tour. The list of layouts that will be open is at www.azbigtrains.org, (others will be open 4/2 & 4/3).
Todd Haskins said:
Gee I didn’t think this was about bragging. Yeah it is a bit of a goofy post but I thought it would be fun to have guys take a look at their track and their rolling stock and see how many actually have more cars than track to run them on.
In the end I think most of us wish we had more track then trains just like the real RR’s but it is often the other way in our collections.
Oh, I was calling my own comment silly, not the topic itself.
On that last, somewhere I remember reading that there was a short line real railroad which was big in to the car leasing business and if every car it owned were sent home it would have actually had more total length of cars than trackage miles.
I want to say that was during what might have been called the car leasing craze of the 1980s, and either Trains or Model Railroader magazine was where I read it; also could have been Railfan & Railroad, or Railroad Model Craftsman; the 1980s were some time ago and I read a lot of different things at the time.
This is one measurement that my wife says I have more than I say I do.
(Can I say that? This is a family forum.)
Lou Luczu said:
This is one measurement that my wife says I have more than I say I do.
(Can I say that? This is a family forum.)
why not’
even the young ones have to learn about the facts of life.
like, that most men exagerate a bit…
… about the money, they have.
Kevin Strong said:
Hmm… I’ve got 45 pieces of rolling stock (freight, passenger, caboose) according to my spreadsheet. I’ve not measured them end-to-end, but an average of 30’ seems reasonable, so 18" plus or minus. That gives me around 68’ of total train. Technically speaking, I’ve got more track than train, but my railroad is an end-to-end with reverse loops on each end. I could fit the train on the railroad, but I couldn’t fit around the loops with it.
Typically for an operating session with 14 cars (what’s in my storage shed), my trains end up being 5 or 6 cars long.
Later,
K
Same here. My reverse loop will hold a locomotive and about 18 cars (depending on what cars). Physically it would hold more, but then I would short out across the gap with the car’s metal wheels when the train was in motion.
David Maynard said:
Kevin Strong said:
Hmm… I’ve got 45 pieces of rolling stock (freight, passenger, caboose) according to my spreadsheet. I’ve not measured them end-to-end, but an average of 30’ seems reasonable, so 18" plus or minus. That gives me around 68’ of total train. Technically speaking, I’ve got more track than train, but my railroad is an end-to-end with reverse loops on each end. I could fit the train on the railroad, but I couldn’t fit around the loops with it.
Typically for an operating session with 14 cars (what’s in my storage shed), my trains end up being 5 or 6 cars long.
Later,
K
Same here. My reverse loop will hold a locomotive and about 18 cars (depending on what cars). Physically it would hold more, but then I would short out across the gap with the car’s metal wheels when the train was in motion.
I bet most of us never thought that a reverse loop limits the length of a train. That could be a real problem for layouts with tight loops.
Now we can add reverse loops to the list of things like tight curves and grades that limit the length of our trains.
I just remembered seeing a video a few years back of a very long train where the front of the engine was a boxcar short of the back of the caboose it was towing. Maybe someone knows the video?
I typically use my passing sidings as the limits for my trains. Not sure why, since I only run one train at a time - but it is nice on the very rare occasion of two trains at once.
Five or six cars (plus caboose) is my normal limit.
I have 42 cars and usually put every one of them out for an operating session. Never all on the same section of track; they are distributed among the spurs, sidings, yard locations and staging area.
Todd, if I was battery power I could build longer trains, but then my locomotives would be unhappy. The mainline is like a giant S, going up a 2.58% grade.
Bruce Chandler said:
I have 42 cars and usually put every one of them out for an operating session. Never all on the same section of track; they are distributed among the spurs, sidings, yard locations and staging area.
and the one you need to move is the one all the way in the back…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
I ran a 55 car freight train, and in 1:29 40’ cars are almost exactly 18" long knuckle to knuckle…
so that train without the 3 e8’s and caboose was over 80 foot long… that was not all my cars and adding in the passenger trains I suppose I have over 100’ of cars…
Here are all but two of my cars. You can see I have a bit more room on the reverse loops for a few more, but I’m fine for now. This was the most cars I’ve ever pulled with my #12 and she did great. The grade is 1.5% and it didn’t seem to be an issue. You can see the train take off toward the end when it gets to the flat reverse loop. So as for length, 17 cars at 18" long would be 22.5’ of cars. Just right for now and boy I had fun today making the video.
Cool videos guys.
Super nice live steamer Randy and I like how Greg’s is near silent then the beast of a train comes along making all kinds of racket just like the real deal.
Chris, I have seen his place several times and it is impressive. I will hopefully get a chance to see it again at this years open house. To get the picture from your shed to a post, open your shed, right click the picture copy the shortcut, then open the reply, click the little mountain icon in the middle on the top row paste into the source box and you are good to go… I think.
I wish I could get about 2 minutes of his time to find out where he got the scale stones for his arch bridge, and a few other things. And to answer someone else he has a huge Mexican restaurant in Mesa, AZ. He used to own a large construction business.
Todd
Hard to tell exactly how many cars I have …
So I guess I have more rolling stock than track.
Todd Haskins said:
Cool videos guys.
Super nice live steamer Randy
Thanks Todd, That train is my pride and joy, A: Because it’s all I have. (except my unfinished ruby bash) & B: Because it’s exactly what I want.
Sean, Oh my! cars on top of cars. Looks a lot like David M’s storage unit. I like your track plan quite a bit too. Has lots of “tricks” to keep you interested. Is that a napkin it’s drawin on ???!!