number of trains

[lanny]

...  how many trains do you guys have?

... No, I don't laugh evilly in my basement watching my trains go by.  I much prefer laughing with friends as we get together to make a lot of trains go by, or with guests as they discover yet another mini scene on the layout, or best of all with children as they see a miniature world for the first time, or with older children, as they run trains for the first time.  To me, this epitomizes the best of model railroading - sharing.

Jim,

Very, very well said. This, to me, is the essence of model railroading ... 'sharing' and bringing a bit of 'joy' and 'excitement' to others (specially my wonderful grand kids ) , while finding one's self able to sit quietly and relax as trains run by.

I have way more locomotives, cars and kits than I need. But I enjoy building kits and kit bashing locomotives. I too, in a few days, will be 'thinning' my rr empire of very high quality HO trains to make room for the kit built stuff that is slowly taking over.

The most recent addition, thanks to my dear son, is one the grand kids are really excited about. It is the UP #844 4-8-4 (last run of this model by Rivarrossi, an absolutely gorgeous model and incredibly powerful, smooth runner) that we recently saw when it ran through central Iowa. I have added 5 con cor passengers cars (72' variety), and have found an old Ambroid H-5 UP postal storage 60' box car kit which will complete the 'excursion' consist when I get it built (I may even add the special UP tender if I can ever find one at a 'reasonable price').

I mainly model the 1945-1960 era (heavy on the steam) of the ICRR, but my son has a three very modern trains which I am currently building staging yards for, so they can be stored. (one is a Chicago Metra train, one will be a 'long' UP grain train pulled by a Kato MAC SD 90 and a Bachmann diesel ... can't think of the model number, but its the big Spectrum diesel that Bachmann used to sell), and the UP #844 excursion train).

I have a lot of Bachman steam and a couple of Bachmann diesels (all Spectrum), three BLI (steam and diesel), a resin HH660 I purchased in kit form and built into an ICRR switcher that is running on a Proto S-1 chassis, and some IHC steam that has been or will be 'bashed' into ICRR style steam.

Except for the modern trains that will occupy storage tracks until they run for 'exhibition' , my rolling stock is being sold off (shake the box stuff ... but nice quality Atlas, Athearn Genesis, etc). They are slowly being replaced with various mfg's resin kits, Tichy kits, Branchline Blueprint kits, Intermountain kits, Red Caboose kits and other high quality, craftsman type kits.

Its all fun and relaxing, even though I am constantly loosing some 'necessary part' on the floor and have to spend 10 minutes searching for it 

To me, if mrr'ing gets too technical or heavy on the 'rivet counting' side, I loose interest. But each person finds some area in model railroading that particularly interests them - scenery, DCC operation, special layouts, club, protoype operation, rivet counting, etc.

It's supposed to be fun! 

lanny nicolet

[Craig]

I agree with Roger and Gene, but the terminology posts seem late and pointless. Most of the entries that preceded those posts quite clearly illustrated conradin's vague choice of words. And if his choice of words wasn't inexact, he may well have 118 trains.

[conradin]

OK, y'r right.  It is the cars (rolling stocks, locos, etc.) which are 118 in total (125 at last count).  I actually only have 2 official running train sets, the Thunder Valley and the Explorer.

One person asked how I manage to count them.  I do have the free RRTrains program, which is very very very useful.  Every time I get a rolling stock, I just enter the data.  The program will take care of the rest.  It generates an automatic web page, and also a summary web page.  The best part is that you can mark each entry that you want to sell, and the program will create a selling page.  I highly encourage everyone who has the time to use this program, especially if you either just started out like me, or have a limited amount of entries to do.

As I wrote at the very beginning, this is not a contest, or invite people saying "number does not matter" or "bwahahah, I have the most trains".

I just want to have a feel of how many cars one have.  Because obviously many people have more than the track can handle.  So what people do with the extras?  Put them in a storage box and forget about it?  Rotate the stocks every month?  Put them on display on a wall?  Create a yard and put them all in it and treat them as non-operational? 

Why does one continue to buy even though one has more than enough than one's tracks can handle?

Personally my original intention was to create four consists.  This include two DCs, one DCC, and one DC which is the mouse train for Buzzie.  I have four power districts...hence can create four "train sets".  There are also about two dozen rolling stocks which are not for playing, but for display, as they are promotional items and are meant to be for display.  This include the Chevron set, the Bicentennial set, and the Anaprox set, but also rare items such as Xmas stock cars and dealer-only promotional boxcars.

I do not really forsee myself buying anymore other than extra flatcars to create a longer mouse trains.   

[Craig]

I have four power districts...hence can create four "train sets". 

Are you trying to say you can operate four trains? Obviously I was wrong. You do still need some help with terminology.

[Stephen D. Richards]

I have four power districts...hence can create four "train sets". 

Are you trying to say you can operate four trains? Obviously I was wrong. You do still need some help with terminology.

I think I know what he meant but that sure isn't what he said!  I have over 200 linear feet of track.  Twoo main lines in a circuit and one secondary.  These are in DCC.  I have one in DC.  I've tried to run thre trains at the same time and man what a nightmare that is!  I can run one for an hour without any problems but just let me start the second!  I think the little engineers inside the Bachmans and P2Ks just wait for me to do that!  I'm still making, remaking and kitbashing to get rid of the excess rolling stock and locos!  I really don't know how many I have but I have completed over 50 locos and 150 cars and still have at least twice that much to go through!  I think I have too much.....not!   lol    Stephen

[conradin]

I have four power districts...hence can create four "train sets". 

Are you trying to say you can operate four trains? Obviously I was wrong. You do still need some help with terminology.

Yes, four trains at the same time.

[rogertra]

Number of trains?

First off.  I'm one of those guys that try to run my GER as closely as possible like a real railway.

I use Car-Card and Waybill for freight car forwarding (And for passenger cars, when I use them).

The GER is a point to hidden staging railway with one main staging yard of eight tracks, one through staging yard of two tracks and two single track staging yards.

The GER runs 16 trains, eight each way, every operating session "day"

There are two "Montreal" freights per day, which are typically 16 cars plus van.   The "Paper Train", "B&M Transfer" and "Berger Turn" (Wayfreight) are typically around eight cars.  The "NYC" and the "D&H/CV" trains are around 12 cars each while the "Berger Industrial" runs to about five cars max.

One passenger train per day each way.

This requires 7 locomotives.  A "locomotive" is either a single diesel or steam locomotive or one or more (usually two) diesel locomotives in multiple.

Typically, I use seven steam, five road engines and two steam switchers and two x two unit diesel "locomotives" and one "motor" (A doodlebug).  If I decide that the "motor" has broken down, again (It's getting old in 1958) then I require one extra steam loco, usually a 4-6-2 and a baggage car and coach.

The operation also requires something like 110 to 120 freight cars and eight vans (cabooses).  There are usually two spare vans at Granville Junction, the division point and two spare locomotives.  These are usually a 2-10-0 in case one is needed to cover the Paper Train which in theory runs down a lightly laid branch, and a 2-8-0 for all other trains.  There is also a wedge snowplow stored on track one from the turntable.

At Berger Yard there is a small steam crane and its runner, which is used to load coal into tenders.

However, I have something like 200 freight cars and 50 plus locomotives These are rotated on and off the railway to give some varity.  As only three of the main staging tracks are needed to run the schedule, the other four are used to store 16 car freight trains and their motive power so that rotating freight cars, locos and cabooses is made easier and one track is used to store the alternate passenger train.

Other engines, the smaller steam, are rotated off the railway by hand, as required.