How long can you operate the train before overheat?

[Fordiesel69]

On a lionel two motor and on a one motor, how long can you run them before the motors get too hot?  Assuming you are pulling the proper amount of cars!

 Also how many cars should you pull with a one motor? And two motor?

[laz 57]

With one motor I pull about 8-10 cars with no problems,  With 2 motors I had over 25 cars with no problems.  The only thing that looked bad was the lenghth of the consist and the track.  I later made a bigger layout.

laz57

[laz 57]

Oh forgot to say that with my Lionel trains I usually run them for 2.5 hrs at a shot and they really don't show much heat build up.  On the other hand I had to send out 2 MTH diesels because of overheating problems.

laz57

[dougdagrump]

As a kind of "rule of thumb" 10 cars per motor, but you also should take into consideration the weight of the cars themselves. If you have die-cast = more weight =less cars. Also are they the more modern cars with better trucks or older style that have much greater rolling resistance.

Not having a layout at home my running is done on the club's layout which is a public venue so I will, as much as possible, swap out engine(s) about every hour or hour and a-half.

[ADCX Rob]

I ran my 634 switcher for ~ 2 hrs last night at a good clip and it stayed very cool.  The 726RR and 2333 get toasty warm all over after about 30-40 minutes at full throttle, but never overheat,

Rob

[Train-O]

Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy New Year, to all,.

laz57,

You mean, you had a dog chasing it's tail, on your small layout?

I used to have that type of layout.

Ralph

 

[Kooljock1]

What kind of motors are we talking here?  CAN or PullMor?  What kind of transformer?  That very well may be your limiting factor.  MagneTraction or Traction Tires?

 

Jon 

[ripley manor]

I run my trains pretty much the same way as laz 57 with the same results. the only brand that I had  overheating problems with was mth. one new years we forgot about a lionel f3 until after the party. it was still running fine with six lighted pass cars in the morning!  about ten hours.

[Buckeye Riveter]

I have never experienced an overheating problem.  There is a BEEP currently pulling about 5 cars around the oval under the tree.  During our neighborhood party it runs 3 hours continuously and never gets warm.  I have ran the Williams Amtrak Genesis locomotive for hours and I swear that Williams must have put a cooling system inside.  It pulls the dummy, five big MTH passenger cars and two or three express mail cars upgrade and around 200 feet of track without any hiccups.

The only heat I have experienced is on a K-Line Mikado with the smoke unit running.  If I run the smoke unit too long, it seems to expand and stick, which in turn does not trigger the chug sound of the locomotive.

My oldest Lionel with an AC motor probably get the warmest, but not hot to the touch.

Merry Christmas!