I have 7 cars besides the tender and I just bought 2 more cars from eBay. I also have one broken one that I’m waiting for a new truck and that will make 10 cars.
I saw a couple more cars that I’m interested in and I’m worried about having problems pulling all these around the turns. The 7 ft x 9 ft layout is level 3 90 deg curves with MTH RealTrax 042. The last curve is 072.
Man, you can put as many cars on the trains as you want to. When the locomotive's had enough it'll tell you by slipping its drivers and not pulling at all. I put as many on as I can get away with, on my Christmas tree loops I've even gone so far as to have the caboose about a foot-and-a-half from the locomotive. When it's that long it looks like one train following another instead of the same train. Just indulge yourself, you'll know when to stop.
JohnnyB
For me it is not much science just some of the limiting factors.
I like to have a nice size train compared to my table.
To me the things that decide how many cars I CAN pull are this.
Pulling power provided by the engine or engines and the number of cars that can be pulled through the tightest curve before the weight of the cars in the rear pull the cars over in the curve. For me on my outer loop that is a Marx 34" radius ½ curve. You can cheat this by having the heaviest cars in the front and lighter cars to the rear or weighting cars.
Here is a video of about the best I can do. I think there was about 25 cars on this train.
watch?v=fY5aLiaPGcs
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Johnnyb,
I am an S gauge modeler and 10 cars will is no problem with most locomotives. Check out the link below, when we set up for train shows we pull 40+ cars regularly on a bigger layout.
http://www.trainweb.org/acsg/CD/CD_shows1.html
Aflyer
I agree with KRM it is the power of the engine as well as the number of cars that can be pulled through the tightest curve before the weight of the cars in the rear pull the cars over in the curve. On my office layout I have a two loop set-up with a point to point and a siding. On the outside loop last year I pulled all eight Lionel North Pole Central reindeer cars with one engine, but it was difficult on two sharp O-27 curves, as the wheels would rise off of the tracks if it was more than a crawl in those curves.
I purchased a pair of RMT Beeps one is Santa Claus, the other Rudolph and the each pull four Lionel North Pole Central reindeer cars with one engine and no problems! All I need to do now and then is to jockey the speed so one does not bump the other.
Ok that’s great news, thanks. I only run my O-gauge for 2 months a year during the holidays and the rest of the year I have an n-scale layout because of space requirements. There are lot of limits and considerations in N-scale for train lengths so I just wasn’t sure.
Oh Kev, that’s a good video and a real eye opener Thanks
aflyerI am an S gauge modeler and 10 cars will is no problem with most locomotives. Check out the link below, when we set up for train shows we pull 40+ cars regularly on a bigger layout. http://www.trainweb.org/acsg/CD/CD_shows1.html Aflyer
I just checked out that link and it make me want to go to a train show. We don’t have them around here, so I have to travel pretty far to see one and with the gas prices these days, I don’t go anywhere.
Anyway I'll be pulling it with my Winter Wonderland 4-4-2 which is pretty old, but it still runs good.
I'll tell you, train shows are a LOT of fun! In some ways, they're more fun than the gun shows I go to, maybe because no-one's worried about raids?
I do have a limit though. I typically won't drive more than two to two-and-a-half hours to a show unless it's a really spectacular show. Three hours is out of the question, it's just not that important to me.
A bit of advice: if you're traveling to another part of the country check the "Coming Events" listing in the menu of the "Classic Trains" homepage, it's down at the bottom, You might get lucky. I was in New Jersey in October and there were two shows that weekend in the area I was visiting. Got some good stuff. too.
Firelock76A bit of advice: if you're traveling to another part of the country check the "Coming Events" listing in the menu of the "Classic Trains" homepage, it's down at the bottom, You might get lucky. I was in New Jersey in October and there were two shows that weekend in the area I was visiting. Got some good stuff. too.
Thanks, I used to do a lot of traveling for my job and always seemed to just miss them. Once I was in OKC for a week and didn’t find out about a show until I got back home.
I did manage to go to one in Long beach CA once but it wasn’t what I expected and I was very disappointed.
To SleeperNo6: I find a pretty good clue as what the show's going to be like are the hours of operation. Say, if it's a 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM show, I'm sure it's being put on by a local club and pretty much a swap meet, even if it's open to the general public. If I'm in the area I'll go because hey, you never know, do you? But I won't drive two hours to it. A show that's listed as two-day, OK, for that I'll make the road trip.
Again, I wouldn't have driven 350 miles from Virginia to New Jersey for those two half-day shows I went to, I was going to be in the area anyway, but as I said I did pretty well at both.
Thing is, with shows you don't know unless you go, although I don't wail and gnash my teeth if I miss one. This is a hobby for me, not an obsession.
On a level track, I've pulled 53 freight cars of assorted descriptions with a single Legacy SD-80 dual-motored locomotive. It didn't break a sweat to pull the load.
Wow, so how long is that, 45 ft? You must have a really large layout. I now have 12 cars on my little track and if I do much more the engine will be following the caboose and I have seen that before. LOL
My approach is different, I do not like to overload my engines. A 2 motor diesel will get about 20 cars. A steam engine 10 to 12. Remember as many of us can tell you. You will end up with way more cars than one engine will pull. They all don't have to be on the train.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Yes. There is a limit to how many cars on a train. Other than the size of the layout this is determined by how many cars the locomotive(s) of the train can pull. It really is that simple.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
I’m actually impressed by this little 4-4-2. The kids have run it off of the tracks so many times and once even put a hole in the wall. I once almost destroyed it buy using sewing machine oil on it which ended up a major clean up job. My 3 year grandson would pull it off the tracks and carry it around only to drop it on the tile floor when caught. I have to say that even after all these mishaps it still runs like a charm. I was afraid that it would lose some traction especially after the sewing machine oil. Of course I don’t know how it would do on a hill or with a lot of car that was reported here.
My new Hogwarts started slipping after adding only two passenger cars to the three that came with it.
I had a repair guy that swore by singer sewing machine oil but it had to be singer.
as for myself at present I have 2 PA-1's pulling 2 PB-1's, scale boxcar, 7 ( about 17" long) MTH NYC passenger cars, and 2 rail-king ( about 16" long) passenger cars on my shelf layout.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
not as much of a problem with modern production, the condition of the rolling stock with postwar and prewar trains will have a huge impact on a locomotive's pulling capability. a single poorly maintained car can put as much stress on a coupler as a dozen cars with clean and lightly lubricated axles and wheels.
I can’t think of the proper term at the moment for the slack in the couplers, but last night I abruptly stopped the train and the end cars were still moving and banging in to the cars in front of them. It surprised me because I never heard that before on my layout and at first it thought had a derailment in progress.
I counted the cars and was mistaken about the amount. I actually have 15 cars and two more from eBay on the way. I don’t know if this backlash is going to be a problem or not and I’m worried that I may have to remove some cars when the other 2 arrive.
Wow, I didn’t realize how much I bought this Christmas. I may have to build another track, but where?
rtraincollector I had a repair guy that swore by singer sewing machine oil but it had to be singer.
I don’t know about “singer” but here is the link to my oil fiasco.
http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/165208.aspx
I had a wise old man here (JIM DUDA), on the forum, tell me to keep your train cars only as long as your longest length of track staightaway. Works for me.
laz57
Sleeper your suppose to use just a drop not by the gallon even train oil would of resulted the same if you applied that much. I have a couple of antique oil cans that I will use if I need to and there small and have a small hole but I still make sure I get it right just a drop. But I can also see that happening very easy I learned the same way when I was young and used 3 in 1 oil
That sounds like solid advice, but my layout doesn’t have much in the way of straight track.
rtraincollector Sleeper your suppose to use just a drop not by the gallon even train oil would of resulted the same if you applied that much.
Sleeper your suppose to use just a drop not by the gallon even train oil would of resulted the same if you applied that much.
LOL! I guess I did go a little too much with the oil
A drop of oil on the end of a toothpick is usually MORE than enough. Then wipe it off. Enough will stay to do the job.
sir james I A drop of oil on the end of a toothpick is usually MORE than enough. Then wipe it off. Enough will stay to do the job.
laz 57 I had a wise old man here (JIM DUDA), on the forum, tell me to keep your train cars only as long as your longest length of track staightaway. ...
I had a wise old man here (JIM DUDA), on the forum, tell me to keep your train cars only as long as your longest length of track staightaway. ...
there is a local HO club that has an operations guideline of, i believe it's 5 cars per powered axle but i know for sure they have grades to deal with.
of course in 1:1 railroading, the longest train you run better be a tad shorter than the smallest passing siding.
SleeperN06Wow, so how long is that, 45 ft? You must have a really large layout. I now have 12 cars on my little track and if I do much more the engine will be following the caboose and I have seen that before. LOL
It was a special case, I actually laid some temporary track through three rooms for the test. The track was around 55 foot total, and the train only had about 6-7 feet between the locomotive and the last car. It ran for about 20 minutes to see how much temperature rise there would be in the locomotive, and how hot the motors and electronics would get. I did have to replace a couple of cars because the couplers kept popping open, and finally I wired the last one closed to complete my little test.
No excessive heat was detected, I probably could have run for as long as I liked, I had less than 10C temperature rise for the motors and electronics when I checked.
I have trouble with pulling the cars right off the track with 036 curves, especially multiple curves. The 054 is more forgiving however.
The length of the train depends on the number of motors in the loco and the weight of the locomotive.
Can the motors move the cars and will the weight help the wheels stay on the tracks?
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Andrew Falconer The length of the train depends on the number of motors in the loco and the weight of the locomotive. Can the motors move the cars and will the weight help the wheels stay on the tracks? Andrew
I’m a little embarrassed to ask because I don’t have any idea, but can you have more than one powered O-scale loco in a consist?
I have them in N-scale and I've never heard of it in O-scale.
Yes. It's done all the time. The biggest problem in conventional operation is keeping the e-units synchronized. One solution is to lock the locomotives into the same direction by shutting off the e-units. This is quick but makes it impossible to reverse. Another is to wire between locomotives, to power all the motors from a single e-unit.
Bob Nelson
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