Do your engines
- Stay on the layout where you can resume operations next time?
- Head back to a roundhouse or engine shed?
- Head to the box?
- Head over to be displayed on a shelf?
Pictures of what you do would be great!
Thanks,
Andrew
I leave everything as is. The nextime I come down to the layout, I resume where I left off.
I do leave things in order, such as not in the middle of a switch move, cars are where they need to be, the loco I use for the switching is parked so as not to fowl anything, and I make sure the main line is clear, unless I have a train on it.
My main line is the line I use for continuos running. So sometimes I'll "tie up" on the hidden tracks, or sometimes I bring it up to the siding and tie up.
And the next time I may take that train off, and replace it with another, going the other direction, or leave the main line unoccupied for the switcher to do some "off layout" moves.
Mike.
My You Tube
I leave all engines parked in the mountains or half a metre from an edge. The main reason is that if we have an earthquake, they will most likely be saved from hitting the floor. The second reason is people that happen to come to the house are less likely to do them harm with an elbow or just by touching them. I have noticed that the farther things are from the edge, the less likely they are to be touched.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I have most of my engines on the layout all the time. 3 will go in the roundhouse, and 1 or 2 might be on the open-air tracks around the turntable. One engine (or consist) will likely be on the main with it's train, and another train may be on a passing siding. Two or 3 switchers will be in the yard or on an industrial siding. My two trolleys will usuualy be found in the 2-stall engine house. 1 subway train will be parked at the station, and the other will be at the stub-end "staging" station.
I added 4 long staging tracks a while back, so there's usually a full train with engine(s) on each of those tracks, too.
Unless I've decided to run them for a while, my ancient Athearn BB F7As and F7B will be in a box beneath the layout. Just too many locomotives to have them all up top.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I rarely have three or more locomotives going at once. By that I mean on the layout and available to me. If I feel the need to have several more available, I will place them on ladder tracks at the heads of trains, or RIP tracks, in staging, in roundhouse bays, or where I left them when called to do something else.
I feel neither compulsion to arrange them a certain way/place, nor compunction about leaving them where they were when the lights went out. I do, however, not keep locomotives gathering dust when they aren't likely to be used within a couple of weeks. I put them in containers or in a cupboard. I don't want to have to flick toggles to deaden tracks to keep their decoders from drawing even miserly bits of current unnecessarily. I put them away.
After Summerset Ry crew completes their work at Slate Creek Industrial Park(SCIP) the RS-1 is parked near the office shut down and secured for the night and the crew heads over to Lakeside Industrial Park in the company's pickup truck and fires up the S-4 and performs switching duties for LSIP.When finished the S-4 is parked by the security office,shut down and secured for the night.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
mbinsewiso as not to fowl anything
Yes, I hate it when the chickens clutter up the place.
Much different in a club setting. Most equipment run during non operations is usually broken up on classificaion tracks and engines to roundhouse or engine facility. It is a rather large layout with quite a few yard and enormous staging. Unit trains are generally blocked, whether club or privately owned many time placed on specific staging power units still coupled. I have a few tracks that are somewhat unused for non operations and keep the entire train stored on them. For operation or before shows and open house, it is a totally different matter. Designated unit trains that are to be used for operations can be left on the layout, however most other private equipment must be removed, The operations commitee may request some of the private stock be left and will be classified and placed by them. One reason to enpty layout is for house keeping and track cleaning. There have been quite a few times that 2 or 3 of my consist trains were not used or needed and the commitee will remove what they desire. We have some nice slide out storage and they are placed safely there. Trains like my B&O Capital Limited are left in the yard sometimes complete but most times passenger cars placed in coach yard and the E9/ 8 engines to the tranfer table or various other tracks nearby. My B&O EM1 stays on the rails as it is quite delicate and seems to have found a home in the roundhouse.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
maxman mbinsewi so as not to fowl anything Yes, I hate it when the chickens clutter up the place.
mbinsewi so as not to fowl anything
I have a duck under, ssssooooo......
Right now, my layout is in a "rebuild", but as a rule, locos stay on the layout. And they are either heading up a train, or in the engine terminal.
Most complete trains are stored in staging yards, so they are generally away from possible accidential harm. A few can be parked in the main yard.
My typical freight train is 30-40 cars, pulled by 3-4 diesel units, or double headed steam.
Typical passenger trains are two diesels or one steamer, pulling 8-12 cars.
When rebuilt, the layout will stage/store nearly 30 trains. That's about 90 powered units. Other locos are stored just like real life, in the engine terminal, or parked near their assigned work area, like a yard.
I have just the locos required. When the layout is rebuilt, there will be no shelf queens, no display cases, and none stored in boxes, just locos which have jobs, about 130 of them.
Sheldon
selectorI have a duck under, ssssooooo......
Yup, OK, fouled, DAH! I fouled with a "fowl". Guilty as charged.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Right now, my layout is in a "rebuild", but as a rule, locos stay on the layout. And they are either heading up a train, or in the engine terminal. Most complete trains are stored in staging yards, so they are generally away from possible accidential harm. A few can be parked in the main yard. My typical freight train is 30-40 cars, pulled by 3-4 diesel units, or double headed steam. Typical passenger trains are two diesels or one steamer, pulling 8-12 cars. Sheldon
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
Since I am not always sure what my next session will involve, I try to leave mine in a neutral state. My operations (one man show) generally involve running 1 or 2 trains unattended on the main in a continous loop while I do hands on switching. When I shut down, I try to leave everything in a position to allow me to continue that type of activity in my next session. As a result, I park my mainline trains in a track segment that does not fowl any switches and I do not stop a switching action until it is complete. Then I park the locos in some spot that does not fowl a switch.
This allows me to start a new session by running a route that makes sure all my switches are in the correct position for mainline running so I can start up the mainline trains that were operating in my last session.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
I leave them as they were when the operating session ended. That could be at the engine terminal, a staging yard, or even parked somewhere on the layout. The next session usually picks up where the last one left off after some fiddling of the rolling stock in the staging yards.
My layout is set up for small group operations.
At the end of a session seven staging tracks have trains, with locos on them, as this is considered the rest of the world.
The other locos are back on the engine tracks in the local yard, as the days work is complete, and the night is not modelled.
Dave
Thanks for all your replies!
mbinsewi selector I have a duck under, ssssooooo...... Yup, OK, fouled, DAH! I fouled with a "fowl". Guilty as charged. Mike.
selector I have a duck under, ssssooooo......
Someone say duck under?
This was at a show we had our club layout at a few years ago.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
At our club, we have the paperwork set up so that at the end of the session all locos and cars are where they need to be at the beginning of the next session. In the case of engines, most of them are assigned to yards, and return there.
That has worked for over 37 years.
Joe
I leave my trains parked on sidings or in one of the yards where they happen to be. I might leave one train on the mainline. Because I have more locomotives and cars than my layout can hold I have some stored in boxes but I never put them all back into boxes just because I’m done for the day. I like to be able to start right where I left off without any set up.
When trains arrive at the yard they are broken down, cabooses to the caboose track and engines back to the enginehouse. At the end of everything it's all whr it should be and yard switchers go to the engine service area.
oldline1
Up to 10 guys operate on my home layout every 2 weeks during the fall, winter, and spring. I allow them to bring their own engines and Digitrax wirelesss throttles. Therefore my engines only run when I operate on my own and move cars around the layout or at open houses, and are not stored on the layout.
I would think the less you handle rolling stock the better. I would only put things back in their boxes for storage/moving/transport. Some purpose made rolling stock storage boxes are a good idea if you need to remove trains from the layout with any frequency - especially for transport.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 I would think the less you handle rolling stock the better. I would only put things back in their boxes for storage/moving/transport. Some purpose made rolling stock storage boxes are a good idea if you need to remove trains from the layout with any frequency - especially for transport.
And the packaging design of new locos makes returning them to their boxes even worse than before. Many seem to be held by two screws under the tank, attached to a plastic u shaped stand that gets slid into a sleave. The U shaped stand looks like a little display stand for the pretty loco.
Which is terrible for me. I always put the locos back in the boxes. Easy to do, or used to be. Stored in a clean safe place when not running. (maybe left out on the layout overnight once in a while)
But now its really hard to try to remount the locos into their original packaging without shifting, repositioning, rehandling etc. to get the little holes for the sxcrews lined up. Handling locos to put back in their boxes is worse now than ever. Almost like the manufacturers provide packaging to make it easier to display the model on the stand. They can hardly even be handled to return them to a clean safe place. Just leave them out to gather dust I guess.
- Douglas
Doughless riogrande5761 I would think the less you handle rolling stock the better. I would only put things back in their boxes for storage/moving/transport. Some purpose made rolling stock storage boxes are a good idea if you need to remove trains from the layout with any frequency - especially for transport. And the packaging design of new locos makes returning them to their boxes even worse than before. Many seem to be held by two screws under the tank, attached to a plastic u shaped stand that gets slid into a sleave. The U shaped stand looks like a little display stand for the pretty loco. Which is terrible for me. I always put the locos back in the boxes. Easy to do, or used to be. Stored in a clean safe place when not running. (maybe left out on the layout overnight once in a while) But now its really hard to try to remount the locos into their original packaging without shifting, repositioning, rehandling etc. to get the little holes for the sxcrews lined up. Handling locos to put back in their boxes is worse now than ever. Almost like the manufacturers provide packaging to make it easier to display the model on the stand. They can hardly even be handled to return them to a clean safe place. Just leave them out to gather dust I guess.
What brand has this setup?
I'm with riogrande, the less you handle them the better. The safest place is on the track.
That's why I designed my layout to stage a large number of trains.
I keep my locomotives in a display case or on the layout. Most of my Amtrak\Steam are only fun on occasion, so they stay in the case. My UP and NS usually stay in the yard or engine house. Nothing ever goes back into its box unless I choose to run an older DC loco.
ATLANTIC CENTRALWhat brand has this setup?
Nearly all of the "higher-end" locomotives — and some rolling stock — have specially-engineered packaging. Exactly sized, high density foam between the handrails and hoods. Some recent Rivarossi and Bowser locomotives have screws through the carrier and into the fuel tank. You have to remove the screws and place plugs into the holes at the bottom of the fuel tank. All of this then goes into a wrap-around vacuum formed shell with a locking tab, then this slides into a sleeve that then nests into a foam padded box which itself has an outer chip-board sleeve.
Even trying to get the slippery poly-wrap back around the model like whan it left the factory can be a real challenge.
Athearn Genesis, Rapido, Broadway Limited, Rivarossi, Bowser and Proto by Walthers all have special clam-shell packaging that makes fitting it back into the box a very time consuming and challenging task.
Some have fancy plastic spacers that fit against the pilot beams and, with steam, fitting the tender/engine harness plug can be a headache.
I seem to recall an article about "cassettes" whereby a locomotive could be run onto a removable section of track that could then be fitted with a box-like cover for safe storage. Then when returning to the rails the box would be opened and the track section joined with the layout and the locomotive run out under its own power. Wasn't this popular in Japan and England?
Like Sheldon, once my equipment is on the rails it pretty much stays there.
Good Luck, Ed
gmpullman...Like Sheldon, once my equipment is on the rails it pretty much stays there.
Same here for me, at least with locomotives. They stay on the layout except for routine maintenance, repairs, or upgrading, the latter either detail-wise or for better performance.Rolling stock cycles on and off layout, basically at-whim right now, but that will be more structured once I begin formal operations. Trains will originate and terminate in one of several staging yards, and while most cars will then go back in their respective boxes once "returned to their home road", some may be included in the next outbound train if their waybill so requires.I operate solo, so when a session ends, I simply shut down all power in the layout room, leaving everything where it stands, and close the door. The next time I want to operate, I simply pick up where I left off.
I'm fortunate that the layout room is not used by anyone else in the house.
Wayne
gmpullman ATLANTIC CENTRAL What brand has this setup? Nearly all of the "higher-end" locomotives — and some rolling stock — have specially-engineered packaging. Exactly sized, high density foam between the handrails and hoods. Some recent Rivarossi and Bowser locomotives have screws through the carrier and into the fuel tank. You have to remove the screws and place plugs into the holes at the bottom of the fuel tank. All of this then goes into a wrap-around vacuum formed shell with a locking tab, then this slides into a sleeve that then nests into a foam padded box which itself has an outer chip-board sleeve. Even trying to get the slippery poly-wrap back around the model like whan it left the factory can be a real challenge. Athearn Genesis, Rapido, Broadway Limited, Rivarossi, Bowser and Proto by Walthers all have special clam-shell packaging that makes fitting it back into the box a very time consuming and challenging task. Some have fancy plastic spacers that fit against the pilot beams and, with steam, fitting the tender/engine harness plug can be a headache. I seem to recall an article about "cassettes" whereby a locomotive could be run onto a removable section of track that could then be fitted with a box-like cover for safe storage. Then when returning to the rails the box would be opened and the track section joined with the layout and the locomotive run out under its own power. Wasn't this popular in Japan and England? Like Sheldon, once my equipment is on the rails it pretty much stays there. Good Luck, Ed
ATLANTIC CENTRAL What brand has this setup?
Ed,
I am very familiar with how most locos are packed in the last 20 years, but I was refering to the ones with supports screwed to the fuel tank area. I had not seen that. So thanks for the info, Bowser and Rivarossi are not on my roster, so I was not familiar with that.
ATLANTIC CENTRALBowser and Rivarossi are not on my roster, so I was not familiar with that.
You're welcome, Sheldon. Add Atlas to that list as I seem to recall the screws into the fuel tank on those, too.
Regards, Ed