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There is no definitive answer to this, of course.  You may be considered to have too many if the wife says that she will start selling them off if you don't put up the Christmas lights soon. I have 155.  That is by design, not carelessness.  I started out with modest space for a layout and early on decided that if I could not have variety in space, then variety in rolling stock would compensate.  However, I soon was able to create a substantial layout and the fascination with road names and livery has never diminished. My other great love is to convert my beauties to DCC.  Every one of my 155 has been from eBay.  The skill in swooping in to scoop great deals is part of the passion.  I spend most time then refurbishing and converting the locos to DCC.  many I add sound to.  Many I weather.  And all are kept running.  I cannot abide having one in "sickbay".....or losing one through old age.  The great fun is finding parts to keep them running.  Such was the case with my recent E8s.  These were refurbished with the generosity of several sellers who contributed parts at low cost (and one gentleman even paid the shipping for the shells without charge when he learned what I needed).  These were recently on the layout, speed matched and pulling passenger trains.  Here they are in the shop after finally getting all the roof lift rings installed. <img src="http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/dcrane_2007/DSC06370_zpsy5drw5lz.jpg" alt=" " /> So with 155 locomotives I have many ABA and ABBA sets.  To keep track of everything of course I use the wonderful JMRI software.  This allows all 155 to have notes made and on hand regarding speed matching and peculiarities of operation.  And the JMRI is just what is needed to keep all 155 in rotation.  The  software will allocate the motive power based on frequency of use, so with parameters of train type and road names, all 155 are in use...though it may take a year or more to get through the entire roster on the layout. And graphically I need a print-out to keep track of the locomotives, so they are all entered in a table that is updated with each new purchase.  Here are the last few pages.  I also keep the eBay sellers names on hand for reference on the table. <img src="http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/dcrane_2007/Final%20Pages%20Example_zpsoa7arhi0.jpg" alt=" " />   <img src="http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/dcrane_2007/ad%20on%20page_zpsiomonc08.png" alt=" " /> The full binder of these pages helps me identify the loco I need to get out onto the staging track when JMRI has selected it in a train build.  Often I forget what exactly the loco looks like that I am searching for in the cabinets. And the rail cars are also photographed and entered in a binder for the same reason.  I have 365 of those.  My bad. Do I run them a lot?  Well, I spend more time in the shop installing decoders, weathering and creating soundcars with sound decoders than running trains.  The electronics work is my ideal way to spend an evening.....just put on a few of the Bob and Ray programs from the archives, take a beverage and fire up the soldering iron.
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