I've been constructing my layout for about 20 years. I have been a lone wolf railroader for most of that time (my brother-in-law has joined me over the last few years). Over that time I have always looked to build my engine roster. And I have succeeded. Suddenly, I've come to realize I have way to many engines! Close to 40! Yikes! My layout is modest in size, 16' X 16' (u shaped). A classification yard in the middle is a focal point with an engine facility at each end. Plus a 8 track hidden staging yard underneath (via a helix). So I can have a decent amount of engines on the layout, but man, I just realized I have too many. So no more looking over ads for, and announcements for, new locomotive introductions. I guess the good news is I'll have more budget for other things. My point is it's a bit disappointing that I won't be buying any additional locomotives, and I'm wondering how you all feel about this? Have you had a similar moment? Should I just "get over it" and be happy I'll be saving money? How did you all know when enough was enough?
I was never informed that there was a limit to the number of locomotives one may own.
Get the number of locos and cars you need. I'd say you're good with 40, but who am I to judge? I have a handful and only get them on my birthday. Although I might not this year to get other things--a large structure and oil truck.
Tophias ...Suddenly, I've come to realize I have way to many engines! Close to 40!... ...Should I just "get over it" and be happy I'll be saving money? How did you all know when enough was enough?
...Suddenly, I've come to realize I have way to many engines! Close to 40!... ...Should I just "get over it" and be happy I'll be saving money? How did you all know when enough was enough?
I'm getting to this point myself. If things go well, I will probably get another 22 years out of my carcass. But if I keep acquiring locomotives and rolling stock, it'll take a dumpster or some determined modelers to get the stuff I've acquired away from the home when I TX. Fortunately, I seem to have naturally begun to slow. I intend to acquire only one more locomotive, the newly announced H1a/b from Rapido and I have all the others I find appealing. Thank the Good Lord, too, because it has been getting spendy with the newer releases.
I don't keep all my stuff out in the open. About 80% of it is stored in boxes. I play with a consist or two, maybe for a couple of months, then put them away carefully, leaving notes in the boxes about what doesn't work, if I've lubed them, etc, and take out new items to enjoy them...a rotation that typically takes about 12-24 months, depending. If I keep buying, there'll come a time when I receive an item, play with it to make sure it works, put it away, and its next appointment will be with the dumpster or someone who would like it...but not with me...ever. That doesn't make much sense. So, I have to consider slowing continuously from now on.
Tophias My point is it's a bit disappointing that I won't be buying any additional locomotives, and I'm wondering how you all feel about this? Have you had a similar moment? Should I just "get over it" and be happy I'll be saving money? How did you all know when enough was enough?
My point is it's a bit disappointing that I won't be buying any additional locomotives, and I'm wondering how you all feel about this? Have you had a similar moment? Should I just "get over it" and be happy I'll be saving money? How did you all know when enough was enough?
40 locomotives is not so bad, but it is probably best that you decided to stop buying. You did the right thing. When you start asking yourself if you have too many, you have too many.
Rich
Alton Junction
No such thing as too many locos -- unless you can't physically store them.The way I see it, I can always upgrade to better locos. I can also model different eras for the same location. I can triple the number of engines I "need" by modeling steam, transition, and 2nd generation eras. I will never stop looking for new engines.
When I first got into MRRing in 2004, I fully expected to only purchase a small roster of locomotives. 18 years later I am currently up to over 60 - gulp! While I'm quite fond of steamers, I actually have 3x as many early diesels than steam locomotives.
Some are standard fare for my prototype (NYC) - i.e. Hudsons, Mohawks, and Niagaras. Some are standard fare for any railroad - e.g. 0-8-0s, RS-3s, and F3s. Some are very unique to the NYC and are only available in brass - e.g. H-10a Mike, NE-2 Mallet, DES-3 boxcab. Some were purchased undecorated with the idea of painting & detail hard-to-obtain models not currently available in brass or plastic - e.g. EMD FTA-B & F2 w/cat whisker striping, FM 10-44 w/lightning stripes. A few were just one-of-a kind models that I wanted to have - e.g. Aerotrain, Shake Heights & Cleveland PCC streetcars.
Is it too many locomotives? Yep. And I'll never have a large enough layout to run them all; let alone house them all. I can see selling off at least 30% of what I currently have - particularly the "project" locomotives I reasonably will never get around to painting/detailing. I will say that the number of locomotives that I regret purchasing over the last 18 years can counted on just one hand.
I have a couple of locomotives that I would still like to pick up but will most likely never obtain because of availability and/or price - e.g. L-2a Mohawk, FM H20-44. The L-2a would definitely require me selling off some "overage" to both fund it and make room for it. The H20-44 would be another "project", as the Alco Models drive train is not very good on those. Not a high priority since I have more than enough, as I have already noted.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I was reminded of a fella that was part of an start-up model railroad club that I was involved with from 2006-2008. He didn't have a layout but would pick up locomotives at train shows by the armful. Rob claimed at one point of having over 400 locomotives - all of which he had hidden from his wife. THAT to me is TOO many locomotives.
Oh boy, not sure if I want count what I have.
So many projects! So many locos!
Mike
My You Tube
maxmanI was never informed that there was a limit to the number of locomotives one may own.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Been getting rid of stuff for years, long before I moved to a smaller layout and space. First off I was real critical of running quality of each engine and got rid of the ones that didn't meet my standards, next got rid of ones that didn't fit my era, this was when I was DC, since going DCC I have gotten rid of a lot that were not easy to convert as I have aquired others, mainly DCC and sound.
Pruitt maxman I was never informed that there was a limit to the number of locomotives one may own. You don't have a wife, do you?
maxman
You don't have a wife, do you?
Certainly I do, It's called negotiation. I don't count the number of shoes in her closet, and she doesn't count the number of locomotives in my basement.
maxmanI don't count the number of shoes in her closet, and she doesn't count the number of locomotives in my basement.
She could care less about how many locos I have in the train room and I am not sure and don't care how many Golden Retrievers roam the acreage on a daily basis. Works for me.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
It sounds like I need to buy a lot more locos.
With me it’s a bit different. I’ve been modeling HO since 1951 and never had the space to build a large layout.I’ve been working on my fourth layout since 1988, my largest at 10’ x 14’. Designed before DCC and built for single train operation.In about 2008 I discovered how to go about restoring clunkers and I quite enjoy restoring older locomotives.I’m a Southern Pacific guy through and through and the Cab Forwards are my favorite. I started out with a new Rivarossi Cab Forward from AHM back in the early 90s. In 2008 I bought a clunker Cab Forward and after restoring it to better than new I was hooked. I now have 18 Cab Forwards, four Cab Forwards kitbashed into AC-9s, 5 Y6Bs, 5 GS4s, 5 Shays, 2 0-6-0s plus about 30 diesels of the transition era.Kitbashing has become my thing, now with around 70 locomotives and a layout that I’m limited to two trains. I swap my many locomotives around and I’m having a blast model railroading. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
MidlandMikeIt sounds like I need to buy a lot more locos.
For forty years I had my two old DC locos, a steamer and an F7, and then inherited my dad's old Mantua switcher (gave the old man's 4-8-2 to my brother), and when I started back in to the hobby two years ago, I started buying on eBay - two FP7s, an RS-1, an RS-3, all DC. I got great deals on a DCC RS-3 and Consolidation -- I probably won't buy any more DCC engines. And finally, an acquaintance gave me five assorted locos, two of which ran. So that's 14 all told, and I can hardly believe I have that many. But the scary part is... I keep looking. I think I have a locomotive problem. I've preordered the SP&S red top F7 that Bowser is building, and I keep hunting for a few other models. I imagine I could end up with as many as 20 locomotives, but my layout is small. If I'm still at it after I have 20 engines, it will be time for an intervention.
The short answer is, I fear, enough is never enough.
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
Let's see how it went for the six STRATTON AND GILLETTE layouts:
Layout #1, N Scale, in High School. I think I had nearly 20 locomotives. At this time most N scale locomotives were junk, and honestly I think the Kato PA-1 did most of the duties. It was one of the few locomotives that ran well and was reliable.
Layout #2, N Scale, Young Adult. This was the Dream House layout. I had over 200 Kato undecorated locomotives, about 100 of them received SGRR paint. All 200 would have had an operational place on the layout.
Layout #3, N Scale, Still a Young Adult. This was a very small layout, but I still had all the painted equipment from layout #2, so at this point I had way too many locomotives.
Layout #4, HO scale, Still a Young Adult. I ran this switching layout for more than ten years with just four locomotives. I could only have one on the layout at a time, so maybe I had too many.
Layout #5, HO scale, in my 40s. This layout never had enough locomotives. I had ideas what I wanted, but I just was not buying.
Layout #6, HO scale, not built yet, in my 50s. I have about 30 plastic diesels and 20 brass steamers for this layout already purchased. I think that might be too many.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Well, how many locos is too many? All depends on a lot of factors.
At about 140 powered units, some might say I have a lot, or more than I need, yet I know modelers with considerably more than me.
As soon as I get the lights and ceiling up, I'm starting on a 1500 sq ft layout with a 550' double track mainline and staging for 30 plus mainline trains.
Those trains will mostly be pretty long - 40 to 50 freight cars on average, 8-14 passenger cars on average.
The average freight train will be pulled by 4 powered diesels or two steam locos.
30 trains x 3 locomotives = 90 locomotives
Then part of the operating scheme calls for power changes, the yard needs switchers, the belt line needs locos for local switching.
All of a sudden 140 locos only leaves a few "spares".
I don't have any shelf queens, or stuff outside my era or theme, or letter for roads not represented on the layout. I don't have a BigBoy just because they are famous and "cool".
I do have a few pieces that represent a "historical" presence on the layout, that consists of two locomotives.
I only a few locos on my "would like to have" list, and none on my "need to run the layout" list. So I'm a pretty lucky guy in that department.
To further illustrate the impact of of my choices, of the 140 powered "units"
24 are diesel B units
11 are self propelled passenger equipment
12 are yard switchers
So I don't think of it as 140 "locomotives". Modeling the transition era I think of a ABBA set of F7's as "one locomotive", same goes for 3 or 4 GP's at the head of a mainline freight, or an E8 A&B on the head end of a passenger train.
My train lengths and grades require this much power per train, and again staging for 30 trains.
My wife does not count trains, tools (I do make a living with those), tractor accessories, guns, record albums or books - I do not count clothes, shoes, toys for the grand children, dining out, nice car, etc, etc. We both know what we can afford, and what we can't........
The way business is right now, I can afford more locomotives than I could find a reason to want.......
Sheldon
I have probably 20+ engines. Probably for my layout that is getting close to be too many. (A few of them I was given and I am expecting quite a few more when I get my uncle's collection at some point as I'm the only one in the family that model railroads.) But even with that, I purchased the start of yet another one earlier this evening. Will become a bicentennial unit as I model the 1970s.
As said, it all depends on big your layout is and how often you rotate them. However, I do enjoy building them and finding uses for them even though I have as many as I do.
I find the Rivarossi GG1 to be an extremely smooth runner and started buying them for peanuts on ebay. All are repainted and decaled. All with different numbers. My wife asked how many more I intended to buy when I got to 26. I told her no more then 109 more since the PRR only had 135. She just walked away.
ndbprr I find the Rivarossi GG1 to be an extremely smooth runner and started buying them for peanuts on ebay. All are repainted and decaled. All with different numbers. My wife asked how many more I intended to buy when I got to 26. I told her no more then 109 more since the PRR only had 135. She just walked away.
It's amazing but I was thinking of starting a thread with pretty much the same theme. My layout is much bigger. It fills a 24X48 basement and I discovered when I began operations, I have way more locos, freight cars, and passenger cars than my layout can handle. I too have been building my layout for about 20 years and during that time I kept acquiring locos, passenger cars, and freight car kits thinking I would have plenty of room for all of it. I've discovered that my classification and staging yards are maxed out, my passenger trains are too long, I have to fiddle freight cars on and off the layout at one of my staging yards and I still have about 25-30 unbuilt kits. I have more than enough locos, both steam and diesel, to handle all the trains I run during an operating session. I have two roundhouses with a total of 14 stalls and they are usually filled with steamers waiting their turn. I've had to use tracks intended for other purposes as parking places for idle diesels.
Despite realizing I already have too much equipment, if I find something interesting on ebay that I don't have, I'll buy it. I'm buying Sterlite plastic drawers for storing the excess equipment at one of my staging yards so I can swap it in and out as I see fit. At some point I'm going to realize enough is enough.
I have about 50 locomotives of which about 1/2 are transition era diesels. I also have 10 or so critters and a handful of steamers. There are only a couple of locomotives that I would consider selling. I don't plan on buying more locomotives but if a suitable bargain comes along I would not be averse to spending the money.
Where I have been spending some money recently is on decoders. My intention is to convert almost all of my locomotives to Loksound V4s or V5s for the simple reason that I want all of my locomotives to operate the same way. Right now I have about 15 Loksound decoders waiting to be installed.
Some might consider removing a perfectly functional decoder to replace it with a different decoder to be a waste of money. Having a variety of decoders is okay if you can remember what all the different functions do for each decoder. In my case, my wee brain doesn't do so well when it comes to remembering things like that. The result is that I am not likely to run a particular locomotive if I have to get out the manual to remember how to operate the decoder. To me, having a locomotive that will rarely if ever get run is where the waste of money is. I have a nice InterMountain F7B with QSI and dual speakers. It sounds and runs great, but I have to look up the start sequence every time I put it on my test track.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
TophiasSuddenly, I've come to realize I have way to many engines! Close to 40! Yikes!
Only 40?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Paul3 No such thing as too many locos -- unless you can't physically store them.The way I see it, I can always upgrade to better locos. I can also model different eras for the same location. I can triple the number of engines I "need" by modeling steam, transition, and 2nd generation eras. I will never stop looking for new engines.
This is why I would never consider modeling an era later than my transition era layout. I'd have to build a whole new roster of equipment. I might backdate to the steam era. Then I could just remove my diesels. I'd have to buy new vehicles to make it look right.
My sweet spot seems to be about 50 locos, but that is way more than I need to run the layout. I usually keep my locos organized in sets of 3 or 5, and swap out the layout with each set based upon the flavor of the paint scheme I want to run. So there is a bit of purpose behind the over-accumulation.
Back in DC days, I acquired about 90 locos over the years, making do with what manufacturers produced. Now they are producing the locos I want to really have...finally started adding LED ditch lights...and improving the motor control. (Apparently, Atlas is now catching up if you read the features contained in the new announcements).
I was able to sell off about 60 of the DC and 20 early DCC Sound locos to fund the purchase of the more expensive modern locos with better features. So I'm happy to say that my overaccumulation of DC locos in the past 20 years was not a waste, but sort of a slow investment in the new stuff I bought in the past 2 years. A complete roster turnover to more satisfying models...but keeping the same theme.
I'll be more specific about what's in the engine cabinet.
Athearn Genesis with Tsunami2 DCC/Sound:
Genesse & Wyoming paint scheme: 3 GP15s and 2 GP50s
UP Paint Scheme: 2 GP15s , 1 GP38-2, 2 GP40P-2s
BNSF (ex) BNSF Schemes: 3 GP15s, 2 GP7us, 2 SD40-2s
CSX: 2 GP40-2s (2 GP38-2s on order)
Norfolk Southern: 3 SD40-2s (2 High Hood)
CP: 1 GP40-2
GMTX: 2 GP15s
Wisconsin & Southern: 2 GP7us
Bangor & Arrostook and exBAR: 2 GP7us
ESPEE: 2 GP40P-2s, 1 SD40 Desert Victory scheme
CNW: 2 GP9Rs
ATLAS Loksound:
Georgia & Florida RR: 3 GP40-2Ws
IHB: 2 Genset IIs
Freelanced (ex Reading): 2 MP15s
Freelanced (ex Vermont Northern/ Long Island RR): 3 C420s
INTERMOUNTAIN, Upgraded to Loksound V5:
US Army: 3 GP10s
WALTHERS MAINLINE:
3 unlettered Yellow NW2s
The fleet spread in a different way:
10 GP15s; 11 GP40-2s P-2s and W-2s; 6 GP7us; 5 SD40s-2s; 3 GP10s; 3 C420s; 3 NW2s; 2 GP9rs; 2 GP50s; 2 MP15s; 2 Genset IIs; 1 GP38-2.
If my math and accounting is correct, that's 50 locos presently.
The theme of the layout is freelanced shortline. As is typical with shortlines, they can have any roadnamed locomotive as either on lease in full road name lettering or purchased and patched out for their own railroad. Many of the locos are candidates for mild patch out via decals and lettering.
There are no plans to expand the fleet significantly. After 20 years of being back in the hobby, I'm finally happy with what i have. Over the years, I expect to like some locos more than others, and the locos that do not get play time will probably be sold off over time. I'll probably keep about 30 to 40 as things settle in.
- Douglas
maxman Pruitt maxman I was never informed that there was a limit to the number of locomotives one may own. You don't have a wife, do you? Certainly I do, It's called negotiation. I don't count the number of shoes in her closet, and she doesn't count the number of locomotives in my basement.
Just wait until She figures out that She can fit more shoes, in Your basement, than Her closet.......Hehehe!
Take Care!
Frank
zstripeJust wait until She figures out that She can fit more shoes, in Your basement, than Her closet.......Hehehe!
Not going to happen.
I bought one of those Wife-A-Way gadgets off of Amazon and have it installed at top of cellar steps. Works well.
maxman zstripe Just wait until She figures out that She can fit more shoes, in Your basement, than Her closet.......Hehehe! Not going to happen. I bought one of those Wife-A-Way gadgets off of Amazon and have it installed at top of cellar steps. Works well.
zstripe Just wait until She figures out that She can fit more shoes, in Your basement, than Her closet.......Hehehe!
Man after My own heart......HAHAHAHA. Made My day Max..........
A related "problem" (if it is a problem) is that (we -- I include myself here) railfan photographers tend to take prototype pictures, or vids, of the locomotives and then put the camera down. It is a wonder that a hardy few took enough photos of freight and passenger cars back in the 35mm slide era to allow Morning Sun to print all those rolling stock picture books.
A slightly more distantly related problem told to me by friends who are truck fans is that too much attention has been paid to the trucks and not to the trailers, in terms of having historic documentation of trailers of the past.
The common thread is that we are attracted to the power, and to the interesting details that being a power source entails, steam, electric or diesel; railroad or highway.
But the good news is that there is a prototype for this locomotive fixation of ours: back in the early 1950s the somewhat-ineptly- managed Chicago & North Western was randomly buying diesels but not in a necessarily thoughtful way, so when new management took over and decided to fully dieselize, they found that for all practical purposes they had the diesels they needed on hand, and could simply start the retirement and scrapping process for C&NW steam.
Dave Nelson