best train for a restaurant

[Anonymous]

I'm going to run a train for extended periods each day, and I was wondering if one of the starter sets from Lionel would be a durable choice. I just know the name, but have no experience. I was hoping to stay under $250. Any suggestions or cautions would be helpful. Thanks everyone.

[daan]

I don't know the build quality of Lionel starter kits, but the postwar's are very solid and strong, wouldn't be a problem to run them for a long time.
If it's used to take around beer and juice for the guests you better think LGB.. Also strong and solid built, but quite a step bigger. (size of german pints[:D])

[dougdagrump]

I wouldn't go the starter set route. They don't really offer much variety or creativity. Why not go with buying individual pieces so you can be just as creative as you like. Go with freight cars that way you can, with the aid of a computer, put your own ads on boxcars or make your own billboards for flatcars. Can you visualize a Burger & Fries billboard rolling along on a flatcar or a reefer with a big Milk Shake on it's sides ? How about a gondala full of chili ?
[#oops] Instead of Lionel check out the Williams engines, prevailing opinions are extremely good and cheaper than Lionel.

[lionelsoni]

Postwar.

[Dave Farquhar]

I third the postwar motion. Much more nostalgic that way, and if you buy common postwar stuff, price is likely to be much lower than new stuff. Get a locomotive and transformer that have been rehabbed by a dealer that does repairs, and it ought to run for years. You probably should buy new track though.

For cars, common postwar is dirt cheap. Run as-is, looking for less-than-perfect stuff so that it looks truly old, or get poor condition cars and reletter them to reflect items on your menu. Either idea would look cool.

[dougdagrump]

Ma&Pa Junction has some Williams remakes of the old Lionel Berkshires at one heck of a price if you go with the postwar idea.

[Chris F]

I disagree (respectfully) with the recommendation to go with postwar (1945-1969) products. The locomotives use open-frame motors and mechanical reversing units that require regular maintenance, especially after 35+ years. Modern locomotives with DC can motors and electrical reversing units should require much less maintenance. Modern cars with fast-angle wheels should provide less rolling resistance, and they generally have better graphics. The recommendations for Williams are good, since these products have modern motors/reversing units and the look of postwar.

An opinion of much more value than mine would come from Big_Boy_4005, who once had an operating layout at the Mall of America. Elliott, care to chime in?

[Anonymous]

Williams is the only answer, but remember the KISS theory and it will last longer.

[lionelsoni]

From my experience and all the distress postings that I have seen about the unreliability and difficulty of repair of modern train electronics, I am inclined to think that postwar electromechanical e-units are not that bad. However, that is probably irrelevant, since continuous running in a loop in a restaurant with the e-unit shut off does not put much of a strain on it.

[daan]

If running only one direction, you could even bypass the reversing unit. The best part about postwar is that motors are using brushes which you can change when worn. if a moders can motor is worn out, they must be changed completely, because the brushes can't be changed. One very big thing is that a DC motor has a worse cooling compared to the huge and rigid postwar engines. My F3 is this year 51 years(!!!) old, and still in perfect running condition. I only needed to add a bit of grease in the gearbox and clean the collectors of the engine (which also is impossible in can motors) and the machine ran like new. I'm amazed about that performance..
That's why I would use Postwar Lionel.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,
I have been watching this thread and waiting also for Elliot (Big boy) to tell his side of things. As Chris said, Elliot has run engines for 12 hours at a time / 7 days a week. I know he changed them over to DC and removed the reversing unit. If you AC motor with brushing, you will most probably have a problem in a week.

Elliot, we need your expertise here
tom

[lionelsoni]

Although postwar locomotives run more smoothly on DC, I doubt that it would make any difference in how long they last. In any case, you don't have to modify a postwar locomotive to run it on DC, in one direction, without using the e-unit. Just shut off the e-unit and put DC voltage on the track. (If it has a horn, take out the dry cell. If it has a whistle in the tender, take out the motor brushes or stick a piece of tape between the relay contacts, if you don't want to cut or unsolder the pickup wire.)

[SPFan]

Even though I run mostly post war I believe Williams is a better choice here. I doubt you can find a post war set , ready to run, for $250. For that money you could easily buy a Williams engine and 5 freight cars and maybe have enough left over to pick up a used transformer. Check out the Justrains ad in the latest magazine editions if you have any doubt. If you prefer to run trains vs tinker with them I'd recommend Williams.

Pete

[spodwo]

I would have to say you are looking at the wrong scale - a Large Scale LGB engine would be the one that can run forever. They certainly can take extended run times with little maintenance.

[dougdagrump]

I agree that a large scale LGB engine would probably be better, but when you are also looking at a very tight budget that pretty much eliminates LGB.

[Anonymous]

I was just at a restaurant that was running a Bachmann G scale in a dogbone setup. She ran it for us as I asked her to, but within a few minutes the other patrons said, "turn that damn train off." The young girl said that it normally derails after 5 minutes. Bachmann has improved but still has too many plastic parts in their gears. The advantage of G scale over O scale is it is more visible. You can buy reasonable G scale on Ebay or dealer closeouts. From experience, a lot of restaurants think it 's a neat idea to run a train, but don't realize the it does take some careful planning to keep it running properly.

[krump]

a CHEW - CHEW Train [:-^][;)][:D][:D][:D][C):-)]suspended from the ceiling would be my suggestion. Large G scale preferred (seen in many restaurants in Canada), for quality stick with LGB, if you want it to look really impressive a hardwood (or strips of laminate) base might be good, with brass finish suspension "bolts" (not sure what they're called, but approx 18" long.) IF money is not a concern the MARKLIN large scales would be a reliable option (1 gauge or MAXI). For the investment, this is something I would hang from the ceiling in a restaurant - customers and kids won't be able to reach it. Check with other places that have done it though - what have they used, who constructed it for them in the premises, perhaps a local model r/r club can assist... who knows, doesn't hurt to ask. Check the buy and sell (or place a "wanted ad" for a month and see what results.
Mostly, this is a great idea for your restaurant, have fun with it.

[SPFan]

Dontrainman is right. One person's music is another's noise. Only a few train nuts would appreciate sound and I suspect even die hard train nuts would get tired of hearing an engine chug or rumble by every 3 minutes. Keep it simple.

Pete