Just curious on how long most of you run your trains before resting them (clockwork trains excluded .
And by accident maybe, you ran them too long? What happened and how long was that time?
Ray
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
RAY,
I run my trains mostly friday and saturday nites, for about 1-3 hrs. The 3 hr. time is usually when I have a PILE UP. I need that extra time to get everything working properly again. Most times its about 2 hrs, and not at BREAKNECK SPEEDs anymore.
laz57
As inanimate non-living objects designed, for the most part, for continuous duty, our trains should not need a rest unless there is a mechanical or electrical problem. That said, I run trains sometimes for hours on end - especially Bowser(trolleys) and Williams.
The trolleys sometimes run unattended(very slowly) under the tree from the time we get home to the time we go to bed during Christmas time. I just ordered a new set of brushes for one that I've had since ~1995 or 1996. It still runs perfect, but the brushes are at the end of their service life.
Rob
Mostly I run an individual train for only about half an hour or so at a time. I don't know why. Maybe because it was about as long as my parents could take the noise when I was a kid.
I don't think I even realized the trains were noisy when I was small. But I've got my 1951 Lionel 2026 (my first locomotive; thanks, Dad) and four modern NYC 027 passenger cars running right now, and they'd make it tough to have a telephone conversation. In our small living room at the time, it must have been quite a racket.
Actual run time is very small. I spend most of my time redesigning the layout. This year I started adding scenery.
Usually I run mine for about 30 minutes to an hour. I have no particular reason for that length except that is about the amount of time my kids will remain interested in watching them; however, the baby may watch longer. I would run the trains longer if I was by myself and did not have other obligations such as making sure my kids don't burn the house down. I could watch the trains for hours, but I want to keep my kids interested in them, and not be the dad who spends more time with the trains than with the kids.
Joe
When my wife says she'll be ready to go out in ten minutes, I go down to the basement and run my layout. Those ten minutes are usually a half an hour or more!
Usually they tell me how long to run them. Sometimes they are so cantankerous (like me) that I get frustrated quickly and give up for the night. That is when I am in train hell. Other nights they run like well-oiled clocks. That is when I am in train heaven. When I am in train heaven, I run them until I am afraid that they will get like me again and I shut them down for the night while I am still ahead.
Timboy
LMAO! Tim, too funny!Cobrabob.
Toy Trains, they are not just an adventure, they are a way of life !
arkady Mostly I run an individual train for only about half an hour or so at a time. I don't know why. Maybe because it was about as long as my parents could take the noise when I was a kid. I don't think I even realized the trains were noisy when I was small. But I've got my 1951 Lionel 2026 (my first locomotive; thanks, Dad) and four modern NYC 027 passenger cars running right now, and they'd make it tough to have a telephone conversation. In our small living room at the time, it must have been quite a racket.
Like you I did not realize the trains made a noise either when I was a kid.Now I cannot hear the telephone ringing in the next room.
i run every day if i can for about a hour it all depends what i am doing but i like to run all my favorits about 20 min or so
Somewhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours for an operating session. Depending on what is going on during the week I may operate the trains upwards of 5 times a week.
Bill T.
how 'bout, until they spontaneously combust?
After reading the posts I remembered I didn't chime in on my times. I don't recall ever running them for more than an hour.Most of the time it's about 30 minutes. But even a good 5-10 minutes sometimes is enough. Alot depends on who's around and if SHE says "it's dinner time", of course that's when I run them an hour!
Usually I run them for 1/2 hour or so. But every Christmas when we have visitors over, I sometimes run them for well over 6 hours!!! If there is anything that will make or break your trains, it's running them for 6 hours straight!
-Scott
Boston's freeway system is insane. It was clearly designed by a person who had spent his childhood crashing toy trains.
-Bill Bryson
I only run the trains when we have electricity.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
In good working order, clean, and lubricated, I don't think it matters much.......how long you run a particular engine. Heat buildup is the next thing to consider, but that should not come into play unless you are pulling a particularly long consist of heavy cars or have some serious and long upgrades on the layout.
The Museum in Chicago had a gargantuan O layout they ran all day every day. They would just conduct preventative service on the engines while the others were operating. But some of those suckers had to have more actual miles on them than anything ten of us could accumulated combined.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
I remember that lay out at the Museum of Science and Industry. It is one of the few layouts where the track actually wore out in places! I agree with proper preventive maintenance and moderate loads and speed the locomotives can run for hours!
Any one train, about 10=12 laps on my 13 x 17 layout; by then something usually happens, resulting in investigation, debugging and more 'test' running. If things are really going well, I may actually doze off; to avoid that I move around the room; enjoying the various perspectives. One thing is guaranteed - if I leave the room, something will happen. Total layout 'play'/work time? Probably an hour to an hour and a half or so 3-4-5 times weekly in the winter months, often zero in the summer months. Also depends on how interesting a book I am reading.
runtime
I run them briefly when one of my clients wishes to see them operate. I have a layout in each of my two offices. At home I run them until the transormer gets hot!
I will put in an hour or two running trains, but I don't run any particular train for more than about 15 minutes at a time, often less--I'm interested in operation, so sooner or later, the train has to either go to a layover track, or pull into the yard to get broken up. Then it is time to do some switching or to run a different train.
Most of our trains are postwar Lionel, and a few from the MPC era. My son and I have really started to enjoy building locomotives out of wreck and junk box finds. It is a lot of fun to start with a trailing truck or a motor frame scrounge for parts here and there and eventually get a nice looking running locomotive out of it. I have found that I can probably run an early 675 from now till the cows come home and it will just keep humming along. The early version 1666/2026 style will run forever as beautifully as the day they were made. Likewise anything with the 2034-100 motor in them as they are fantastic runners. Don't shy away from those 2-4-2's especailly as they are cheap and great to let kids learn with. The older 1654, 1684, 229/1664 style motors seem to have issues with heat and I don't run them too long. We tend to pull longer trains and they are not really good for more than 5 cars. We probably only run them for 20 min, or less. A 2046/2055 style with the 2035-100 magnatraction motors in them I feel like I can run them pulling nice looking trains for an hour or more. I can pull 18 loaded Lehigh Valley coal cars with the 675's or 2046 engines, it is a great looking train, but you have to keep the cars well oiled. My son does most of the running, and he likes to switch things off frequently so he is keen to keep an eye for signs of them heating up. (he's 12 years old and is a really good mechanic. He is now building a 1688 from parts that was such a basket case, that I didn't think it would ever run, but he has stuck to it.) I don't think that I have run our 2343 F-3's for more than 30 min. without giving them a rest.
Steve
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