just go give you guys a "heads up" when you start trying to duplicate prototype operations you may also find that cabooses can be a royal pain.
Charlie
My BRVRR is a transition era railroad so I run both steam and diesel routinely. I do not do very much in the way of operations as most of my personal steamers, a Hudson, Niagara, and Mikado, are intended for mainline operations.
My grandson, however, is a steam fanatic. His locos run the gambit from a UP Challenger down to little Bachmann tank engines.
With a few exceptions, most notably the small tank engines, we have very little trouble with derailments, on the mainline, sidings, or in the reverse loop. It does happen occasionally but not enough to discourage the use of the steamers.
While most of my diesels are transition era F7s, early GPs and RSs, I have several larger diesel locos, E7s, E8s, PAs, FP45s and SD40s. There are even a few modern AMTRAC Genesis locos.
In my experience the reliability and track-ability of our locomotive fleet is about equal between steam and diesel. But, the maintenance time required by the steamers and their initial cost, is quite a bit higher than their brethren.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
cmrproducts Same here - I learned the problems the Steamers had way back in the late 70's! I am into OPs and do allow some Operators to run Steam on my layout on special occasions! I find they they still have problems doing anything other than mainline running.
Same here - I learned the problems the Steamers had way back in the late 70's!
I am into OPs and do allow some Operators to run Steam on my layout on special occasions!
I find they they still have problems doing anything other than mainline running.
Wow, now that is a telling statement.
Rich
Alton Junction
I guess when/if I finally make the decision to sell off the steamers I'm considering getting rid of, it will be my newer ones. My Roundhouse MDC kit built 10 wheelers and 0-6-0 switcher, my Rivarossi Mike and PFM Samhongsa Y1 Consolidation, I will keep.
Rich, I agree, it could be my track work, however, I have worked on it and worked on it over the years and some problem places are only a problem for one particular steamer and everything else works just fine! Although it certainly can be my track work, the fact that it is only one locomotive that has a problem with it leads me to believe it's a failure of that particular locomotive!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Now I know the newer stuff works a whole lot better than they did back then.
BUT!
And they still have problems with turnouts even #8s !
So I have never regretted leaving them behind.
And besides they would not fit into my 70s to 80s era layout anyway.
BOB H - Clarion, PA
NP2626 Are any of you coming to the same conclusions?
Are any of you coming to the same conclusions?
Absolutely.
While some will surely reply in defense of steam, they are a real pain in the neck. The biggest problem is that they are prone to derailment. Yeah, I know, it is my track work. But, I have spent years improving my track work and, while the derailments have greatly diminished, diesel is clearly more reliable than steam.
If I ever build my Dream Layout, passenger operations at Dearborn Station in Chicago in the 1950's, I will probably dump my 11 steamers on eBay.
I am old enough that I can remember steam engines at the end of their active service lives in the early 1950s. I have loved steam and continue to do so. I love books on steam locomotives and have over the years amassed quite a collection of books and videos on Steam and in particular the Steam Engines of the Northern Pacific. I have however found that as I get older and similar to how the real railroads also found, that the higher maintenance of steamers is becoming less and less attractive and may well be selling off all but my most reliable and well built steam engines and taking the equity I had in the Steamers I sell and buying more 1st generation diesels.