I only own Kato (other than one remaining IMR item listed in the swapmeet thread). None of this matters with Kato. They run perfect all the time. It doesn't matter if they've sat for 1 year or 1 decade. Same reason I only buy Toyota cars. (okay, some of that was hyperbole, but not very much of it....).
All of my Atlas fleet have slow speed motors including my newer life likes. I have about 25 locomotives, I too sold my extra locomotives that were from different road names. Top speed on them are about 10 to 15 MPH higher than track speed of 65 or 70 MPH. East coast forget about it! Those trains are WAY TOO slow!
A lot of trains in the East are unit coal trains going to power plants. The coal is pulverized so it can be blown in to a firebox for a steam plant much like fuel injection on an automobile. Train speed is limited to 40-45 mph to prevent the coal from flying out of the cars. Also the coal is loaded higher in the front of the car than the rear. As the train travels the coal settles and moves back in the car rather than flying out onto the right of way. There is no more four track main lines like there used to be. Two tracks is it although some areas may have three where traffic is heavy. So if you have a train with perishables and the rule book says you can go 65-70mph but you have a unit coal train ahead of you that the rules say can only do 40mph; guess what speed you will do?
Back in the eighties, on the then regional railroad the KCS in conjunction with BN they were running coal trains 60-65 heading south through East Texas and Louisiana on single track. Down the road on the Cotton Belt they were hauling everything at a cool 70 MPH. The Missouri Pacific was more 60+ MPH. No, it's not Flat in East Texas.
You should have seen the old Southern Pacific Sunset Route before the Union Pacific got ahold of it....2 mile long sidings every few miles...
plenty of mile long sidings. CTC! On the short side of 5000feet to 9300feet from Jefferson to Texarkana alone.
After having been out of model railroading for quite some time due to life, illness, kid’s sports, Cowboy Action Shooting, illness, and life, I have recently been working on converting all of my DCC compatible locomotives to DCC. I am currently waiting on getting my ~16’x16’ layout room, off of my shop, cleared out when construction on my elk camp, my wife’s “cabin,” gets completed. Then I can start getting the room completed so that I can start working on the “All Day & Night.” I can also have additional through the wall room for staging in my shop. I’m about to bust waiting on all of that. In most of these locomotives, I have been installing XL Systems sound decoders, which are pretty much the same as MRC decoders, except for the price. I’ve been pretty happy with them, so far. Most of my locomotives have been sitting in their boxes in tubs for several years. I have been cleaning, lubing, and then letting them run for about an hour frontwards and then an hour in reverse after installation of the decoders. That seems to be working out pretty well so far.
Depends on priority. Coal trains go from point to point and then back. So from the mine to the powerplant with coal then empty back to the mine then repeat. There maybe as many as four or six trains involved with one loading at the mine, one unloading at the power plant and two or more in transit, empty and loaded. With modern refrigeration perishables may not command the priority. Besides coal we see other unit trains like autoracks, intermodal and natural gas products. All these share one thing in common. They go from point to point, one way empty, one way loaded. As for sidings, about twelve years ago during the great recession they were used to park unneeded cars. Seen a lot of autoracks parked on sidings for months at a time. The taggers had a ball! Microtrains even modeled one very large one: https://www.modelcars.com/microtrains-steel-graffiti-autorack-5pack-1-160 Obviously not done in one day or night.
Yes there are. When Microsoft Train Simulator was first announced in early 2001, I actually pre-ordered the software. I ended up creating 3 routes (layouts in MSTS terminology) for that train simulator platform. Of note, Open Rails is a freeware program that will run MSTS routes and has breathed some new life into the MSTS train simulator community. In 2010 I purchased the Rail Simulator dot Com "Rail Works" train simulator and ended up creating one route for that train simulator platform. The company now producing Rail Works is Dovetail Games and the product is now called Train Simulator. Dovetail games also produces another product called Train Sim World, I do not own this product. Another popular train simulator is the Run 8 Train simulator from 3D Train Stuff. 3D Train stuff got their start creating add-on's for MSTS, one of their most popular add-on was the Joint Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Tehachapi route. Some of the niche train games I own and enjoy are Sid Myers Railroad Tycoon, Chris Sawyer Transport Tycoon and Signal Computer Consultants Train Dispatcher. I'm not sure if any of these games are still available.