How many locomotives do you own? I have 22 locomotives. I keep wanting to add more but they can not travel farther than the 8 feet or so of my layout, lol. CP&E.......78......S4 *NSS.....416......SD24 CP&E.....502......44-ton CP&E.....511......PA2 CP&E...1065......SW9 CP&E...1113......SW9 CP&E...1519......U23B CP&E...1555......U23B NYC.....1863.....H6a / 2-8-2 CP&E...2126......SD9 CP&E...2440......GP9 N&W....2906......GP30 CP&E...3207......GP30 CP&E...3338......GP30 CP&E...3412......GP30 CP&E...3521......F7 CP&E...4379......GP35 CP&E...5133......H16-44 CP&E...5611......GP38 CP&E...7819......SD35 CP&E...7827......SD35 CP&E...7855......SD35 * National Standard Steel. NSS 416 is an SD24 used in property for movement of cars in and out of the NSS Steel Mill in Pittsburgh, PA. How many do you have?
I got about the same number... Many are undecorated Athearn BB kits which I snapped up when they became hard to find, and I hope to detail and paint them up over the next several years. The vast majority of my engines are Geeps though. These 4-axle workhorses look right doing anything, going anywhere on my small pike. Not too big, not too small, they are my "Goldilocks" locos. I got 18 of these.
Here's the "planned" roster. First, stuff I already have, CGW GP30 Spectrum x2 * CGW F3 Stewart CGW FP7 Atlas * CGW 4-6-2 IHC * CGW 2-6-0 IHC * IANR GP38-2 Athearn BB * stuff I plan to get- CGW SD40 Kato x2 * CGW RS2 Kato CGW S1 Atlas CGW NW2 BLI CGW GP7 Atlas or P2K * CGW F3 ABBA P1K CGW F3 ABBBBBA Stewart maybe a few more IANR GP38-2s to "get the railroad running" * will be / is custom painted / decaled by me
62 locos: 24 decoder-equipped locos (that all run well with clean wheels and are in use a lot) plus 38 non-decoder-equipped locos--some of which are 2 to 3 decades old. Perhaps the more critical questions--- 1. How many of the locos run well as soon as you fire up the layout? 2. How many run well with a minimum of tinkering (i.e., cleaning the wheels, NOT de-gunking gears, re-lubing, adjusting electrical pick-ups)? 3. How many can be made to run well with some tinkering (as above)? 4. How many make great paper-weights? Of my analog locos: 6 to 8 are very reliable and I use them "as needed" during a busy operating session and they will eventually get decoders; about 20 others will run adequately with some tinkering, but will probably never get decoders (mostly because they don't have good slow speeds); and the remainder (primarily the older locos) are nice looking paper weights that might be good for parts. Dave H. Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale
Finally did an updated count and it appears that my 50+ is in fact currently 51. Unfortunately none are DCC equipped and probably won't be 'til the second coming or I win the lotto. Anyway; Seaboard Air Line = 35 units; Southern = 11 units, and ACL = 5 units. Would/should have more ACL units, but apparently the manufacturers don't understand that ACL had a color scheme after purple and silver. With three different units coming out for Southern in September, expect to be flirting with bankruptcy in October. These are all good running units, ready to go; Atlas, Athearn "Genesis" and R-T-R, InterMountain, Kato, and Life-like P1K and P2K, Stewart - and, of course, all HO.
I don't divulge the number of loco's I have. Let's say I have more than 20. Stay cool and run steam....
Sounds like someone with the dreaded Puchasitis syndrome. I have only been around for 2+ years and I do not yet have the disease under control. I have stopped though, because I am going to go to DCC and don't want another ten engines to send out for retrofitting.
I have a passel. Or is it gaggle? Also going through the DCC-ization process. This has helped me dial in my focus though, and I now have a better planned roster. Geeps, yes they are the perfect Goldiloks loco!
I was looking at my inventory the other day. I keep an inventory for insurance purposes. I don't have all that many "good" locos. All the good locos, minus a few without decoders, are on the layout, and it's not crowded. I'm probably going to sell the two Big-Boys, which are UP-specific, and perhaps the four LL Berkshires, which are too troublesome for decoders, but that's about it. So I have about 15 steamers that I care about, and about 35 diesels. So there's 50 locos on 850 feet of track. That's one loco for every 17 feet of track. Actually there are 22 consists, as smaller steam is double-headed, and diesels run as AB or ABBA consists. So there's 22 trains for 850 feet of track or a train for every 39 feet of track. I think that's reasonable. I know of folks with a 2 x 4 loop who have 300 locos, or more. My roster of ships is probably less reasonable. And I personally value them more.
I think at one time I had counted 127 in HO (working at a hobby shop was a bad idea). I've since sold off some. N scale fleet is much smaller, around 10.
Pat, Steve, et al: The extra costs involved in DCC-ization or buying decoder-equipped locos is certainly one of the factors that slows me down when making purchases. I also saw a big improvement in my purchasing discrimination when I became active in operations. Before then, if something caught my eye, simple affordability was the primary factor slowing my impulsivity. Operations led me to ask additional questions, like how will I use this neat looking loco/car on my layout, what industry would use it, does if fit my era, is this style of loco/car correct for what I'm modeling, etc. I still make purchases impulsively, "out" of my era, "because it's a cool looking car", or for other less than perfectly logical reasons. But, now, it is MUCH less often that I hear myself expressing buyer's remorse with variations on (apologies to the V-8 Juice advertising execs), "Doh!! I could have had a VO-1000!" Dave H. Modeling the 1970s era Peoria and Pekin Union Railway in N-Scale
I really have no idea and really don't want to know. What quaifies as a locomotive? I have so many projects where one or more are broken down as I kit bash this or that. Then there is a box of parts I am sure I could quickly construct a few running engines out of. The same is true for both diesels and steamers.
I have more engine than I can fit on my little 5X6 N-scale layout. 2 Life Like NP GP-18's 1 Life Like GN SW 1200 1 Life like NP SW 1200 1 Atlas NP GP-7TT 1 Atlas NP GP-9 1 Atlas GN GP-7 3 Atlas GN GP-9's 1 Atlas CB&Q SD-9 1 Atlas CB&Q SD-24 1 Atlas UP SD-24 1 Atlas GN SD-9 2 Life Like GN SD-7's 1 Life Like SP&S C-424 2 Atlas GN U-25B's 1 Atlas Aloha Lumber Shay 1 Model Power NP Pacific 1 ABBA set Kato NP freight F-3's 1 JnJ GN F-45 w/Kato SD-45 drive 1 Kato GN SD-45 1 Kato NP RDC 1 Life Like (kitbashed) BN GP-10 1 Atlas GN GP-30 2 Atlas GN GP-35's I am locomotive rich and rolling stock poor as I only have 65 cars in my roster.
Hey, I'm afraid to count that high mg: .A ballpark guess would be between 175-200. Most are customized in one way or another. God,I'm sicker than I thought :shade: :w20z6q: Buy more trains.That's my motto.
I'm not as frenzied about purchasing as I once was. I am very happy with my fleet. I think I may consider trimming it down a bit. I have a fairly reasonable fleet of around 25-30 locos. I only need about 12-14 to run my layout when it gets done, perhaps even less than that. The Atlas RS11 tempts me, as does the Gp40 in ICG, but I'm fine for now. I need more hoppers though.
I only have 4 steamers, 4 diesels, and 1 RDC. Oh wait, thats only my nscale stuff. I also have 3 On30 steamers and on HO switcher that will be converted into a large On30 critter. Eric
Wow. You folks sure have some equipment. Mine is: 1 Lifelike GP9 PRR 1 Lifelike S3 PRR That's it. Blessings & best wishes, Pastor Dave
