Too many cars?

Having been to Monroe's layout I can say that the 1500 cars do not appear crowded.

The only time that you have too many cars is when you have to remove the layout to create storage for the rolling stock.

 

Uh oh! I have so many cars, there isn't room for a layout right now... Hmm... maybe if I put up a tent in the back yard...

 

I just received another shipment of ATSF cars. Looks like I have to build a second layout for all the cars.

 

Don't laugh,I wanted break thru a wall from my train room to the living room .My plan was a massive staging yard .But,I live in an apt.,& I'm sure the landlord would get upset. So,while I sit here,I'm trying to come up with one,while staying in the room .I'm guessingass. cars=80
frt. cars=250+
engs=70+
I don't need help,I'm fine

 

IMHO you can not have enough cars but,you can some times have to many locomotives.

 

Who was it that said: "He who dies with the most toys, wins!"

 

The same one who said:
"The differance between a man and a boy is the cost of his toys"

Correllary: He who dies with the most trains - had way to much time and money.

 

My update

Now down to 0

 

I have been thiniing all winter. When I am all done selling I will have about 70-75 locos and around 250 cars. This is down from 150 and 650. All that extra cash sure did buy a lot of turnouts for the new layout expantion.

 

The last time I counted I had over 500 cars, I have to get some more of layout finished before I can put most of them on the layout. Might have to add those 2 extra tracks onto the staging yard!

 

That's 2.4 locos per car? Not over saturated?? ....dave

 

If you end up with more engines and/or rolling stock then you can ever possibly use, I'll be more than glad to help out and accept your donations. Just in the interest of being helpful of course... Jim

 

For layout usage:
9 locomotives
Probably 50+ cars easily.

Stuff I'm not using:
Maybe 8-9 passenger cars(all but one are GN,other is PRR)
Probably 20-25 freight cars
Maybe 7-8 engines

Thought about selling what I'm not using for real cheap.

 

I have over 700 Locomotives in N alone, and just under 7000 cars. I have around 1000 Bethgons.....and every single car gets MTL's.....someday.

Many who know me say it is not true, until the first time they come to my train room and see it.

Overkill? Yes
Too Much? Likely
Will I stop? NEVER!!!

It is my hobby, it is my only hobby, and I don't own anyone one penny for any train I bought, strictly cash deals.

 

How long did it take you to number and weather each one? that sounds like a lot of work!!.....dave

 

Inverse math, of which I am often guilty. It's 2.4 cars per loco. Or some such.

 

I don't have quite as much as I once had. When I was in HO (before moving to basement-less Texas) I had about 850 freight cars, almost half of which were coal hoppers, and about 70 locomotives. I then switched to modern N scale modeling where I quickly built up to about the same number. Now that the steam bug has hit and I sold off most of my modern stuff, I now have 244 freight cars, 153 of which are coal hoppers, and 13 steam engines. My collection is quickly growing, thanks to that auction site, and I'm sure I'll eventually exceed my previous levels.

I'm sure I'll be adding more locomotives in the future - I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new 2-8-8-2's from Walthers this summer and am hoping they do the same with the 2-8-4's - and am pretty sure that I positively NEED at least 500 more hoppers to really get the feel of a coal-hauling railroad. One thing I try very hard to do is stick to a timeframe - everything is 1954 or earlier. I chose this because, if I remember correctly, it's the year the PRR switched to the keystone shield logo on their rolling stock so everything I have has the "Circle Keystone". Plus, my main influences, the N&W and the W&LE/NKP, were still primarily all-steam in the part of the country I model. I always read the data on the cars (usually with a magnifying glass) to make sure a piece of rolling stock "fits."

I am fortunate that I have a spouse who actually LIKES my trains - she thinks the steam engines are "cute". All I have to do is buy her a Coach brand purse now and then and I never hear any complaints (it kills me to think how many more hoppers I could buy for the cost of one of those purses though!) When we were looking at having a house built we looked at a lot of plans. When she found one she liked, I found another one that had the same square footage and the same basic layout, but also had a 500 sq ft game room - I knew I had married the right one when she willingly agreed. She actually is the one who keeps me going because she is anxious to see me get the layout to some level of "finished". The result is a layout with a mainline run of about 8 scale miles, most of it double-track, and that doesn't include the unbuilt helixes.

By the way, how do I keep track of my trains? A spreadsheet of course. I religiously enter all of my new purchases into my spreadsheet before I put them on my layout, and then synchronize my spreadsheet with my PDA and laptop so that I make sure I have the most up-to-date information - comes in very handy at hobby shops and train shows when I'm looking for that car that I forgot I already bought, or can't remember the number of the car that I'm looking for. Geeky, yes, but very, very practical.

 

Oh, In that case not over saturated at all....dave

 

I have 85 locomotives, 920 frieght cars and some MOW, passenger and waycars. I am actually getting rid of a few frieght cars and am pretty much done with locomotives. I am just waiting for someone to do GP50s