Too many locos

I've been running my locos today on and off since i'm home with the flu. I tested all my LL and realized they aren't as bad as I thought.

Now for the dillema. I have too many locos. My engine service area can handle about seven locos. Just counting working diesels I have:
6 Atlas (not including my F9 that may just get resurrected. It ran great today despite the deep flanges.)
10 LL
1 Kato

I just sat and stared at my layout in wonder. Too many locos? hmmmm....

 

That's not too many (IMHO). Isn't having "too many locos" sort of like having "too much money"?

I have about 25, which seems about right to me for my operation. I'm planning on scrapping 6 or 8 of them, but I'll replace them with others that fit my new layout better.

Now, about cars.....

 

Cars... Well I have about 120+ freight cars. More than enough.

Although... I don't own any airslide hoppers yet and I think I should.

 

1) Bash a couple together to make a "beast" type.
2) Practice super detialing / painting one or two so if you ruin it you don't care
3) Give them to me
4) Give them to Trainboard to auction off
Um, lots of cool things

 

What?? Mate, you deserve a slapping for making such a statement!

Rotate them around. You don't need to have everything out on the layout at any given point. Keep in mind some will go off layout on a train to, and others come back on layout from, distant points. Probably reason to have a few more, come to think of it... :lightbulb:

Rule no.1 - one can NEVER have too many locos!

(says he with a few locos more than really needed - not that I'm admitting that, eh Paul? )

 

There you go; that's the idea. ManLaw!!

 

I agree with Hemi!

 

Right on the money,Hemi !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've got (Geez I hate to admit this) over 200 engines mg: .
I can do any era.I can do east coast or west coast.Plus anywhere in the middle. Diverty is a key to life:shade: .

 

17 locos, 120 cars... That's about 7 cars per engine, which is a better ratio than most larger collections. Who says all your engines and cars have to fit on the layout at once?

 

But wait, I thought Rule 1 was It's MY Railroad!

 

An old thread:

How many do you have?
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=78875
and
How Many Locos Does One Need?
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=64743

Er: two old threads

 

Everytime this come up I have to go home and count my engines, then I never get around to posting. I end up sitting there dumbstruck thinking When did I get all of these? I deffinately have more engines than track to run them on right now but someday....
​

 

I thought about that, then thought those rules are infinitely swappable anyway;

Q: Why have you so many locos?
A: Because I can.
Q: But why so many?
A: It's my railroad and I need them.

 

Traingeekboy - You don't say if they're all for one RR or more. Think that may have an effect on the quantity of engines one owns.

For myself, if it's prototypical and painted for one of my three favorite roads, I'm probably going to get it. My rationale is simple. My absolute favorite railroad would "couple up the ready track" to get trains over the road. When operations begin on my layout, engines will either be "north" or "south" and the power for trains will be drawn at random.

I believe that if my 38 engines were lined up on my 34 feet of mainline, they'd probably be a complete circle of engines with no room for cars.

Besides, as occurred to me last night, these new engines by LL, Atlas, Kato, etc. - are really beautiful miniatures in their own right.

 

I have 20 plus locos that need be be detailed and painted before they ever hit the rails in a operation status. Then on the other hand, I have over 30 in operation status. anyone care to hand me a few hundred for all the parts that I need? LOL

 

I have waaaayyyy to many locos to ever fit in one operating session: We try to run about 20 trains per session + a set of helpers and two switchers. Some of the sheduled trains appear more than once (passenger shuttle). So if I would do the math correctly I need 23 locos (counting multiple-unit as one loco) minus the trains that appear more than once. I guess I have about 100 locos (again counting multiple units like a FT ABBA as one loco).

So the reasonable person (like my wife) would ask: Why?
First there is a certain learning curve: I started to buy anything with NP or GN on it when it was released: So I had 4 NP GP18 (which is about as many as NP ever had...), only to learn later that they were too modern for my 1958 timeframe. I have 2 Kato heavy electrics that I was planning to convert to Milwaukee Little Joes, only to learn that Joes (almost) never run on the Coast Division.

Second I have moved my timeframe backwards from 1958 to 1949, so I need more Steam and less Diesel. And the diesels I need are different, more FT and less F9 and GPs.

Third: There are always projects: I have 3 MicroAce Japanese Electrics that will be converted to Milwaukee Boxcabs (eventually).

Fourth: Locos are cool. I just love heavy steam like Challengers, though the NP Challengers (almost) never made it to Tacoma. So I fudge a little to include them...

Fifth: Variety: Just imagine the disappointment of my ops crew if they would find the same engine at the point of the same train every session. There are some exceptions, as I always use Pacifics for the light passenger trains, but I currently have 2 operational (and one project) pacific, so there is soem variation again.

Six: I keep the junk. I stoill have a Model Power Alligator, with only 1 powered truck, I still have 2 Bachman F9 (with metal gears, affectionally known as meat-grinders), I still have the Bachman Plus F7, though all 11 have split gears....)

For me these 6 reasons conspire to increase my roster way beyond to what I actually need to run an ops session. But I feel quite comfortable, and enjoy picking another loco for a train when I set up the next ops session.

Cheers
Dirk

 

That's one of the things about the Milwaukee which is a little annoying for modellers, since we always want more locomotives than we can ever use. The gap between the electrified districts meant that power didn't mix.

I've heard that it's actually possible to salvage RSD-15s by remotoring.