Do you run really long trains??

Love to pull long 40+ car trains. Put the heavier cars closer to the engine, lighter towards the caboose. I'm a 3railer, so we just use rubber bands to keep the couplers shut. From what I understand Kaydee couplers are excellent and would likely hold just fine.

Joe,

My long BNSF worm trains are extremely heavy and I use a mix of Kadee and Atlas couplers.  I have seen where there is a need for locos up front, in the middle and perhaps in the rear.  Our groups track is flat same grade, but have a feeling if there was any grade whatsoever I would need some DPU locos in the rear.   All are body mounted couplers so unless the Atlas couplers break apart I usually don't have any issues like you're describing with truck mounted couplers.

The little 1/29th stuff I have I try and body mount everything.  The new USA trains freight cars make it very easy.

I once ran a 95-car train up a 1% grade powered by two heavily-weighted HO scale Model Power Baldwin Sharks. That was many, many years ago.

It was very realistic. With the throttle wide open and supplying a full 12 volts, the train was moving at a scale 10-12 mph.

I still have those old Sharks...

Hey Joe, when I do run anything around my loop I usually keep it to around 10 cars.  In G scale I have my B&O freight with 11 cars and a caboose.  My longest train in O scale is my Amtrak Superliner with 2 Genesis engines, 3 60' mail cars, 6 (I think) Superliner cars, and a few roadrailers.  So, maybe about 14 or 15 cars total.

Rick

I generally run through freights of 30-35 cars and first class passenger trains around 11 cars.  On my relatively flat Middle Division an M1 4-8-2 can handle even longer consists - but siding lengths tend to be the limiting factor.  On the 2.2% Pittsburgh Division helpers are required - up front on 20 car mail and express trains, on the rear of the 30-35 car freights (during open house displays for continuous running I generally keep the length down to around 27 cars to avoid helpers).  As long as couplers are set to the right height and the cars are approximately weighted to NMRA standards I don't have any issues with uncoupling or derailments. I have replaced a large number of earlier design defective AtlasO scale couplers.  IMO desirable train length is more a function of layout design and what "looks right" than mechanical function - therefore each modeler may come to his own conclusion about what is right for his railroad.

Ed Rappe

i run a 4-unit intermodal consist with 32 mth-premier intermodal cars. 4 mth premier engines consisting of: ac60cw, dash8, sd70m-2, and sd70-ace...............rogerw.

Hmmm. I pressed submit a half hour ago and it's still spinning gears?

 Yeap Rich, I believe it. I just wonder how long they'd keep doing it. I had a friend who ran proto HO engines with trains like that and he blew a driveshaft apart one day.

 I know guys will run whatever their engines will pull. I'm amazed at what they can pull. I tore apart another G scale engine to find the idler gears are worn badly. It runs great so I didn't expect it. No warning signs, no gear noise.  It just makes me pay attention to taking care of these engines a little better. I notice even with a single engine distributed towards the back, the whole train runs smoother. No coupler's poping. Even my older Atlas couplers, don't break anymore.

 Yeap, I switched all my O gauge over to KD body mounts. Now, I have to switch all my G scale over. Let's see, about a hundred cars times $X= Uh Oh. I'd better do a couple at a time.

The beauty of On30 is that six cars and a caboose is a long train. My other love is trolleys...even shorter trains!

Jeff C

Nah!  

When the engine is on a curve at one end of the room and the caboose/observation car is on a curve at the other end of the room that only makes my train room look small.  tt

Ahh come on Tom. Everyone wants  at sometime to see what these things will pull. I tried about seventy O gauge but that's all I had last year. I tried again this year with more but everything acted up that day. Darn trains are temperamental little ....

I've run up to 30 freight cars behind my BigBoy on O54-O72 curves and mostly flat track. My cars are mostly postwar Lionel which don't roll very freely, even after cleaning and lube. The loco could pull more but some couplers would pull apart with more load. If I had newer cars that rolled more freely I'm sure it could pull a longer train.

I've pulled 40+ cars on part of my HO layout even with 15" radius curves and some steep grades.

 All I've got is a place where the track has to climb maybe 1" where it's out of level. I can't imagine a steep grade yet. I will build one soon with a mild grade. I saw a video of Ed's trains climbing his grades. I think my train would have come apart. I need to go over everything and make sure the couplers are aligned, wheels are rolling smooth, etc.

 All this comes about because of my plans of a multi level layout. I figure I'll test things before I build.

Ran a 40-foot train at a club open house two years ago. The club's grades are 1.5% and one of the powered units was a pusher.

Here's a shorter one.

No I don't run really long trains. As Ed noted, it's more a matter of layout design, and more specifically the capacity of passing tracks for me. A dozen cars makes a nice managable and realistic branchline freight on my RR.

Bob

Joe,

Since you mention 'G' gauge......I enjoyed running long trains outdoors on my RR.

I ran a single 1/29 USA Trains GP-7 pulling 34 cars and a caboose. I estimated the train at 55 feet long. I remove the traction tires. The engine had no problem pulling it.  It didn't even slip at all.

Brian

 Brian, I would like to see your RR. Your work here has been great. I'm glad you removed the traction tires. Those idlers strip inside the gear box. I believe that the manufacturer is making them without tires now also. They are great locos and pull like beasts. I had an easier time upgrading the SD70MAC to DCS than some other brands. I wanted to get a CSX SD70MAC from them in dark blue someday too.

 Just one of their locos will probably pull my train. So I use three or four! I figure why wear out anything.

 Nice trains Matt!!

Matt, Super nice trains.. Thanks for sharing the videos.

Joe, you are right, maybe only to see what could be done.  Just never in normal operation. 

That practice makes my layout seem too small which is why I converted from a mainline orientation to branch line. 

Matt...excellent videos...impressive for sure...thank you.

Interesting tidbit I found a few years ago:

Just how long should that consist be? If there are grades on your railroad then the answer is, “Shorter than you think!” The C&O had to negotiate Cheviot Hill outside Cincinnati, which was at a 1.9-% grade westbound. C&O K-1, K-2, and K-3 Mikado’s, which were some of the heaviest 2-8-2s ever built, could each pull only 11 loaded 50-ton hoppers (these are the short 2-bay hoppers like those made by Weaver) up the grade. This required 50-car hopper trains to have five 2-8-2s, one or two on the lead, one or two cut in the middle, and two trailing pushers. These were not the only locomotives that labored as they pulled the steep grades common to the C&O railroad. Their mighty H6 2-6-6-2 articulated locomotives were only capable of pulling 16 to 17 loaded hoppers up the 2.5% grades common in the coal country of West Virginia. If you have 2% or 3% grades on your layout, then trains should not be very long unless they have multiple engines.

For diesel fans, most first-generation diesel units like the FT, F-3, FA, and RS-3, could only handle about two-thirds of the load of a typical 2-8-2 steamer. The FT diesels used by the Santa-Fe were rated at one loaded car per axle when traversing the Cajon Pass grade. This loading factor limited a FT ABBA set to hauling only 16-cars up its grade. Both steam and diesel motive power could handle about 3 or 4 times as many cars on level terrain as they could on a 2% grade.

If you are interested in replicating a prototypical consist on your layout, fewer cars in the train and less variety in road names can both be very realistic.

--Greg

 "The FT diesels used by the Santa-Fe were rated at one loaded car per axle when traversing the Cajon Pass grade."

Holly Cow! That's not much. These toys will pull their heart out trying to pull whatever we can attach. I just think that we should not overtax them and then complain about them wearing out.

 I got an older model that I believe was run at shows until it got old. I took it apart recently and the trucks are worn severly. I would have at least expected the owner to oil the axles. There was plenty of grease inside for the gears but the axle bushings looked dry. So now they're sloppy. It'll probably get stripped and turned into a dummy soon. Shame. Oil them axles!!!

Sure, 3 powered MTH ES44's 2 dummies and 25 husky stacks and 2 ACDEB gunderson-twin stacks.  It was one heck of a heavy train.  It was physically long not by car count.  I am also working on a longer auto-rack,  I have 7 pairs of Atlas articulated and looking to get a few of the new Lionel 2-pks.  Fun. Fun. Fun. 

 Actually Mike, your's is one of the trains I copy. I was wondering how much of a climb they do at the club??

 Rich M, Tom Z., etc, were what I watched that captured my directional goals. I think when ever we go over 10 or 15 cars, there's an added level of excitement. Part of it is fear, that they'll all stringline and hit the floor! When they don't, it's a good day.

Hi Joe, I don't have enough rolling stock to put together much more than15 cars so I can'y help you. Sorry

Not any more on my current small layout. But on a former 14x32, round-the-wall layout I ran 30 weighted Clinchfield hoppers for over 10 years behind a CC&O Challenger [lot of traction tires]. The first ten cars weighted with pennies to avoid "stringlining" upon start-up in a curve.

And on the passenger side, 14 Crescent Limited cars behind Southen Ps-4 #1396. Included a Crescent Limited Reefer, four head end cars and two Diners along with the Coaches, Sleepers and Observation.

 Yeah, OK......wait a minute..u got more than I do!!! Pull out all those engines and lets run 'em!!!

 Some of the guys who run pass trains, probably have the same loading? The cars are longer and heavier right? In my HO days, they didn't roll very well either.

 Hmmm, might not need a piggy bank any more. Somewhere to keep my change!

I'm currently at 43 cars and my Lionel UP H7 isn't breaking a sweat!

Joe I have had 2 other layouts in the past 6 years, My First layout had O-54's curves and was level. I never tried to see a max number of cars that I could pull but I know I used to run 25 cars with one diesel and that had the cars in 3 90 degree curves st the same time.

The second layout had O-54 Curves also and I pulled 22 cars with a little 0-6-0 STEAMER all the time with a flat layout.

In a temp configuration with O-96 and O-72 curves and no inclines we run 32 cars with one Diesel while we are building the real 3rd layout. The real 3rd layout has track elevation change's  of +14 inches. The inclines are less than 2 degrees. I have thought about lowering the invlines yet again. I took them down a few inches already. Even though the total change is +14" THE MAX incline on one track is +10".

I do hope to run some long freight's such as coal drags, Tank Train unit trains,Autorack unit trains and intermodal unit trains. On the passenger side

I hope to run some long K-line 21" Santa Fe consist and long CN & GTW Passenger cars. Iwill have to look carefully at poer zones and consider converting the passenger cars to LED lighting.

I had no idea so many cars could be pulled at any one time. I've been to a lot of shows that have a lot less than what you all are sharing! Unbelieveable numbers.

I must have missed this. I was trying to remember what you're grades were. Very cool.

G SCALE USA  TRAINS BIG BOY 152 CARS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhQMqKl38wU

 Yeap, Dennis runs some super long trains! That USA has ball bearings inside and is meant to pull. Some engines are meant to be pullers. If you see the price and the weight of that engine, you might agree.

Wow , now that's impressive.

Wish I could pull a long one but that would mean I'd need another 2 train rooms. I pass about town and see these older manufactured homes in delapidated condition, One on the Res. just sitting there wanting to be hauled to the dump but in a too good enough condition for a shell for a train room. It looks already gutted and is about 14 x 60. Every time I pass by it calls to me to take it home and put it against the smaller one I have already. I sure would like the longer run of that extra  60' vs the 36' I have now. But if I could get it for free and a few K to haul and set up and a few more K to repair to operation, a 2 year train budget. Buy what I can used on craigs list, lights, lumber, etc. Well, keep dreaming. maybe when I am done with the original 10.5 x 36. Would have been nice to have a basement under my 30 x 72 house like most back East.