Running Long Trains

I've never had the space to run one, but I'd love to put together a NYC 20th Century Limited in that gorgeous Art Deco style, with a 4-8-4 Niagara at the head.

I love running long trains at my operating club, the Paradise and Pacific.  I never run less than two powered diesels to pull my trains due to weight.  The 18 car El Capitan one video is all aluminum cars with the exception of some heavyweight head end cars.  I hope to eventually get that train to it's more prototypical consist and length of about 20 cars when GGD decides to redo the 1951 Super Chief someday.  My longest freight train was 75 cars in a mixed freight.  More typically, I am running around 50 plus or minus on freight trains.

These are not new videos and I have not been as active this last year and a half, but a few trains I like to regularly run. 

Old video off a Windows phone (yes that old!) of my Williams PA's prior to upgrading to Sunset ones.  The rear unit is wired to start in reverse for easy conventional operation.

The El Capitan slows through Holbrook, AZ.  Two of the three FP45s are powered.  I own 6 powered units so I can swap them out during any run session that is over 2 hours.

I love running long trains on my 4 x 8 layout

John

WOW!  Very impressive Andy.  Thanks for posting the video.

- walt

Here's my Marx cattle car train. Power is double headed K-Line versions of the Marx 333 Pacific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl7_MSigPlw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDpJxbWUM_4

I adore long trains, and run 30-50 car units on my old Plywood empire.  My favorite power units were two MTH proto1 SD90 EMD demo units.  They could haul the world, but to keep the tail from chasing itself on my layout I had to limit to a max of 50 cars.  

One of the primary goals of my new layout was to be able to run longer trains, so I went with the folded dogbone on two levels with 140 feet of mainline track.  That allows me to run 50-60 cars and still not be chasing my tail.

At a club function at Harry's place, I ran this 115 car freight using two Legacy U-Boats.

Andy,

I like your long trains, very nice Freedom train and I like the ore cars too.

I am a modular club guy too, and I am a fan of long trains made up of 40’ boxcars, they are my favorite trains to run on club layouts, and on my basement layout.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

One of the primary goals of my new layout was to be able to run longer trains, so I went with the folded dogbone on two levels with 140 feet of mainline track.  That allows me to run 50-60 cars and still not be chasing my tail.

At a club function at Harry's place, I ran this 115 car freight using two Legacy U-Boats.

A man after my own heart regarding tank cars!  Enjoyed your vid.  A snap of mine.

@Commodorefirst posted:

A man after my own heart regarding tank cars!  Enjoyed your vid.  A snap of mine.

Thanks, those were all my little 8,000 gallon sized cars.  I have 60 or 70 of the larger scale cars as well, but they're not unpacked yet.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Thanks, those were all my little 8,000 gallon sized cars.  I have 60 or 70 of the larger scale cars as well, but they're not unpacked yet.

Very nice.  Look forward to a long consist of them. I have a fair number of the 20,000 gal from Atlas, MTH, and a good number still in boxes too.  The wall units are my current runners.  Only 8000 I have are the MTH units you see.

Amazing, Andy!!! I wish I had enough room to run long trains like those. Thanks for sharing.

Now, I have to ask... how long does it take to put all those ore cars on the track???

I love long trains, but the term "long" is relative.

For me on my layout, a long train is 10 cars. There is a reverse loop on each end of my 2 main lines and I have 031 curves and 031 postwar switches, so a locomotive on my layout will hit the caboose if I run more than 10 cars.

I'm sure some of you think that a 10 car train is a short train. Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I'm sure some of you think that a 10 car train is a short train. Arnold

Well.... yes, that would be a short train here.

I once had a Baldwin Model Locomotive Works that would pull a twenty-car passenger train around the club layout. No grades were involved so that was a help.

@PRRMP54 posted:

I once had a Baldwin Model Locomotive Works that would pull a twenty-car passenger train around the club layout. No grades were involved so that was a help.

I'm sure that locomotive was a stump puller as most of the Baldwin models were cast bronze weren't they?  Also the gearing in those was made for pulling.

I think any of my larger Legacy or MTH steamers would have no issues pulling 20 passenger cars.  I've pulled 70+ freight cars with the Vision Line Big Boy, and my previously posted 54 tank car train was pulled by my Legacy C&O Mallet, and it didn't break a sweat.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I love long trains, but the term "long" is relative.

I'm sure some of you think that a 10 car train is a short train. Arnold

Well, Arnold, as you point out, long is a relative term - it really depends on how long the cars are... My main line is 14’x16’ or so. Recently, I was running four 21” passenger cars with a pair of E7’s and that made for a 6 car train that was just over 9’ long!!!

@Apples55 posted:

Now, I have to ask... how long does it take to put all those ore cars on the track???

It didn't take very long as the owner had a helper putting them on the track.  He also packs them in a way that makes them easy to unpack and re-pack.

I didn't see how long it took to pack them back up, or if he had help in that aspect, but we had that layout down and packed in our vehicles and trailer in 1.5 hours, which is about normal for a layout that size.

Andy

On a long model freight train it is fun to add a Lionel sound car to the rear…as the trains rolls away, one can hear the clickey clack, and clunks, like when rail-fanning trackside.

I love sound cars, and I like to sprinkle a couple around in a long freight train.

I measure long trains by length (feet), I have to many very different length cars.

My best is two hundred feet, I have a youtube video somewhere but lost access to youtube with latest upgrade of computer.

I do have it posted on the forum somewhere.

I run dinky little LONG TRAINS.  15"passengers, 8,000 gallon tanks, ore cars etc.  Like Clem, I measure in feet.  I have run 30 ft of train... interesting, but not practical with multiple trains.  16ft works for me where I can run multiple  trains that can make it through the reversing loops without running into themselves.  Sound Cars=

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I love sound cars, and I like to sprinkle a couple around in a long freight train.

I cant wait to get my new Lionel Hobo Sound boxcar I ordered in the latest catalog...should be a cool addition to my looong boxcar train.

@clem k posted:

I measure long trains by length (feet), I have to many very different length cars.

My best is two hundred feet, I have a youtube video somewhere but lost access to youtube with latest upgrade of computer.

I do have it posted on the forum somewhere.

How do you "lose" access to Youtube?  You just log into Google with your name and password and you have it back.

I have 45' straight aways and 138" curves. Can pretty much run anything I want.

Andy,

The AFT makes a great long train.  I have put together Lionel, MTH, and K-Line to come up with 21 of the 26 cars.  I hope to get three Atlas 89' flatcars and finish those plus the tool car soon.

You don't need to run the AFT with any fantasy engines.  The real T1 and GS4 many times had diesel "helpers", which were probably not needed but required by the railroads the AFT ran on.  More likely for publicity.

Here is my "long" AFT.  Took it with my old phone so not the best video.

@Craignor posted:

On a long model freight train it is fun to add a Lionel sound car to the rear…as the trains rolls away, one can hear the clickey clack, and clunks, like when rail-fanning trackside.

The sound cars are certainly fun.  We often run trains with 4-5 of them in a consist.  A few times we ran some long freights with 16 sound cars mixed in... you should have heard those trains! 

Andy

@Andy Hummell posted:

The sound cars are certainly fun.  We often run trains with 4-5 of them in a consist.  A few times we ran some long freights with 16 sound cars mixed in... you should have heard those trains! 

Andy

Yes, I would of liked to hear that, surely awesome.

One time with the Trackers, we triple headed three Legacy Big Boys pulling a hundred cars. Hard to keep it together without the couplers opening up, it was fun though.

Another time we had a train pulled by 23 Beeps.

@Andy Hummell posted:

The sound cars are certainly fun.  We often run trains with 4-5 of them in a consist.  A few times we ran some long freights with 16 sound cars mixed in... you should have heard those trains! 

WOW!   I've had five in a 40 car consist, it was pretty noisy, sixteen of them in any sized train would be something!

@Craignor posted:

One time with the Trackers, we triple headed three Legacy Big Boys pulling a hundred cars. Hard to keep it together without the couplers opening up, it was fun though.

Another time we had a train pulled by 23 Beeps.

My VL-BB was part of a four BB quad-headed train at the NJ-HR at one of the Trainstock visits, only issue was with smoke it kept tripping the track breaker!  Now, the 23 BEEPS would have been a fun train to see!   I have half a dozen BEEPs, I'm creating a couple of multiple-unit command consists using one command board.  I'll have a triple PRR one and a double Reading one.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

WOW!   I've had five in a 40 car consist, it was pretty noisy, sixteen of them in any sized train would be something!

My VL-BB was part of a four BB quad-headed train at the NJ-HR at one of the Trainstock visits, only issue was with smoke it kept tripping the track breaker!  Now, the 23 BEEPS would have been a fun train to see!   I have half a dozen BEEPs, I'm creating a couple of multiple-unit command consists using one command board.  I'll have a triple PRR one and a double Reading one

The 23 Beeps worked great, they draw so little that we didn't have a problem with the breaker at all.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

WOW!   I've had five in a 40 car consist, it was pretty noisy, sixteen of them in any sized train would be something!

Yes, it certainly is something, and we definitely don't recommend it in a confined space... at least without ear protection. 

We last did this at an outdoor setup (under a pavilion) we did in July.  Everyone in the park knew where to find us.  The kids kept asking how we made it sound like a real train.

Several of us wonder how many we can pull without tripping a breaker...

Andy

Andy Hummell:

Thanks you for posting the video of the freedom train.  I have never seen more than one or two of the cars that are in this set.  Would it be possible at some point to do a video of your train running slow enough that each of the cars can be properly viewed?

Thank again for the nice videos!

Don

I love long trains!

Here is the Juice Train:

Here is an Army Train:

Have a great evening.....

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

I love long trains!

Here is the Juice Train:

Here is an Army Train:

Have a great evening.....

Peter

Peter,

I love your juice train.

From my office I see the real one a few times a week.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

How do you "loose" access to Youtube?  You just log into Google with your name and password and you have it back.

Uh no, if you've had a  YouTube account and screen name before the Google takeover you had one screen name that you legged in with, then after Google came into play you logged in with your Google name and technically had a "new" account, your old screen name was archived as was your account. You can get it and your account back but it takes a little running around because when you log in it will not show your original screen name or account. It happens to me every once in a while and then I have to figure out how to get back into my original account.

Andy,

Your elevated view of the layout shows Lionel’s new Preamble Express.  Though not a long train, that was probably a crowd pleaser.

Thanks for sharing.

@DGJONES posted:

Andy Hummell:

Thanks you for posting the video of the freedom train.  I have never seen more than one or two of the cars that are in this set.  Would it be possible at some point to do a video of your train running slow enough that each of the cars can be properly viewed?

Thank again for the nice videos!

Don

Here is a video of another member's Big Boy pulling the AFT at a much slower speed that gives a somewhat better view of the cars:

Andy

@CAPPilot posted:

Andy,

Your elevated view of the layout shows Lionel’s new Preamble Express.  Though not a long train, that was probably a crowd pleaser.

Thanks for sharing.

Here is a brief clip of it running.  It was definitely a crowd pleaser.   A lot of people asked where they could get one, and unfortunately we couldn't help in this regard.

Andy