130 Car Freight at the Brandywine River Museum Railroad

Great museum,we have a lot of their "critters" on our Christmas tree!

A train with Reading "banner" boxcars is a good one.

WOW That was a LOONNNNNGGGGGGGGG TRAIN. Thanks for posting it.

Excellent Video Bill

Wow.! How did they keep that thing together?

great video, thanks!!

Looks like the layout changed since the last time I was there.  I will have to take a day trip and go see it along with Longwood Gardens.   Thanks for sharing!

--Greg

What impresses me most is how well they have hidden the middle rail.

When I went to the museum as a child in the 80's I remember a freight train of similar length.  I didn't know much about 2 rail O scale at the time, but I believe the train was hauled by 2 PRR C Liners or Sharks.  I wonder it any of this train dates from that time period? 

Wow,

How do you keep the couplers from breaking, and what were you pulling the train with? The excitement and wonder in the voices of the children was priceless.

Thanks for posting the vedio.

Richard

That was a great clip.

 Love seeing long trains running Like that.

I remember going there back in the late "70" with my father to help work on the layout

back then.it had atlas trains running back then. I remember Don Brennan was one of the people working on the trains. we had a boxcar that had our shop logos on it That ran in the mix of cars.

Thanks for the video.

No middle rail and no traction tires either.  And it traverses a grade (I'm guessing about 2%) with curves.  Also, it climbs and descends without any human intervention and no cruise control. 

As far as I can tell, this is good old conventional two rail with the locos running a single horizontal motor with driveshafts geared to each truck. 

The trackwork has to be flawless which is pretty incredible considering the layout is knocked down and reinstalled each year.  It's stored in a trailer for 10 months or so each  year.  Built and operated by a really talented craftsman.

"What impresses me most is how well they have hidden the middle rail."

There are some sections where they "did not do as good a job."  LOL

Two loops look like this.

hate to nitpick, but a caboose is a non-revenue car.

i count 129 freight cars. 

i've pulled upwards of 100 cars before with a single locomotive (Weaver scale GG1) and it really takes keeping an eye on the throttle.  even very heavy front end cars (which are necessary) tend to ride up on their couplers after a while.  as the train is cruising, a slight throttle move to drop the voltage just a tad, and the couplers will loosen just enough to drop down to reengage solidly.

figuring ~40' per car, that's close to a mile drag, ...impressive!

Can't believe ALL

FREDSTRAINS those Couplers stayed together!!!

B & O Bill

The Brandywine Museum is probably about 45 minutes from me.

Is there a best time to go during the week when it is less crowded?

Thank you for posting the amazing video.

I'm amazed that they did that so seamlessly, by the time I get to 50 cars, at least one set of couplers are letting go.   Impressive video!

Wow!  I don't even have 130 cars to run!

The success of the annual train display and that long train running is due to the long hours and talent of my friend Steven Clarke and his hardy team of volunteers. Steve is a master of repair and he is usually found hunched over servicing a locomotive while the display continues to run. Steve is a master craftsman who really sweats the details regarding trackwork, axles, and couplers and the results speak for themselves.  Steve has been setting up this display close to 30 years and in addition to the layout, he develops a new theme for the static display each year. This years display features trains from Spain. I highly recommend a visit!

Eric Hofberg

TCA, LCCA 

"The Brandywine Museum is probably about 45 minutes from me.

Is there a best time to go during the week when it is less crowded?"

Not  sure, pennsyk4. It is about 2 hours from me. We went up for a 3-day mini-vacation and also visited Longwood Gardens and the Hagley Museum.  It was busy on  Saturday. but not oppressively so.

I'm glad somebody counted the cars. I did not, just took them at their word. Here's the track layout as well.  I'll try to get an overview video and more photos up later today.