200 Feet of train

Carsntrains............OMG !!    Am I in trouble?      Darn............ To much fun ?  No such thing !!  

clem k posted:

Carsntrains............OMG !!    Am I in trouble?      Darn............ To much fun ?  No such thing !!  

Naw, you ain't over the limit ......yet! 😃

clem k posted:

Elliot....... Once I got up to 175 feet minor things started happening. So about two hours after I got to 200 feet I took this video. It was a lot of fun, the 2.2 percent grade really messes with things. Gravity is strong stuff.

Clem

Yup, when you start dealing with long trains, "macro physics" kick in and they begin to behaving like the real thing.

A long time ago I was in a modular group, and at a mall show we did around 60 cars with a single postwar steamer. There was a lot of car juggling to get it to work, and the kids just flocked around to see it. We had a few derailments along the way, and they accordioned just like the prototype. The kids really liked that.

Now that I've seen that, I keep picturing a 200' train on my layout. You have no idea how cool it would be to watch it go down one track of my 10' diameter helix, through the 160' hidden yard, and pass itself going up the other helix track, or just going down all six turns from the top. Of course it'll never happen unless you bring your Kadeed fleet. Your MTH engines wouldn't work on my layout cause I don't have DCS, but I have enough Lionel to pull it.

I showed the video to my wife, and her first comment was, "I like his trees". She thought the train was cool too.

Clem

Really amazing. I love the long trains. How many cars were in the consist?

Wow!!This is very cool.I am at a lost for words at this wow!!

Elliot

Yes even though the locomotives stop doesn't mean the train stopped.

I'm still putting trains in storage boxes.  so I haven't got to my next train build yet. I also really like all the trees, scenic express can fix you right up.  

L.I. TRAIN........I forgot to count 

Clem

Rail ride said he counted 140, those 89' cars take up a lot of room.

You can't break Newton's laws.

I think I actually bought a few of those trees from SE, but most of my layout will be deciduous (all seasons).

Steve, it's recorded for posterity, just count them as they go by. Good luck.

I love it! Go Clem!

I'm sad I didn't buy the tunnel motor from you before. I was told that I can't have them all. 

L.I.TRAIN posted:

Clem

Raly amazing. I love the long trains. How many cars were in the consist?

Ok Steve, I counted it. It was 143 cars, 9 locos, and a caboose, which makes sense, because many of them are more than 12" long. That gets it to 200' with the locos. There were a few short hoppers, but the long Atlas flats with trailers, Lionel auto racks and the Lionel 86' box cars, more than made up for them.

There were a few articulated units in it. Those were counted as the number of cars in the group. So right behind the front locos there was a 5 unit Atlas Gunderson set, which I counted as 5 not one. There was a 3 unit of the newer Atlas 53' cars. There were a bunch of MTH 2 car spine sets as well.

Don't start counting when the train first passes going to the left on the inner track. you'll only get up around 40 before Clem pans a bit and breaks the shot. Wait til it comes back on the outer track going to the right. You'll get a nice clean count.

I still can't get over this. Almost bedtime. Screw the sheep, I'm counting Clem's train cars.

Clem, that was just pure fun!  Thank you for sharing. 

That is awesome!  Nice layout too!

I am speechless, Clem!!😮 I come up with 1.82 scale miles for 200 feet of train.   Very impressive!

Larry

Good morning:

Thank you Thaddeus, Brian, and thanks for the count Elliot.

 What I did when making up the train is stage the cars on my long straight sections, That are made up of eight foot sections of plywood, that gives me a section  24' long. Push that group of cars down the track , then make another section. I always went over the line never under. And yes the locomotives are included in the overall length. I got close to 200' but not quite, so I measured what I needed and dug more cars out.

The intermodal spine cars are K-Line that I lowered and now ride on Weaver Delrin trucks. 

Did anyone notice the trailers on the 89' flats ?  Two 45' trailers don't fit on a 89' car especially with a refrigeration unit on the front.

The short Tankers are Weaver plastic with plastic trucks, with no weight added. They never derailed or string lined! The ones that gave me trouble where two Atlas Tropicana reefers and then the Lionel auto racks, and that was just a matter of luck with their location in consist.

It's easier and quicker to install Kadee's when you already have all your cars. The hard part is figuring out the spacers needed and mounting. Once you know that, for that particular car, just do all those at the same time. Have all your spacers, trucks if changing, template for drilling, correct screws and couplers already put together. Laidoff sick's video is really good !    "Thank you Doug"

Clem    

Larry.. I knew it was close to 2 miles, I don't like math.  I wish DCS measured in feet. I could use that more than scale mile distance.

Clem

Actually Clem the math is kind of easy. A scale mile is exactly 110', so at 200' you were just under 2 miles, by 960 scale feet. 10560 (2 miles) - 960 = 9600 scale feet of train. It wouldn't surprise me if you had a foot of slack action, between full stretch and full compression, in a train that long.

So Elliot-looks like the bar has been set- do you think you could do a longer train??????

I watched the video again last night- still amazed.
Great stuff Clem.

Bob

Wow Clem, Thank you for sharing your video, pushing the Limit, pulling a 200 foot long train over a very well landscaped Layout. Congratulations on a job well done. I noticed your track work, (excellent work) and wondered what diameter/or radius you were using. Second question, were your KD couplers body mounted? I personally think body mounted coupling would help in non-derailing issues. My last question would be were there any grades involved and if so, were the grades less than a 2 per-cent rise? Just wondering. 

Your track plan looks really nice, allowing for fun operation. If you can, show us some individual pictures of your layout. I realize you utilize DCS Command, just wondering if you also use Lionel’s Legacy System to. Thank you for your time and wonderfully produced video. Fantastic. Happy Railroading.

, 

Clem's layout is something to see. It looks like a double main yet in fact it is one very long loop. Running your train with several others on at the same time is a challenge. Most of the time you don't know where your train is. I found that the best way is to walk with your train.

Jim

RSJB18 posted:

So Elliot-looks like the bar has been set- do you think you could do a longer train??????

I watched the video again last night- still amazed.
Great stuff Clem.

Bob

Sadly no Bob. Clem's layout is the perfect environment for an attempt like this. It has broad curves, gentle grades, and his fleet has Kadee couplers, all of which are contributing factors to his success.

While I have the mainline length to do this, my layout design has way more curves with 072 minimums , and many over 180 degrees. I would most likely suffer stringlining all over the place. An attempt of this nature would just be more trouble than it would be worth. I'm perfectly happy to let Clem hang onto this honor.

I don't know how many cars Clem had on this train but I was there when we ran a 146 car military train of flat cars with diecast loads.

Thanks Elliot:............ I guess I have a lazy brain, Darn slack was another thing I wanted to measure. Foot sounds about right maybe more.

Larry:......I have about 2.2% grade for 34 feet, Kadee's are all body mount and cars lowered as close to prototype as I could get, I plan on another video soon, now that one of my two youtube accounts is working.

There is more information listed on youtube, below the video. Push the "show more" button get the full paragraph.

Bob:...........sounds like I need more transformer, I still have about 75 feet of empty track.  

Clem

Clem, what a wonderful video! Love all the engines and how they are working together! Just wondering did you invite Brian over to help? LOL If Needed to try a longer train, I am sure Brian has some cars he could loan you!

Jim............. that is fun and very enjoyable when a bunch of the D3R's are here.

Clem

You can still figure out the slack with math. Just grab two cars, push them together, measure, then stretch them and measure again. the difference is the slack for one car. Then just multiply by the number of cars. I'm thinking that number could go as high as 1/4". If that was the case, you could have close to 3' of slack in that train.

It's all about those dreaded jr high math word problems.

Mike G...........Glad you liked it. I did this one by myself, it wasn't planned.

Clem

Ok....... now I see why nobody sees that statistics, you can only see them when you select the link instead of the video.  Now if I can only get this right.

9 MTH powered locomotives, no dummies, 4 Lionel 180 bricks, 4 power blocks, DCS control, 300 feet of mainline, 34 feet of 2.2% grade, over 900 degrees of curvature, Kadee couplers, about 22 smph. Mainline curves are 120 dia. Cars are a mixture of everybody's, from Weaver light weight to Atlas heavy die cast, Majority of cars ride on Weaver Delrin trucks and wheels. Cars from 89' to 34' long, NO traction tires.

Clem

I watched again.  What a fun project, that created a lot of interest.  As an added benefit, It is helping increase the brain power of all us old guys!  LOL

"No Traction Tires"
The most amazing part of all......

Hey Bob.........Thought you might like this photo. These are some of the traction tire wheels I removed. I didn't realize             how many I had. Ive been running with out traction tires on my freight diesels for years. 1/2 of my passenger diesels have tires.  I have whole box full of wheels, axles ,and gears 

Clem

Truly an astonishing and almost unbelievable feat. If you don't mind a minor suggestion. I know this was not planned ahead of time, but if you ever do it again, an accomplishment like this deserves a first class video. At the very least a tripod to eliminate the shaking. Better yet if you have a friend with experience or equipment, a pro video, maybe with some bird's eye shots. 

But I don't want to take anything away from your great feat- thanks for sharing it.

Your correct ...........it would be nice.  

Great job Clem.  Thumbs Up!

Thank you Charlie..........Right on cue 

Clem

That lash up was getting the job done Clem ! just how many amps were you pulling, if you don’t mind me asking....looks like The consist wasn’t even breaking  a sweat....super neat video....really enjoyed it!....Thanks!..........Pat

Hi Clem...just want to say "great work".  And about the military train back in 2017, didn't we use the Legacy System???

Awesome, Clem! I showed this video on my iPad at the lunch table at the hospital today!

Peter

Pat.........Peter ...........Andy..........thank you I enjoyed doing this.

Andy I think someone brought a Legacy system here. Yours was all Lionel with my 2 Lionel Mohawks pushing.

Pat...... they where not working hard, I idon'thave an Ammeter. The bricks did trip a couple of times because of overload. I then cut the speed down from 26 smph. to 22 smph. and the breaker didn't trip. 9 locomotives in one block is asking a lot.    

clem 

Putnam Division posted:

Awesome, Clem! I showed this video on my iPad at the much table at the hospital today!

Peter

Peter, Clem’s train was MUCH more interesting than medical stuff for sure!  LOL

clem k posted:

Pat.........Peter ...........Andy..........thank you I enjoyed doing this.

Andy I think someone brought a Legacy system here. Yours was all Lionel with my 2 Lionel Mohawks pushing.

Pat...... they where not working hard, I idon'thave an Ammeter. The bricks did trip a couple of times because of overload. I then cut the speed down from 26 smph. to 22 smph. and the breaker didn't trip. 9 locomotives in one block is asking a lot.    

clem 

I have a meter and even in G scale or on my O scale 2 rail, if the engines are just cruising along and the smoke is off, they can average below 1 amp a piece. Because of that and the fact that the signal was weaker back when I tried it, I didn't go passive wiring on either layout. So I also have to be careful how many engines are in my blocks. I try to keep it under five so that I can run with the smoke on. Many more if the smoke is off. Yet it depends on how you attack a grade. I think the outdoors add to the issues like heat and dirt. I swear in the really hot weather, an engine can draw more attacking a grade.

 As many times as I tried big trains, you'd think I'd have some major derails in 2 rail. Once, a flat car jumped the tracks and it was from a poor turning truck on a homemade bolster. It alone made me nervous. No other big stories to tell. I tripped a few bricks in a few tries, and nothing major occurred!

 Now that I've learned about adding a choke to passive wiring, I may try it again when I get the energy to. Sometimes I just leave things alone. I can't remember the last time I tried to run a really big train. I fought with software issues during staging attempts and it wore me down. A few scrambled engines also plagued my more recent attempts.