Do I run my locomotives more than most?

I'd say run them as much as you like.  You're taking care of them and they run like new.  Enjoy them! 

You should post this as a survey, I'm curious on the metrics for this topic.

Seven hours of running hasn't even broken them in yet.   The train that runs outside the Henning's Trains store has had several sets of rollers as they wear a groove all the way to the axle, and it's on it's second motor.  However, it's still chugging along.

Hi Lou1985, I run ten trains, plus one trolley during each session. Then, for the next operating event, I change all the locomotives, which includes changing passenger and freight consists, as well. It's great fun, when I am in the mood to run 'em. When there have been guests, each session has lasted about an hour and a half. Then, folks have been ready for the buffet (!)

FrankM, Moon Township, USA

I'm not at all systematic about loco changes ... ie: changing out locos after X amount of running time.  Most of the time I run the same locomotives for a month or two ( sometimes even much longer ) , only changing the freight and passenger consists during that time.  Basically I change the locomotive when I desire to see another kind of locomotive on the point of the train.  

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Seven hours of running hasn't even broken them in yet.   The train that runs outside the Henning's Trains store has had several sets of rollers as they wear a groove all the way to the axle, and it's on it's second motor.  However, it's still chugging along.

That 7 hours isn't broken in yet. I'm just curious if most people put that much run time on a locomotive in 2 months. 

That F3 I've had since I was a kid has gone through 2 sets of brushes, 2 sets of pickup rollers, and several light bulbs. Trucks and motors are still factory original. Grease and oil in the correct quantities really helps.

I bought a MIB MTH Premier Santa Fe Hudson back in mid August 2018. It had .1 miles and 3 minutes of run time when came out of the box. 8 months later this is what it has.

Hope I’m not crashing the party.....my Pittman swapped Mohawks see 7 to 8 hours a day. Sometimes all week long. They come in for maintenance every 50 hours run time....during the fall and winter, sometimes those times increase 25% or more....I made a thread about maintenance intervals before, but it never got traction. I build the custom ones with as much precision as my machinery will allow....so they can run long times, not overheat, and not draw too many amps....car maintenance is a headache at the car shops, it’s a never ending battle against time. My train room was a gift from my wife. So the biggest respect I can pay her is to keep revenue service running as long as the electric bill allows.............Pat

They were MADE to run....so run 'em and enjoy 'em.  Frequently.

No point in saving the hours for the next guy, IMHO.

BTW: most model trains DEPRECIATE in value over time these days.  

Why buy something, keep it in the box so that it's "MINT IN BOX"....and then sell it for less money than you paid for it? 

Berkshire President posted:

They were MADE to run....so run 'em and enjoy 'em.  Frequently.

No point in saving the hours for the next guy, IMHO.

BTW: most model trains DEPRECIATE in value over time these days.  

Why buy something, keep it in the box so that it's "MINT IN BOX"....and then sell it for less money than you paid for it? 

And I do run them. I don't have display shelves. All 10 locomotives I own are on my layout ready to run at any time. I bought them to run, not look at. I don't consider them investments at all, just expensive toys I intend to use for their created purpose, to pull trains.

Lou1985 posted:

Berkshire President posted:

They were MADE to run....so run 'em and enjoy 'em.  Frequently.

No point in saving the hours for the next guy, IMHO.

BTW: most model trains DEPRECIATE in value over time these days.  

Why buy something, keep it in the box so that it's "MINT IN BOX"....and then sell it for less money than you paid for it? 

And I do run them. I don't have display shelves. All 10 locomotives I own are on my layout ready to run at any time. I bought them to run, not look at. I don't consider them investments at all, just expensive toys I intend to use for their created purpose, to pull trains.

Lou, you hit the nail on the head, and idle locomotive generates no revenue..........REVENUE being the enjoyment it brings us!........so I say pay up suckers!..........Pat

Here ps2 will run on small 4x8 for an hour then switched out to another ps2 . At same time on other loop track or by themselves will run postwar or prewar also usually for 30 to 45 minutes then switch out to another. Only few feet away may be at computer reading with handheld besides me.

Very relaxing.

Honestly, running a locomotive 287 scale miles over a two-month period is not unusual or impressive. Essentially, that’s 526 actual feet per day. If you had a 10-by-10-foot layout, that would be 13 trips around the layout per day.

And seven hours over two months? That’s seven minutes per day, barely time to get the engine warm.

You might be fixating on the odometer too much.

I have an MTH Railking Southern Pasific GS PS-2 steam engine that's been run regularly for 12 years and over 7,600 scale miles and it hasn't skipped a beat.  Regular maintenance is the key.

I got about 38 engines and for me to run all of them. 2 or 3 a week, I sometimes can run all of them through a Month Rotation.

I run the dog out of all my stuff. Both postwar and modern. At least 1-2 hours a day usually without switching them out. I’m the same way with keeping an engine on the same track until I want to see something different running. This usually happens once/twice a month. 

My Proto1 engines have not seen a lot of run time lately, but they never fail when thrown back on the tracks for duty. I ran the snot out of em in years passed. I have more trouble out of my modern (to me) Lionel’s. My legacy sd70 has an odyssey problem, and my TMCC Lionmaster challenger has giving me a few electrical issues. The rest are pretty robust... 

I like to keep em nice.... But in reality as mentioned, they are toys after all! They are meant to be enjoyed and used.

about 8 minutes a day.  I do some band stretching while they are running.  Then sometimes more, but at least that every day. 

Well it's good to know I'm not excessively running stuff (I didn't think I was). I actually could probably run stuff more, but with the warm weather approaching that isn't likely to happen soon .