Do you couple all your cars together on your train shelf?

SORRY about your mishap! My display has coupled LGB and PIKO cars and engines only and I employ a handy tool called a PIKO uncoupling wand. Have not had a problem to date.

That's good advice Chris. Sorry for your loss...

George

Tinplate Art posted:

SORRY about your mishap! My display has coupled LGB and PIKO cars and engines only and I employ a handy tool called a PIKO uncoupling wand. Have not have a problem to date.

"Not had a problem to date".  I remember taking off a Verandah Turbine off the shelf.  Before I could react, the tender came with it, to the carpet.

Damage was a new coupler on the engine, a new set of rails on the tender and 2 steps off the tender.  Thankfully all replaceable from Lionel.

My answer now, Is No Way!  You can put them end to end, and actually have them appear closer together by offsetting the couplers.

There is no practical advantage to coupling them, and disadvantages if you do.  Perhaps I am missing a true advantage.

Static engine can keep loose cars from rolling, in your next earthquake.

All of my engines and cars on my rail racks have the couplers open, IMO, longer life for the coupler springs...I'm anal that way...😜

Jeff

colorado hirailer posted:

Static engine can keep loose cars from rolling, in your next earthquake.

I use a piece of slit nylon tubing (chocks) and put it on the rail ends.  Works well, and invisible.

WOW, bummer!  Currently, I have 70+ locomotives on the shelves in the hallway, still working on shelves for more locomotives and rolling stock.  I don't connect tenders to locomotives or coupler them together, this appears to be a good reason why.

Sorry to hear about that Chris.  While I've never done that personally, several years ago I was visiting a layout during an open house and the host did that with one of his trains.   You're not alone and I'm sure there are others.

-Greg

I have mine coupled, for what I think is a more realistic appearance. When I remove an engine or a car off the shelf, I slowly lift it up about an inch with one hand, and with the other hand undo the couplers with any other cars or engines that are adjoining, before lifting it up and off the shelf. Never had a problem. I've never caught on any other cars in the process. I move my hands very slowly, so even if my sleeve or whatever snagged on something, I'd feel the tug before anything happened.

Not quite sure what happened to the OP from his description: "I went to lift something below one of my train shelves and caught the observation car." It sounds like he somehow caught on a car that was on a shelf above where he was lifting something, which I have trouble visualizing. If the observation car was on a shelf above where you were lifting something, how did you catch it?

After reading this my answer is:  No, not anymore!

I keep mine coupled, never have had any problem(s)….. yet!  Good advice from all.... go slow and extra careful when removing from shelves.  My biggest problem comes when I need to remove engine and tender, or A-A, A-B-A that are in plexi covered display track from a shelf.  One, the combined weight, two, the close clearances of the shelf above, and three, keeping level and "balanced" until I have it placed on solid and safe area of layout table to make use of it.  Shelves closest to the ceiling, especially when "double deep", can be most interesting.  And do not forget your footing when stepping down off step stool and turning around....!   Oh... just for the room to have a layout LARGE enough to have ALL motive power and rolling stock in yards, and not have a need for shelves...….

Jesse   TCA 

As John stated above I never couple my tenders and engines in the shelves. Nor do I couple cars, I actually had a derailed caboose pull a six car train and a steam engine off of my  viaduct. "Crap" dose happen.

Oh yea, guard rails have been installed. Even a flimsy rail would of kept that caboose from falling over the side.

Well first I would have to build shelves to put my trains on. Then acquire more trains than what I can fit on my layout......

But in all seriousness it's best to not couple trains together on shelves. Even my LHS doesn't do that when they have items on shelf display. 

texastrain posted:

I keep mine coupled, never have had any problem(s)….. yet!  Good advice from all.... go slow and extra careful when removing from shelves.  My biggest problem comes when I need to remove engine and tender, or A-A, A-B-A that are in plexi covered display track from a shelf.  One, the combined weight, two, the close clearances of the shelf above, and three, keeping level and "balanced" until I have it placed on solid and safe area of layout table to make use of it.  

Jesse   TCA 

I have some of the same setup - plexiglass cases on an upper shelf. I don't lift down multiple engines at once, or locos and tenders at once, though. I slowly uncouple each of them and take them down one at a time, same as with engines and cars on the lower shelves. Taking them down one at a time, having them coupled together has never been a problem. Just my method, of course - others will prefer a different procedure. I also don't have any tinplate like the OP.

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With regular knuckle couplers on my non tinplate cars I might have had a chance of one or two cars going but tinplate box hook type couplers do just that basically hook to each other so when one goes the rest go with them!  The cab on the engine got the worst of it but I should be able to  straighten it out with the roof everything else escaped any damage.   Lesson learned.  🙄

Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:

.....You can put them end to end, and actually have them appear closer together by offsetting the couplers.....

This is what I do.  Looks good.

  The only way I can access most of my trains on the shelves over my layout is by keeping them coupled together and pulling them off one at a time.

Good post and responses--who would've thought such a seemingly trivial practice was meaty enough to warrant some real food for thought and cause many of us to rethink our practices!

WOW, Sorry about that Chris.  I couple mine together.

I have shelves over the layout. If I do not couple the cars together, I have to crawl on the layout. I do have track on the shelves to guide the trains.

Sorry Chris, that is a nice looking set.

My engines and cars sit in recessed grooves cut into the 1x4, 1x8, and 1x12 shelves.  They are coupled together.

It's sad, but that is how you pull them out and how you put them away.  I am severely space constrainted.  Only pieces with no boxes are on the shelves.  There is plastic sheeting that hangs in front of them which might stop a piece of rolling stock, but not an engine. 

The vast majority of my stuff is pre-1995, so the replacement cost decreases daily.

In fact, I think maybe if I insured them the insurance premium might be a negative number

I do have some wood shelves behind my couch in the train room a little harder to get to so I can probably get away with leaving them coupled. Worst case sanario the couch would catch them. The aluminum shelves I can reach easily so everything on those will be separate from now on. 

Something like this happened many years ago, as an entire string of cars fell to the floor.  I leaned then that it was better not to couple them together.

Chris, Sorry to hear about your loss, I hope you can repair it such that it looks just as it did before the mishap. 

I have slotted the wood the same width as the wheel set so the wheels are sitting in grooves just for that reason and mine are coupled together never had a problem. YET!!!!

I don't have room on my shelves for any rolling stocl; it's all I can do to squeeze the locomotives in.  I don't couple tenders to their locomotives, because I only want one at a time when I take them down from the shelves.  Everything sits on lengths of 027 track.

Closing and interlocking the couplers of locomotives (or cars) on a shelf sometimes allows the full length of the shelf to be occupied rather than having a large open space. Sometimes, I don't connect tenders to steam engines so that I can move them closer together to conserve shelf space. Never had a problem with this.

MELGAR

I live in an earthquake prone area (western Washington State).  On my open ended shelves I keep an engine at the end.  I feel that an engine is less likely to roll off of a shelf with a rattling earthquake.  Also, keeping an engine on the end makes it look more like a train consist.  I only couple the first car to the engine if the spacing demands it.

A few years ago we had more that just a rattling earthquake, and an HO engine was thrown off of the shelf on to carpet with hardly any damage.  I've thought about stringing fishline across the front of my shelves to keep trains from being thrown off the shelves, but that would make it a pain in the arse to take trains off and on.  So, I just keep thinking about it. 

I keep my cars coupled as it might make the difference between being able to get one more car on the shelf or not.  It also looks better.  I just try to be careful when lifting off a piece (like the other day when I mowed over a cable laying on the grass).

Alan

"Do you couple all your cars together on your train shelf?"

Yes

I like the look of the coupled cars and engines on my display, which are actually w-i-d-e 10" shelves on a decorative open rack and not wall mounted. I also use the wide top of a bookcase and the wider top of a custom built wood G scale engine carry case. Extra wide shelves are more forgiving, but my OCD makes me super careful when changing out engines and cars! Psychiatrists claim there are no accidents, but what do they know! LOL!

‘’ajzend posted:

I live in an earthquake prone area (western Washington State).  On my open ended shelves I keep an engine at the end.  I feel that an engine is less likely to roll off of a shelf with a rattling earthquake.  Also, keeping an engine on the end makes it look more like a train consist.  I only couple the first car to the engine if the spacing demands it.

A few years ago we had more that just a rattling earthquake, and an HO engine was thrown off of the shelf on to carpet with hardly any damage.  I've thought about stringing fishline across the front of my shelves to keep trains from being thrown off the shelves, but that would make it a pain in the arse to take trains off and on.  So, I just keep thinking about it. 

I keep my cars coupled as it might make the difference between being able to get one more car on the shelf or not.  It also looks better.  I just try to be careful when lifting off a piece (like the other day when I mowed over a cable laying on the grass).

Alan

There was a book published by TM titled Great Toy Train Layouts and it that book was. Gent name Ward Kimbell and had earthquake shelf’s. He installed small dowel pins along the shelves you hardly noticed them but according to Ward the worked. He also had a full scale 1” = 1” live steam locomotive in his back yard that really ran.

CHOO-CHOO MIKE posted:

  The only way I can access most of my trains on the shelves over my layout is by keeping them coupled together and pulling them off one at a time.

Me too

I do not couple my cars on the shelf.  The reason being is to preserve the strength of the uncoupling spring since most O couplers use the spring to open the coupling.  Springs will weaken when stored under tension.  Most of my cars have spent 40 years on the shelf.

Charlie

Postwarman posted:

All of my engines and cars on my rail racks have the couplers open, IMO, longer life for the coupler springs...I'm anal that way...😜

Jeff

I used to keep trains with traditional 3-rail couplers uncoupled for that exact same reason when on the shelf.   Over time the compression from the couplers remaining closed will weaken the springs, reducing the coupler's effectiveness in popping open when called for.

Obviously not so much an issue with Kadees when you're a scale runner as the spring helps keep the coupler closed, not open in that particular application.

Postwarman posted:

All of my engines and cars on my rail racks have the couplers open, IMO, longer life for the coupler springs...I'm anal that way...😜

Jeff

My train repair shop says to keep couplers open when in storage. He says something about that relieves tension on the spring in the coupler.

I usually off-set the couplers which brings the cars even closer together.  This made the different between fitting an extra passenger car or leaving a big space.  I suppose it would be difficult to remove a car from the middle in that setup, but my shelves are not very long so I usually have cars in sets and so just start at one end and work my way down one at a time.

paulp575 posted:

Postwarman posted:

All of my engines and cars on my rail racks have the couplers open, IMO, longer life for the coupler springs...I'm anal that way...😜

Jeff

My train repair shop says to keep couplers open when in storage. He says something about that relieves tension on the spring in the coupler.

When I see my friend who repairs trains buy in bulk the rivets and knuckle couplers and yet still runs out before the end of the year is even over (Lionel November parts sale) that's a clue that when people say leave those couplers open in storage- they say it for good reason. 2 on every car, it adds up. Just imagine being the customer who pays $$$ to get their fleet of cars fixed because nobody told them or they ignored it. This is a good rule and needs spread. Nothing worse than buying a car at a show or online, getting it, and finding the couplers were closed for some untold amount of time and now need replaced. Now yes, I'll agree, this isn't a fatal flaw or prevents using the car, but detracts from the proper operation and value of the car. It one of those simple prevention methods (leave that coupler open) proven to work that sadly is just not told to a lot of people early on entering the hobby.

Luckily, my only current couplers are LGB & PIKO latch couplers or Lionel  Caruso-style latch ones, and the springs on those couplers are most fogiving! 

The watchwords for removing ANY gauge trains from display shelves are BEING CAREFUL and avoiding any possible distractions. Accidents will still happen in spite of how much care is exercised, but their probability can be reduced.

I wonder why they come closed when bought new. Many times they sit for extended periods of time before being purchased.

Do they use the same type of spring material that is used is automobile engines that go through millions of cycles in a typical lifetime?????