How long have you left a train running unattended?

Sound like 30 hours may be a record.  I've only left mine unattended for 5-10 mins.

Ron

About 30 seconds!

MELGAR

Thirty hours is most likely a record.  At the G&O we run trains during shows.  As soon as we become distracted talking to a visitor, etc., a train that has been circling the display for an hour or more without issues always seems to derail or otherwise crash.  Trains just know when you aren't paying attention to them just like puppies.   NH Joe

Nope, far from a record. Back in the old days on the AOL boards, there used to be a rodeo cowboy who was a big toy train guy. He had a floor layout and one night he was having a couple of beers, laying down watching his trains go round and round and then he fell asleep. When he woke, he had use the bathroom and got up and did so. He then realized he was flying out of town for a rodeo and had to be at the airport very quickly or he’d miss his flight. The shortened version is he was out of town on the rodeo circuit for approximately TWO WEEKS before he came home to find his trains were still going around his floor layout.

I'm not sure how this one counts but after a late night repair, I put an engine on my son's "carpet central" and fell asleep in the recliner. Woke up every couple of hours to check on it to confirm the repair was good. Overall about 8 hours of runtime on that one.

I certainly can't do that.  Right now the Panhandle is a point-to-point layout with a sheer drop off to the floor.

Even so, the idea of letting a train run unattended on anything but a small loop gives me the willies.  Waaaay too much can go wrong.  

That's just asking for trouble.

George

Wow! 30 hours is impressive.  The longest I did was a few Christmases ago when we had an army of guests over  and I let the 256 MTH Repro go under the Christmas tree for about 8 hours.  I oiled/lubed her up afterwards and she still runs great.

Yea- fifteen minutes at most.....

Now - ask me how many times I've left the layout power on overnight....... Actually not too often but it has happened.

30 hours is impressive Mark.

Bob

Never! Even if I had to use the bathroom, I stopped all the trains prior to leaving the room.

Never! good way to lose a very expensive engine.

I'm glad Mark didn't leave the smoke unit on. That would have been a crispy smoke unit.

Seems like they do better than the ones that set on the shelf for a long time Mark.   Glad you had no issues.

God Speed sir.

Long enough to know better ....

Although it's not out there right now, Henning's Trains used to have an outside loop of Atlas track that would run all day, every day when the shop was open.  The parts that died first were the rollers, a deep groove would be worn in them and they'd finally stop working.  Every couple of roller changes, it would need a new motor.  Finally wore out the wheel flanges and the train was swapped out for another one.  The pick for this duty was an inexpensive MTH Railking steamer, they seemed to be the most robust.

Never, I may leave them idling, but NOT moving.

Gene

Never, I guess I may be a control freak when it comes to my trains. LOL.

Fun topic. Arnold

Never, even as kids, my brother and I were always reminded by both our parents, if you're going to leave the room, shut down the train, transformer, and unplug it from the wall receptacle. I still do it to this day.

Right of Way Industries test. 750 hours.

Lou N

5-6 hours nightly in the background amid family activities leading up to Christmas on the annual living room tree layout would be typical, turning it on when returning home from work. Last few years has been a LionChief 0-8-0, but I have more confidence in the Williams diesels as they crawl around the living room.