How many cars do you usually pull

On track one of my layout I have 4 engines in a consist (lashup-all powered, no dummy engines) ac-6000, dash 8, sd70m-2, and sd70ace pulling 32 intermodal cars. On track 2 I have 2-sd40-2 in a consist (lashup-all powered, no dummy engines) pulling a "grain train" consisting of 17 grain hoppers...............rogerw.

st home ususlly smaller trains with 12 -15 freight cars with single DCS or TMCC engines on the point.  At club anything goes with multiple engines and usually about 20- 30 cars, this weekend I pulled 100 cars

Usually about 7 or 8 freights and a caboose.

My Christmas Layout consists of two loops, 082 and 072 Realtrax around our Family room and Dining room, about 13x24, plus a 042 loop around the Tree. I was running Freights on the outter loop, up to 55 cars long, due to coupler issues, normally kept them to around 35 cars without many problems. I was pulling those with Scale size Lionel FEF-3 4-8-4's, H-7 2-8-8-2's and AC-9 2-8-8-4's.

 Even the Little Lionel Docksider 0-6-0T could haul impressive trains on level track with wide curves, it handled up to 41 cars, without any problems at all, but at 46 cars, after a few laps, it slowed down and let out some of the "Magic Smoke" that is supposed to stay inside the locomotive. Surprizingly, later after it cooled down, it did not seem to have suffered any permanent harm, and ran fine. In the future , I guess that I should limit the Docksiders to no more than 30 cars, just to be safe.

 The inner loop was running Scale FEF-3's and GS-4 pulling 8-12 Scale size Passenger cars, or my Railking Powered F-3 A hauling two Dummy B's and a dummy A plus up to 13 railking 12" passenger cars, plus Running the Aero-Train with 5 cars at the same time, on the same loop.

The same 46 car freight that brought the docksider to it's knees, I also pulled with some of the starter set 0-8-0's, it would take at least two of those to start the train. I have several of the 0-8-0's that I traded for at my LTS, for Birthday presents for my Nephews this year, and thought that I should play with them, er,ahmm, TEST them out, yeah that's it, TEST them, and so for kicks and giggles I had four 0-8-0's pulling on the head end and another in pusher service behind the Caboose.

Doug

Doug

What ever the switch list call for

I pull 10 to 12 cars on my layout its 5 x 10. If at the model railroad club sometimes i will pull 15 to 20 cars.  

5 on my 5' x 9' layout

This is an interesting question, one I've thought alot about this quite a bit - how many locos/ars are best to run on my layout?  Sin ce most locos will pull way more than the number I would ever run, I define "what's best" as what I like to watch.   I've come to the conclusion it depends on how many trains are running: I usually run no more than 40-42 cars in three trains.     

I usually have a small loco (Lionel Shifter, a pair of BEEPs) pulling 6-8 rather short cars around a tight over-under loop (no straight sections over eight feet and all-36" curves) that I call BEEPWorld, and two trains of about 12-16 cars each (including cabooses) on my larger loops.  If I am running passenger cars, I consider one passenger car the equivalent of 1.5 freight, etc., so I usually run only 8-9 of them on a train. 

Being an engineer, I reduced this to a numerical guideline that works on my layout: total length of trains should be no more tha 14% (1/7th) of the length of track.  This number provides a good sense of "mass in motion" when the trains are operating, and a lot of watch, but leaves the vast majority of the track unoccupied so that if viewed any one spot, a train passing by on my layout is an event, not something happening a considerable portion of the time.  And given the amount of track I have this works out to three locos and about 40 cars . . .

I average 16 2/3 cars per freight train not counting the cabin car

Around a dozen.

I have an 027 loop on which I run an 18-car train of billboard reefers--all with sprung trucks.  To avoid derailments, I usually use a PS2 engine with speed control--hardly ever a derailment, even on a "reverse curve."  I also use a Lionel PW 2025, and a PS1 0-8-0 and a PS1 Camelback, but derailments are "not infrequent."

I have an 042 loop with an incline on which I used to run about 25 cars behind a lashup of two PS2 diesels--an RS3 and an SW9.  Don't do that anymore--I run eight milk reefers and a work caboose behind various motive power.

All of my trains are 3 cars, except...

N&W Imperial Y6B Coal Train, 4 cars

C&O Yellowbelly Passenger Train, 4 cars

Chessie/C&O Work Train, 2 cars. 

All are MTH Railking pieces, with all steam being Imperial and most diesels either Railking Imperial or Railking Scale. All are either PS2 or PS3. 

On my last layout, 12 x 24' I usually ran 10-15 car trains. I plan on running the same on my new 19 x 24' layout.

At home, on a 13x13 layout, six or eight scale size cars behind a medium sized steamer or one or two diesels is plenty - that takes up about a quarter of the loop. At the club/museum where we run for the public, the sky's the limit. Typically I will run a Northern or bigger with 25 or so cars, but I've run 40-50 behind a big MTH steamer like a 4-12-2 or Cab Forward, or a 4-unit diesel or boxcab electric. 

A 9x16 round-the-wall attic layout, usually with 4 car passenger consists[both 72' & 80' cars used at times] and pulled by a Ps-4  4-6-2 or Ts-2  4-8-2 and occasionally a single A of a E6,E7,or E8 diesel. On freights, 7-8 cars plus caboose, usually with a 2-8-0 or 2-8-2 at the point.

Most big stuff stays on the shelf nowadays except maybe a parked articulated sticking out of the Enginehouse or the big N&W "Water Buffalo" Mountain type with hoppers parked at the coaling tower's Dump House.

Have to run short and......slow these days.

Count them. Click on the triangle to start a video.  (5) engine consist. 

Amtrak Superliner: 2 locos, 6-8 cars

Amtrak Amfleet: 1 loco, 3-4 cars

Freight: 1-3 locos, 12-20 cars

My layout is 15x20 around the wall. I enjoy running short trains as well since it helps the layout appear even larger in a forced perspective kind of way. Just something to think about since we are always trying to get more space and run longer trains!

5 to 8

The more cars I convert to Kadee the longer my freight trains have been getting.  Now that I don't have worry about oversized couplers letting go I've been running 30-50 car freights pulled by my challenger, niagara, mohawk, or lashup of both my berkshires.

Passenger train is 9 cars.

Mike CT---I think I counted 15 hoppers plus the caboose!  Looks great!

We typically run 4-6 passenger cars or 10-12 freight cars on our layout. 

The layout is not big enough at the moment to handle more than that without the engine chasing the caboose.

Usually 30 to 40 cars...

My layout is 15 X 16 feet.  I'll run 6 plus a caboose and 1 or 2 engines on my interior track and 9 plus a caboose and up to 3 engines on my outside dogbone.

Curt

at the club I have run 44 cars, but lately I keep them to around 30 cars.

My layout is 7x10, so a consist freight is no more then 8 cars and a passenger consist is no more then 3 cars.  Anything longer won't fit on the passing siding.

Currently my freight train is 43 cars pulled by the Lionel UP H-7.

On my current layout I pull 25 freight cars behind a steamer or a MU of diesels.  I could probably pull 50 cars, but the engine would be closely following the caboose.  My previous layout, which was smaller, I pulled roughly 16 cars.

My maximum number varies according to the length of the cars. My rule is that when doing a "U" turn on an 072 curve,  the end of my train can't be in front of the engine when exiting the "u".  I Don't like the looks of that consist  

Since I only run passenger trains, the longest is the 1948 20th Century Limited GGD 21" cars that number 12. Typically the trains are between 7 & 8 passenger cars.

Running this number of cars really looks very good behind the pulling unit(s).

On our family layout, 10 freights is a long train. That is mostly dictated by the length of the yard tracks (the sidings can handle 15 or 16); that way we don't have to double them over when we park them. I know that doubling the train happens in the prototype, but we are lazy!

On average about 14 freight cars & 7-8 passanger cars depending on what I'm running at the time. My house rule is I never cover more than two of the four sides on the 12x13 layout.

          Joe

Due to limited amount of space and rolling stock, each engine usually pulls 6 to 8 freight cars or 5 to 6 passenger cars.

I tend to run 10 to 12 freights including cabin car.

Whenever I feel like making the Big boy work I put about 50 cars on there and drag 'em away.

58 cars is the max for my current layout, the Big Boy doesn't care but I like a gap between the cabin car and the front of the Locomotive.

On my layout right now I have a 2331 VGN FM pulling 7 cars on my 060 outside loop, a 2358 GN EP5 pulling 6 cars on my 048 inside loop & a 2025 pulling 3 2400 series cars on my 031 upper level.  All the cars are postwar cars so that number probably feels like more to the engines.  The 2025 spins her drivers when she gets going w/o the magne traction.  The 2 diesels have no trouble pulling their consists.