How often do you mix it up???

At home, once a week for engines.  Every day I try to swap out a couple of pieces of rolling stock for something different.

As I've posted before, I rarely run my trains (although, admittedly, I've been in quite the "train mood" lately. Haven't felt this excited about the toy trains in a long time - good feeling!!!). 

I can run 4 trains and 2 trolleys on my layout at once. I don't have any set schedule on switching things out. I have all of my stuff on shelves. When it comes to engines, I'll often leave one on the track for an indefinite period. I like to look at my stuff on the shelves. When I get the somewhat rare feeling of "I'd like to see that one run", I'll pull it down and put it on the track and it will stay until I get that "I'd like to see that one run" feeling on something else. 

Rolling stock I generally change whenever I get sick of what is on the track. Also, I tend to take older stuff off as I get new stuff. I most frequently switch the cars on sidings out with cars on the trains. If the cars on trains that are going into siding have been on the track for a while, I'll swap them out once they get into the sidings. No set schedule. Just whenever I want to see something different run. 

I swap out Multi power unit regularly....great fun

Depends on my mood and who is coming over to view the layout.

I don't have a set time but i always run different engines and cars any time i run my train and if i get a new car or engine i will run it the next time i run.

I have 5 loops of tubular track, al conventional. The #1 loop has 072 curves for my Lionel M1000, the #2 loop is Standard gauge. The inner loop has 031 curves and I keep an 0-4-0 switcher on that with all early (1945-46) cars.  The #4 loop has "action" cars so it and #3 keep the same cars most of the time. I do swap out engines frequently, mostly steam, so nothing gets used really hard.

This all goes back to a childhood issue. I have this Lionel ABBA set my dad got me. 200 series ALCO 218 with two 218C and a 218T . Neat set up, right? Anyway I bought a celebration series seven car passenger set to pull with it. The problem is with seven cars and three dummy engines, well the poor 218 could not get it done. Just too much to ask her to do. So all the passenger cars went back in the box with less than 100 laps around the track. Then I built a 200 series B-unit last year for kicks with twin motors hooked to a 218 A unit and it pulls stumps. Just today I thought I bet it will pull the seven cars and two dummies with no problem. I will need to try it out. The issue is out of sight , out , of , mind.

Have not run trains in a while because I am still redoing things, but I am getting closer. Then I plan to  use the train card operation and mix things up.

I have a rotation with about 23 engines and 10 trains and it keeps growing, every item usually gets run 5-10 times a year

I have a small assortment of AF and Lionel prewar tin, some Marx 3/16 scale tin and some Marx 4 wheel tin. I rotate from one size to another every month or so. While they are all toys, there's enough scale operator left in me to usually not run big and little sized trains at the same time!  But currently I am doing just that for the holidays. LOL

Maybe every couple of weeks, although always easier to grab what's on the shelves - the stuff in the boxes under the layout gets jilted a lot mostly because I'm too lazy to dig 'em out! 

Like someone else said here: it depends on my mood.  I don't have a permanent display.  I have a Christmas display that I turn into a seasonal display after Christmas.  Thanksgiving to tax day is typical.  

During the Christmas season, I typically run a Christmas themed train and a PRR passenger consist.  On the passenger consist I rotate engines between a PRR K4, PRR E8s, PRR S2 and sometimes PRR Alco FA2 (with passenger sounds of course).  For the Christmas train I have a few motive options as well.  When the grandkids come over, something usually gets replaced with something from the Thomas collection so they can play.  I only have 1 siding on my layout so the change out typically requires a bit of work as I have no place to set idle trains aside. But since the grandkids are the future of our passion, I gladly accommodate.

Tony

I have a nasty habit of not changing out anything for years. Especially freight cars. I am trying to get into as better routine of rotating everything but when I go up to the layout I end up just running the trains on the tracks.....Paul

I normally keep a 'train' just cars, for many many times.. most of the time a coal train.

I swap the caboose/engine probably every time I go to the layout, but that may be weeks inbetween.

My thought is that I have 1960's era trains on the layout and modern stored on shelves.  Then when the mood strikes, I can reverse it.  Amtrak for Super Chief and etc.

The other thinking goes like this:  If I don't have a place for it on my shelves or my layout, get rid of it.  I'm not a hobby shop, I don't collect trains to see how many I can accumulate, they aren't increasing in value, so why keep what you can't see or run?  I do need to do some culling of the herd, but I fully intend to do that.  I have way too may intermodal cars now that I don't have an intermodal yard and I have some 89 foot flat cars and truck trailers that I found on a deal "too good to pass up." 

Art

I don't change them out.  They all fit on the layout.

I usually try to run the, all each time I run my trains