Can a conventional loco (2-4-2 from a RTR set) be left in neutral for an extended period of time without damaging anything or creating a fire hazard? I have a locomotive from the Lionel "Honda" ready to run set pulling a couple Polar Express cars on a small Christmas village layout and would like to leave it lit up and stationary. Of course everything gets unplugged when we leave the house or go to bed, but is this a bad idea?
Thanks for any responses.
- Nick
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For the kind of runtime you are describing, I would take a drinking straw slice it and slip it over the rail where the locomotive will be resting that way the locomotive remains unpowered but the passenger cars can light up.
That's a good idea !
If the smoke unit is off and it's one with the electronic reverse unit, I suspect not much damage can occur. The only thing that comes to mind is if you have a power glitch, it might suddenly decide to take off. 
I wouldn't. Strange things happen with electricity. I lost a house because of a sparking light switch and the Homosote on my old layout started smoking because of a small nail sorting the track.
Thanks for the info, guys. The last thing I want to do is burn the house down and yes, John, that sucker would take off and probably break something if the table got bumped! I think I'll just leave it off when not actually running it. 
Thanks again!
- Nick
You can lock the loco in neutral so that any power interruption will not cause it to move unexpectedly.
Larry
How do you lock a truly conventional locomotive in neutral? That works for DCS models, but I don't see any way to do that with something like a Lionel RTR set.
I like the straw idea, what comes to mind is the heat factor. I would keep the voltage down to just enough for lights to glow.
Well, if you put a straw on the tracks, the lights on the locomotive won't be glowing. 
The straw can slip, better off using some masking tape to keep the wheels off the track
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