Shelf Queens

Hello Mike.  Most of us refer to shelf queens as locomotives that do not operate and have electrical or mechanical problems.  I post an add a few times each year stating I am looking to buy your inoperative shelf queens.  I sometimes get some great locomotives.

my definition is a bit different.  these are perfectly good locomotives that for some reason or other are set of shelves or behind glass due to the perception that they will lose value if ever run.

To me, shelf queens can be fully operational, but are not operated for whatever reason.

So Marty,

 

Is there a certain time a an inoperative locomotive has to be there to qualify as a true shelf queen?

It has to be an inoperative loco?

 

Mike Maurice

Mike, everyone has a different tilt on the subject.  I do not know people who put them under glass to stare at.  My circle of train guys are operators and run trains.  If anyone thinks they are going to buy something and look at un run it to make money, I wish them nothing but the best of luck.  I will stick to CD, IRA and mmutual funds and today, that is a roll of the dice.  Every train I buy gets run.  I do not think it is a good idea to let modern locomotives sit.  

 

Ask guys who got caught up in the DAP sets or gold hudsons.

I put them under glass to stare at.  But I also operate them.  When they are not running I put them on display where I enjoy looking at them with all the detail and various colors. 

i'm sure almost everyone has more trains than tracks to run them on.  most of my cast iron sits on shelves most of the time, but i certainly don't think any qualify as queens.  ...maybe shelf pawns.

I always understood a shelf queen to be a loco or train that sat on the shelf regardless of whether it runs or has problems and doesn't.  Most of my locos are shelf queens, any way you look at it, because I can run only 3 at a time: with about 100 locos that means less the 3% on any given day.  I have some favorites that run almost all the time, and that means some locos almost never get run. 

 

I have only one loco on display that does not run and I bought it that way: the MTH coal turbine which I wanted just to display in comparison to all the other UP turbines and big steam.   All the others run - well as far as I know running them so rarely. Still, many have been on the shelf from well over a year.  I enjoy looking at them and would not part with them, despite running them so infrequently.

So Lee, not to change the subject, but I need to ask how do you deal with all the batteries in these locos?  You can not just sit a modern loco and forget it or you may end up with a leaking battery.

I replaced 7 batteries with BCRs and then stopped buying their locos. Not because of brand but because I totally disliked the battery system. Other brands will run without a battery in them so for good measure I leave them out.

Jim

My shelf queens all run but not well.  Mine are mostly 1970's era Lionels and K-Line engines with cheap motors built into their trucks like the little Alco FA's .  They run but sound like coffee grinders.

I have some Postwar Lionel from my childhood and a few pieces of Marx lithograph. They may get a couple of laps around the Christmas tree, Otherwise the stay on a shelf.

 

I also have the Lincoln Funeral Train that I purchased for display. It is not well suited for operation. It is a display piece.

 

 

Then I have this, pure eye candy.

I am going to install a switch so I can disconnect the motor and power the track to  light it up on the shelf

 

I stated in my reply, inoperative shelf queens.  Many guys put locomotives on the shelf when they stop running.  Many times they are happy to get money and roll it into something else. 

I figure a shelf queen is pretty much any locomotive that doesn't get run at least once a year for whatever reason.

Some are non-command for instance, some don't run well, some have clearance issues on the layout, some require only 072 and larger curves

I have my favorites that pretty much stay on the layout and the rest just don't make the cut, or at least not often.

Then there are box queens. These just live in their boxes for various reasons, mostly one or more of the above reasons also apply to box queens.

 

Rod

Ah, no.  That's "no".  MTH PS-1 locs are orphaned.  Lionel TMCC locs run just fine with CAB-1 or CAB-2/Legacy.  

With hot rods, a trailer queen is a car driven on or off the trailer for a race or show only, never driven on the road for any other reason. I think inactivity is the key. It could  even be un-drivable! Condition, or operation is irrelevant. I think of a shelf queen locomotive in much the same way, mostly immobile.

 And of course like most things around here, the operators place the crowns.

No shelf queens! Everything gets to run at some point on my layout. The only thing that gets shelf time is a special box car or other piece of rolling stock.

No shelf queens here

A shelf queen for viewing is something you really like.

My term though means something that cost too much to begin with and now you can't get it fixed.(usually because there are no parts).

No shelf Queens here.

No shelves !!!

I do have a conventional Docksider & caboose set that is pretty but rarely moves from it's spot on the layout. It's not sitting on track.

I've got 4 PS-1 locomotives, and they run just fine.  I prefer them actually.  They are awesome conventional runners with great sounds.  When I want to get a new locomotive, the 1st thing I do is find out if there is a PS-1 version.  If I can't one, only then do I start looking at others.

Ah, yeah - TMCC is hardly "orphaned", as one can but brand-new conversion kits

for it from ERR, etc. The aftermarket units are not called "TMCC", so far as I know,

but are made by/for a Lionel subsidiary. And my TMCC Cab-1 and command base runs my 2 Legacy locos just fine.

 

PS-1? Not orphaned, but "un-repairable" (if parts are needed) so far as I know. Have some; some are great, some are not, some don't run well, some don't run. I wish that the old TA UCUB or DD command boards for PS-1 were still made - or something (better) like them.

Don't have any, don't want any. I hope I never get to the point of having an engine just sit on a shelf just to look at. As a matter of fact, I don't have any train shelves.

Dozens of my locomotives (Weaver; Atlas; K-Line; Williams; MTH; 3rdRail), which were purchased before I changed the entire layout over to Lionel's TMCC, pose now on their shelves (through no fault of their own.) It's just that I have found the TMCC system to be so dependable ( = never lets'me down when I have guests in the trainroom) that I only rarely operate those not equipped with it, usually when I am alone and want to handle them again and operate them conventionally, one at a time (ten loops.)

FrankM

That's pretty much how I do it, too.  I have many more locomotives than I can possibly run on my layouts, so many of them reside in glass-front cases in just about every room of my home.  I just wish I had more wall space available.

 

That said, all of these engines are meant for running and I rotate them off and on the layouts (tinplate and regular O) on an unscheduled but fairly frequent basis.

 

I take very good care of all my trains and I hate dust and dusting, so the glass-front cases (acrylic rather than glass in some instances) have proven to be a very good investment.

I currently have 3 out of 12 MTH PS2 engines that are shelf queens.  After waiting for over a year for upgrade kits from MTH, I finally threw in the towel and put them on the shelf about a year ago.

 

 

 

 

As for a definition, a "shelf queen" is as Marty describes it, a lame locomotive or other piece of rolling stock. I am determined to have zero shelf queens and keep it that way.

 

My major problem is there aren't enough sidings on my layout to accommodate all of the locomotives and rolling stock I have, so many trains live in Rubber Maid 32 gallon bins. There will be no shelves for trains in my world. However, I will be adding a major yard to my layout this year with the intention of making at least 5 more 8-car passenger trains available for mainline service. 

 

To anyone planning a layout, add yards, sidings and more sidings!

 

I thought I had my layout all planned, but after reading several posts here and other threads, I'm beginning to rethink it since it's very light on the yardage...

I have an MTH Premier PRR T1 under glass in my mantel that works fine but I just enjoy looking at it. I also have a restored Lionel GG-1 from 1958 that was my uncle's under glass. I might put my MTH Premier CNJ Blue Comet in a case I have ready too. Currently I have several Standard Gauge locos in a display cabinet mixed in with a bunch of authentic and reproduction antiques. All of these engines work without any issues. This just allows me to enjoy them more on a daily basis instead if going down to the dungeon.

On the subject of storing engines not in use. I find putting them back in their boxes keeps them there since it is such a hassle packing and unpacking them. I also do not want them to get dusty. So, like previously mentioned, I too use the Rubbermaid containers with old towels to store engines not in use.

One more category of shelf queen:  I have two clockwork locos that don't tolerate 3-rail track, due to parts hanging down.  Two others aren't run due to age and fragility, but my aim is to keep every engine in running condition.