Shelf Queens?

I have some engines -- like the C&O "Yellow Belly," MTH Centipedes and a PRR T-1, to name a few -- that are Shelf Queens, or more accurately, "Storage Queens," due to size issues.  When I built my layout and placed tunnel portals right at the beginning of my 0-72 curves, I never anticipated owning engines that would have such wide overhang when they went into such turns.  

 

Won't make that mistake again!!  

 

- Mike

I had a few.

Conventional engines just don't see much track time now that I run DCS and TMCC.

I gave away one in an old starter set at Thanksgiving to a nephew.

The others included one I'll sell, and 2 I'll upgrade.

But They aren't actually Shelf Queens, they are in the original boxes.

Mike, Extend the tunnels 6" and run them !!!

This assumes the tunnels are wider inside though.

Every Lionel PRR engine I have, and I have a few to say the least, 1946 to the present, runs.  They operate as they are supposed to.

 

So no, no shelf queens here.

Mike,

 

I almost made a similar mistake, mine was with track location, not engine size/swing.  I put the track almost too close and had only 1/4" clearance, but I fixed it during one of my many track revisions.

 

That brings up another thought, WHY are the SQs still SQs?  Why haven't they been fixed?

 

The 2 I have...The Scout probably isn't worth the effort and the WBB E7 is a dupe (I have a 3rd Rail E7 that runs fine) plus I can't afford to spend the $$$ for the upgrade right now.

 

Oh, I guess I have 3.  I have a Weaver/MTH hybrid 4-6-0 that's waiting for PS2 guts, again $$$ issues.

 

So 3 out of 11 are SQs in my stable.

 

I also have 2 Kusan diesels that are packed away and not assembled, not even SQs as far as I'm concerned.

I display three in "glass" cases:

1. Gold Lionel Hudson
2. 3rd Rail PRR 2-8-0
3. G-gauge USA Chrome SF Warbonnet A-B (on fireplace mantle)

 

Plus I have a case with the first six MTH Premier box cars and first six MTH Premier tank cars

Just about every loco I have is mostly a shelf queen.  It's an issue of arithmetic.  I have around 125 locos.  I can run three at a time. So the average loco in my collection is going to spend all but nine days a year - on the shelve.  but given that I have my favorites and all, more than 100 spend almost all their time on the shelf.  

 

This doesn't mean I don't like them, don't want them, or would not buy each again if I did not have it already: they also serve who sit and let me look at them.

 

I don't think I am that unusual.  Many are like me.  

Plus one.

Nothing I own is a shelf queen, if it does not run it  then it is fixed. Why put something on the shelf just to look at?  

No shelf queens with engines but I do have several cars that have never been run. In fact I probably have at least 6 cars that have never been opened & are still in the original shipping carton

Two trains from my childhood are retired to a display cabinet as well as one from when my dad was a child.

There was a time when all my locos had to set on a shelf because i didnt have anyplace to run them. But now i do and i run them to death. i have an elevated railroad that runs throughout my house. Its neat because i see it from any room.

There was a time when all my locos had to set on a shelf because i didn't have anyplace to run them. But now i do and i run them to death. i have an elevated railroad that runs throughout my house. Its neat because i see it from any room. So now i try hard not to let one set to long before i install a track for it so it is always ready to run. Best solution i've found to keeping them off the shelf

Because you like to look at it and you have no where else to put it?

All those that don't fit on the layout, at one time, were shelved. We (my sweetheart and I), had a discussion about boxes stored away out of sight.  My sweetheart insisted they had to be shelved v.s. stored.

My wife is like that. If there not running they have to be in a place that can be seen

My wife is like that. If there not running they have to be in a place that can be seen

None.  However, late last year I purchased two WBB engines.  One

is the Atlantic Coast Line E-7 & a Yellow Nose F-3 Santa Fe.  They

are still in the box.  They will be on the track within the next two

months.

 

If I own them they will be on the track when I get to them.  In

my opinion there is nothing wrong with a Shelf Queen. Having a

train room or some other part of the house showing off these trains

in beautiful retirement is what a train person should due if

possible.  

 

Many thanks,

 

Billy C

Not sure whether I want to do the work to make this possible!  lol  As you can see, these portals are not side by side…the outer one is set back a few inches from the inner loop's.  Would probably have to modify the insides as well, which would be a royal pain.  I can't extend the table out to the right any more because I wouldn't be able to get through that side of the layout…the outer wall of the garage is right there.

  

 

By the way, I didn't realize that was you with the shades standing behind me in the "Big E" group photo.  Would've introduced myself or said hello.  Maybe next time!

 

- Mike

I don't do shelf queens. If it doesn't run the way it should, I either fix it or get rid of it. I have a lot of project engines awaiting repainting, new electronics, etc., but I don't classify those as shelf queens. A lot of my engines don't get run much because I have more engines than time, but that's also another issue. 

No shelf queens here with one exception: a rare engine that a repairman advised me to just display.  If any other breaks down, I fix it or get it off to someone who can.  Five of my locos stopped working over the holidays, and they're all in the hands of a super-capable repairman, right GGG?

From "The Urban Dictionary":

 

A (usually) antique item, such as a clock, radio, sewing machine, spinning wheel, tool,car parts, etc, that may or may not work, kept strictly as a display item. More often than not the item does not work but the owner has no intention of repairing it, it just sits there.

If it is sometimes used and is not strictly a decoration it is NOT a shelf queen.

 

That could work for me, but maybe we model railroaders need something more to suit.

I don't have any shelf queens, in fact I don't have a single train displayed on a shelf in my train room. Could even imagine dusting all of those setting out like that. Mine are all in cabinets made for my train room with solid doors, thus people only see what I want them to see and of course no dust.

 

I only have one that would be called in retirement and that is a K-Line because of some sort of electrical problem in the board. However my future plans do call to get this one back on the road.

Only 3 shelf queens at my place.

 

BNSF ES44ac

ACL F3 ABA

Burlington F3 AA

 

Can't run everything.

 

Packing and unpacking is such a pain when you don't have a layout!!

 

 I have a number of them and, unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done.  All of them are pre-war Flyer and all suffer from blown wheels with no replacements available.  I do put them out for display and they look great.  At one point I even looked into the possibility of getting a job shop to make a run of replacement wheels but the cost is just a wee bit out of my range.

Maybe one day I will have some shelf queens, until then all I have will be run.

 

Brent

I have no shelf queens, but I wish I did. With no layout all I have are boxed princesses.

 

 

Most of my conventional engines are "storage queens" which occasionally come out for a run. At some point, the ones that aren't switched over to command control will probably be shelf queens when I buy/build a display shelf that meets the right specs. Everything command gets layout time at the club at some point.

These are all pretty much shelf queens.I bought them because I like them but hardly ever run them because my layout is "toy like" and they look so out of place.

 

My train table has about as much detail as one of those Marx playsets from the 1960s. Im happy running a MTH 2-8-0 or a Railking B6 or a RMT S4 Bang on it.

I love Railking diesel switchers I have about 20 of them and they get a lot of rotation.

No shelf queens for me.  If I own it,  it must be able to run and I make sure I rotate what I run.  They all have a place to park on the layout at least while my fleet is small.

 

I do have favorites, but they need a break.  Also maintenance also takes engines out of the rotation for a short while and others will take their place.  Usually there's one on the workbench and the other 4 are operational.  Since I can't run more than 3 at a time anyway on a double track, it's not a huge rotation.

Having a rather small size "around the wall" type layout I don't have much room for many sidings.  The sidings I do have, by the Lone Star Beer plant and Temple, TX station are used during my operations.  Because of this I shelf the trains I am not running on the layout. 

 

Most all my trains are MKT (Texas Special) passenger and freight, Santa Fe and my military (Army) train.  I rotate running the trains so they are not on the shelf too long at any one time.  I also like the shelf display when visitors come over.  Quite impressive to them.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

 

 

I'm into Lionel and Ives prewar, and my motto is everything runs!. The only exception is my UP M10000, it requires 72" curves which my layout no longer has.

 

Tim

So far the answers have surprised me, I expected more to say they had SQs because of electronics or mechanical problems, so far only 2 have mentioned this as the reason.

 

I can see keeping an extremely rare or sentimental piece on a shelf so no damage occurs to it.

 

I know one guy that has a Williams N&W J that is a SQ, but he's also not an O-gauger, he's HO.  He bought it because he likes the J.  I almost bought a G scale boxcar a while back because it was painted in Seaboard Air Line colors, that huge car would have looked great on a shelf

Wow, this thread reads like folks are almost ashamed to be defined as a train collector..

I wonder how Larue Shemp or Bob Vickers would have responded here?

Anyone wonder why the hobby is in a state of crisis today??

Joe 

How dare you have shelf queens!

 

I do like that Camelback!

Joe, I kinda get the same feeling.  I've hundreds of Lionel PRR engines in my collection.  Some may not get run for years, but are they shelf queens?  No.

 

I retired as an Army helicopter maintenance officer and test pilot.  We had what we called "hangar queens".  Aircraft that went into maintenance and for various reasons stayed in maintenance for months, sometimes over a year.  The causes were many, troubleshooting, extended maintenance, lack of parts, controlled exchange (cannibilization), accident rebuild/investigation, etc.

 

To me, a shelf queen engine is one that is inop, again for a variety of reasons, or while it may run it doesn't do everything it did when new, and because of that you don't run it.

 

A mint, but fully functional 700E, is not a shelf queen, just because you chose not to run it.  IMHO.

I have over 50 engines. Some convetional, some MPC, some Proto1, Some command Control, and some tinplate. They all run. Most are in boxes. They get run Saturday morning at the train club, mostly Conventional, proto1 and Tinplate.

 

The MPC is box queens. They seldom get out and resale value is low. No sense in selling.

Joe, 

 

I've been following this thread since I spotted it in the RECENT POSTS side bar, and I've had the same thought.  I think part of the reason for the opinions expressed here is that the thread originated in the Hi-Rail, 027 and Traditional 3-Rail O Gauge forum.  I'm not sure that the folks who frequent this forum have collecting as their primary focus.  If you asked the same question over on the Tinplate forum I think you would get a very different response.   No disrespect intended toward these fine folks.

 

I have plenty of self queens and box kings.  I'm a collector with the goal of preserving history and developing a "research library" of pre-war trains. I've hosted a thread on a different site for over 6 years now and folks who collect  that era do so for a number of reasons. I take heart for the future of the collecting aspect of this hobby - the thread is closing in on 500,000 hits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoy all aspects of this hobby even though I don't participate in many of them.

 

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

I have two shelf queens at present.  One is an Atlas switcher that we have given up on ever getting it to run reliably.  And the other is my favorite MTH UP U50C that has quit running and our MTH service rep can't get running.  I am considering putting TMCC in it, but there is no other sound board that replicates this engine's sound.

 

As the rest of you I have engines on my shelving that do not fit on the layout.  Part of that is that when I am running modern engines, I put my first generation diesels on the shelve and vice versa.

 

Art