To many of the same railroad cars

Not sure why folks buy packs of multiple cars, but I can offer some reasons why I would:

1) Cost, cheaper when you buy in bulk

2) I used to see trains of nothing but black tankcars going in/out of the Virginia Chemicals plant I lived near back in the 80s, a 6-pack of tankcars would fit right in.

3) The real RRs owned more than 1 type of each car.  Seaboard Air Line owned 1500 PS1 boxcars.

As far as cars having the same number...blame the manufacturers not the modelers.  I'm sure the manufacturers could print different numbers on batches of cars they run, but it would take more time/$$$.  I wouldn't mind paying a tiny bit extra for different numbers but not a lot more $$$.  This is where the "modeling" part comes into our hobby, if you don't like the number on the car, change it yourself.

Hi Allan.  Understanding this hobby is easy - buy and run trains you like and enjoy.  Celebrate with others when they share, appreciate new ideas you garner, and know that there is no right or wrong way for others to enjoy their trains.  It prototypical accuracy is your goal you might consider the 3RS forum.

While taking photos  I have seen trains of identical cars-tankers, hopper, gondolas, and others almost a mile long.  Really don't pay attention to the cars numbers. I wouldn't on a layout either.  The mfrs make a limited number of different car numbers to control costs.  Take the numbers off or paint over them and put new ones on if it is that important.  Sort of extreme rivet counting.

Yes Allen I don't get it either. I take it that some modelers are desperate for a unit train that they buy the same car with the same numbers. Some hold out hope the mfgs will rerun with a different number and start selling off duplicates but really it's a "catch22". Most people who run their trains know that 80 percent of spectators wouldn't see and/ or care if the same numbers are being used. But at the same time, their purchasing power sends a message for the importer/ mfgs that it's OK to do a "hit and run" production. This is why many people miss Weaver Models and or Jim Weaver from Atlas O!

I would LOVE to see Lionel rerun their Conrail bathtub hoppers in different numbers but reality says it maybe a while so either enjoy the 4 car set from the turn of the century or as stated above, buy the same cars or set and renumber. 

K-Line ran an eight car series of map reefers and a series of map box cars.  Pecos River ran scale 50' Santa Fe map box cars with four road numbers. Weaver offered a couple of road numbers.  Atlas offers four unit numbers on their Santa Fe scale trailers.  On a room size layout, half a dozen box cars with the same road number on different sidings or in different trains would scarcely  be noticed. This is a case of you get what you pay for.  There are pros and cons of the manufacturers making cars complete except for the road numbers.  To allow the purchaser some leeway, a decal sheet of numbers could be provided.  Would you be happy with that arrangement?  How many members of this forum scratch built, kit bash, or assemble kits?  Percentage wise, I'd guess less than 15%. 

John in Lansing, ILL

Most multi-packs have different road numbers on each car. By the time you seen six or twelve or whatever go by you don't notice if the road numbers repeat again. 

Take the time to observe some real trains sometime. Many are "unit trains" consisting of long strings of identical cars, differing only in road numbers.

If one is a "Runner" and wants the look of long unit trains, duplicate numbers are not an issue.  Just assemble the train and let it go!   Where duplicate numbers become an issue is if one is an "Operator."  An Operator runs their railroad as a real railroad would.  Cars are picked up and delivered to customers,  cars are routed between yards, etc.  Unique numbers are required for this type of operation.  Usually some type of inventory and card system are employed by Operators.

Both Running and Operating have their place in this hobby.  I do both on my layout.  Depends upon what my mood is.  Both are fun, which is the main point.

Tom

A lot depends on what railroad and type of train one is trying to prototypically model. Since I model the late 1940s thru mid 1950s era, I wanted a correct appearing C&O coal train. Thus I purchased various 6-packs of MTH C&O two bay hopper cars. After changing many road numbers and extensive weathering, I now have 65 some C&O 2-bay coal hoppers, all with loads, pulled by either an H-8, or a T-1. It looks very prototypical.

Those folks modeling stock car trains, or tank car trains, or grain trains (either boxcars or covered hoppers), would also tend to purchase dozens and dozens of the same car, especially with different road numbers, in order to model a prototypically correct train, of the era they are modeling.

I avoid same numbers.  I am not happy certain cars in the current Lionel catalog are not available with more than one number. 

If its a car I like, I buy multiple numbers.

I have 80 or so weaver 3 bay hoppers to complete a coal train... some different roads, some 12 numbers of the same road.

I have 24 or a case of OLD MILWAUKEE reefers.  I like it and they all have the same numbers.  Make the hobby yours to enjoy.

Menards offer cars in sequential road numbers!  That's why I want to get a bunch of Southern boxcars from them!   

• Each boxcar is uniquely numbered - No two are alike!
• Compatible with all O scale train tracks
• Limited edition
• Navigates O-27 curves
• Sliding doors
• Premium metal trucks and wheels with operating couplers
• For best results, lubricate all metal parts before running

 I think they (Menards) is raising the bar on rolling stock!  

Jim

I have bought MTH quad hoppers in a 6 pack and the road number on each car was one number different. Bought a couple of Lionel hoppers and they had the same road number.

Even Atlas has some freight cars with 2 different numbers on them  so you can buy 2 identical freight cars for the same road and not worry about the numbers on them being the same.

I prefer different road numbers on the freight cars as it makes the model railroad look more realistic. Mainly I model O gauge trains but have some H.O. trains and have changed numbers on the H.O. freight cars with paste-on stencils. Have not changed numbers on any O gauge train cars.

Lee Fritz

It's ease to change numbers.  In fact, depending on car(s), you can use weathering to cover or alter numbers to make them different.  For the manufacturers to do it, would cost more money.  You can do it much cheaper yourself.  I wish O scale manufacturers would produce "undecorated" cars, like other scales.  That way you could paint and number them any way you wish. 

John C. posted:

It's ease to change numbers.  In fact, depending on car(s), you can use weathering to cover or alter numbers to make them different.  For the manufacturers to do it, would cost more money.  You can do it much cheaper yourself.  I wish O scale manufacturers would produce "undecorated" cars, like other scales.  That way you could paint and number them any way you wish. 

It has been brought up on another forum about undecorated cars and was mentioned by the company who makes them that the market for undecorated car is very low for 3 rail O scale trains.

Lee Fritz

Todays railroading often is unit trains. In my area when I see  a train it's 100+ hoppers of the same road or owner. If not hoppers.....100+ Intermodal cars. Even in the past, if you model the 50's, unit trains of only reefers were common. Oil trains, piggy back or LCL fast freights were also common. Mixed freights are great....but not the only option......

I have seen 45 to 50 three bay hopper cars being used with one engine on FEC freight trains, they were hauling sand to cement plants in southeast FL.

Some times FEC runs a mixed freight when they have freight cars that need to be hauled back north towards Daytona or Jacksonville FL. They might have between 100 & 120 freight cars(3 bay hoppers, gondolas, & TTAX) on the train going north through Stuart FL with 3 or 4 diesel engines.

Lee Fritz

Allan Martinez posted:

So my question is and I don't understand this because I've seen a lot of this type of thing on almost every you-tube video for several years now. Why would a person who cares about reality in there layout buy a large number of coal cars all with the same road number. 

Please I don't want to Offend anyone I just wanted to make sure that I understand what I'm trying to say and do. Please help me understand this hobby.

 

Its called a "unit train".  Very prototypical. I for one love 'em.  Very often seen with coal hoppers, 70-ton ore cars and reefers.

The Pacific Fruit Express  unit train has ran for nearly a century and still does.   From California to the east.  Tropicana has and still runs a huge unit train from Florida to the north.   Two of the best known unit trains in the world.   Tracks Ahead made a pretty good documentary about them.  Available on Youtube or Amazon. Lots of good videos available using an Amazon fire stick!  

The numbers thing always bothered me a little, but usually not enough to care.  As to seeing multiple of the same type of cars,

well..........these are parked at work right now....

The hobby is what you make it,have fun with it. I try to buy same cars with different numbers but it doesn't always work. If i have to i change the number.Like I said have Fun 

When a model train is moving, the reporting marks and road numbers are very hard to see, so having the same number isn't a big deal in that case. When parked on a siding, it's another thing since there's time to read everything. As for having several of the same type of car, it's actually fairly typical of modern freight serving large industries. I just wish I had enough space to support a grain elevator large enough to support all of my grain hoppers (I have a lot more than the ones in this train).

Not sure where I'd fit here. I've ordered six of these . .

They will have identical numbers. Not ideal.

But I'm not sure I ordered enough? Or too many? Or even if they'll ever actually show up?

This has become one heck of a weird hobby with BTO and preorder . . .

But, about the least "real" train are those starter sets with about 5 cars, all different, a hopper, a gondola, a tanker, a box car . . .

I have about 300 cars on the layout.   Many are the same, but no two numbers are the same.    I use an operating system that utilizes the numbers to tell where to set out the cars.    Cannot possibly have duplicates.     If not available commercially, I renumber my self.

Allen,

   Many of my logging Cars have no numbers on them at all and they are identical, except for the log painting I have done to make them look a might different.

PCRR/Dave

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Allen,

   Many of my logging Cars have no numbers on them at all and they are identical, except for the log painting I have done to make them look a might different.

PCRR/Dave

Those log cars are awesome! Is that laying in your living room??  

One buys what is offered; number - even paint schemes - can be changed. Cars on sale. Certain types of cars (hoppers, for example) did/do occur in certain services that call for hundreds of the same, or nearly the same, car. 

"Six-packs" of freight cars are not un-prototypical, of course, unless all the numbers are the same, and they are way past that.

So, many of the "same" car can be as realistic as no two cars the same - in fact, that is less realistic than a few duplications (with different road numbers).

Of course, the limitations of one's layout are paramount.

Lastly, if I decide to buy only one example of the new such-and-such from MTH, and it comes lettered for 6 different railroads, one of which is my favorite road, I tend to buy that road because, well, it's my favorite. Hard not to. This leads to a biased fleet, also.

Atlas O teamed up with the Middle Division club to make some really nice PRR cars, the H21 hopper and X-29 boxcar, with multiple road numbers.  They both came in different liveries (eras), and I am collecting the circle keystone H21s and REA X-29s.

For the H21s, there initially were 16 different numbered Atlas/Middle Division cars.  Atlas then produced a separate 4-car set followed by another Atlas/Middle Division 2-car War Bonds set.  That makes 22 differently numbered H21a hoppers for my unit coal train of the late 40s.

Atlas also produced a lot of basic X-29 and X-26 boxcars with different road numbers (at least 8 of each, maybe more).  Both these cars were made in huge numbers in real life, especially the X-29 (39,000).  I don't mind having several of these cars in my mixed freights.

I have multiples of the same cars because Lionel did not offer cars in the same livery with different road numbers when I was accumulating much of my rolling stock.   The majority of the viewing population does not know the difference, and being prototypical was off the table from the start anyway with a third rail running down the middle of the track.

Terry Danks posted:

Not sure where I'd fit here. I've ordered six of these . .

They will have identical numbers. Not ideal.

But I'm not sure I ordered enough? Or too many? Or even if they'll ever actually show up?

This has become one heck of a weird hobby with BTO and preorder . . .

But, about the least "real" train are those starter sets with about 5 cars, all different, a hopper, a gondola, a tanker, a box car . . .

For me and some others, I'm sure,  "pack" of these with different road numbers would have been great.

There's just no wrong way to enjoy the hobby!

I operate on a basement size N scale layout.  Cars are moved to and from yards to various industries and between various Northern CA towns.  Each train has car cards that gives the number of the car and the industries to which is to be routed.  I think that the layout has close to 1,000 N scale cars.  Each one has a different number.  His layout work crew spent a lot of time changing car numbers.

OGR has run several articles about operating an O scale layout including in the most recent issue (run 290 - John Penca'a layout).  OGR also did a video on Bob Bartizek's layout operations (Great Layout Adventures - Volume 11).  This is a terrific DVD that really shows how operations can be done in O gauge.  Even my N and HO scale friends were impressed when I showed them this video.  

I don't know anyone who "operates" trains in O gauge.  Every O gauge person that I know is a "loop" runner.  

NH Joe

New Haven Joe posted:

I don't know anyone who "operates" trains in O gauge.  Every O gauge person that I know is a "loop" runner.  

NH Joe

Obviously you do NOT get around!