Too many engines?

Half of my pile of trains (I didn't want to say collection) are locomotives. I built several trains of cars, and then run various locos at the point.

 

Locomotives have always been my main train fascination. I have way more than I can run, but still I buy more.

You can never have too many engines.

 200-Plus and counting.   I run every new engine I get. Then I will randomly pick an engine I haven't run for awhile and run it with a train.

I have 2 CSS & SB 800 Series (LITTLE JOES) CSS & SB GP-38, MONON F-3 ABA SET AND A NYC L3A MOHAWK....I'M GOOD.  I have limited myself to roads so I won't but what looks cool, you know that I gotta have it minute. 

Yes, but I haven't gotten there yet.

 

I'm trying to assemble a roster for 4 different railroads on one giant layout. I need to take a complete inventory, but I think I have about 50. The limiting factor of what will go on the layout is 100. It's not my limit, it's Lionel's. That's the number of channels that TMCC has. The trick is coming up with unique numbers. I have already failed, because I have a few duplicates. I just put a temporary number on the roof of the cab until I can create a more permanent solution.

 Too many engines?

 

Haven't been in the hobby very long have you?

 

Too many engines?, the concept is a MYTH, there is no such thing as TOO MANY ENGINES. You may have more than you can put on your layout at one time, your display shelving may be inadequate to display your collection, your budget may not be able to deliver all the "GOTTA HAVE" locomotives as quickly as you want, but there is simply no such thing as too many locomotives( of course my Wife, has a completely different, however WRONG opinion, on the subject)

 

Hi, my name is Doug,.........

and I have a problem.......

 

Anyone else here been to one of those meetings???

C'mon admit it

 

Doug

Yes, I have way too many engines, but have taken steps in recent years to cut way back on purchases.  I managed to do this by focusing closely on just a couple of road names and doing my best to ignore most everything else.  I haven't been 100% successful in that regard, as one of my recent magazine columns detailed, but overall I have been doing a pretty darn good job of keeping new purchases down.

 

I do have several items still on pre-order, but really am not all that anxious to see them arrive since I have way more than enough to keep me happy and fully occupied. 

 

Simply put:  I'm out of space in my home and just cannot see renting storage space to house more trains that I won't even see or enjoy.

 

But I do want to see the rest of you folks continue buying, buying, and buying some more!  

Yes, absolutely, if by "use" you mean run on my layout.  I can run, at most, four separate trains.  Allowing for ABBA combinations of diesels and doubled heading steam, I would never run more than ten at once, and usually just four.  Yet I have over 100, with more on the way. In that regard, I have way too many. 

 

Almost all my locos are scale models.  I bought them partly to be models, to display on shelves alongside one another, where I can look at them, study and compare them (side by side, it is very difficult to decide if an Allegheny or a Big Boy is the "bigger" locomotive).   In that sense, I am "using" them when they are on the shelves of my trainroom -- and I do not have nearly enough yet.

Heroine would have been cheaper, and not nearly as addictive..... We had a dealer miss-ship an engine to us - wrong one..... Called him to get that straightened out and get the right one shipped.... return the other?.... heck no! That would be impolite...  

Almost all my locos are scale models.  I bought them partly to be models, to display on shelves alongside one another, where I can look at them, study and compare them (side by side, it is very difficult to decide if an Allegheny or a Big Boy is the "bigger" locomotive).   In that sense, I am "using" them when they are on the shelves of my trainroom -- and I do not have nearly enough yet.

 

Excellent point, Lee.....

If I were purely an operator, then yes, I have too many engines.  But as a PRR by Lionel collector I could always add a few more older engines.

 

I'm more selective with the newer engines lately.  Modern engine variations don't interest me as much as Postwar variations (I have all four variations of the Postwar 2028).  I don't buy multiples just to have different road numbers.  I haven't bought a non-powered dummy in several years. 

 

I'm seriously running out of display space.  And I exceeded the TMCC limit of 99 ENG #'s many years ago.

I said I wasn't buying another engine about 4 engines ago! I can run 3 trains comfortably on my layout, and have 10 or 11 engines, with another one on order. I only buy roadnames that are local - B&O, C&O, PRR, WM although I've cheated with BNSF, NYC MTA, and N&W. I have a B&O 0-6-0 on order but plan to not buy more engines or rolling stock unless they are total must haves - no more impulse buys. 

 

Most of my engines were gifts, so they hold a sentimental attachment that keeps me from selling. If a piece was given to me as a gift, I do not sell it. 

I just like to look at them.   

 

There are few more that find parking in the engine house and on the layout.  

 

 

Not yet.

 

Pete

I have over 150 of them all NYC Road name, they are variations of prototypes, command and conventional, old and modern, and love collecting them and yes operating them. I have never bought them as an investment just enjoyment and they can have it all when I go to the BIG Lionel/MTH/Atlas/Williams/Weaver/K line/3rd Rail showroom in the sky!

"Hi, my name is Doug,.........

 and I have a problem.......

Anyone else here been to one of those meetings???"

 

Some of you need to contact Doug. You need a sponsor.

Doug, can you be of assistance here?

 

Greg

I have enough and have started to give some away to youngsters interested in O gauge three rail.

My answer is yes and yes, besides I just picked up 6 new shelves.

Larry

Several of you have tried to use the excuse of 99 being a limiting factor but you are missing something important. You must go through your roster and group your locomotives together according to which prototypes would actually run together - be it the time period of the prototype, the locale and routes they would run, or something as simple as color schemes that would clash.

So you see, you really have several different 'set's of 99 possibilities to work with.

Now, don't you feel better?

 

Go ahead and make that pre-order...

It depends on your goals of your layout. 

 

I at one time had around 20 modern locomotives.  I didn't have a layout at the time and just had them on a display shelf in our old condo.   I now have funded my layout by selling almost all of my locomotives, and have kept a select few.  Even though i have a loop of track on my layout I plan to do some real operations.  Once phase 2 of my layout is built with my staging yard and great lakes car ferry I will be able to do all switching and building trains using my 2 0-8-0 switchers.  My larger locomotives will only be used to bring a train onto or off the layout.  

 

Of course when my son asks I will run the Legacy Berk on the loop for hours on end so we can just watch it go.

After accumulating 30+ locomotives after only a few years back in the hobby, I decided to limit myself to my current age.  I got my 38th engine this year, but will have to wait until next year for 39.

 

It's not a perfect system, but it keeps things somewhat under control.

I'll answer your question with a question. How many is too many?

 

Truthfully, yes I have too many engines. I've been told that I have more than most train shops.

No! I will continue to purchase more until the basement explodes or until the wife throws me out. Which ever comes first.

<<Several of you have tried to use the excuse of 99 being a limiting factor but you are missing something important. You must go through your roster and group your locomotives together according to which prototypes would actually run together - be it the time period of the prototype, the locale and routes they would run, or something as simple as color schemes that would clash.

So you see, you really have several different 'set's of 99 possibilities to work with.>>

 

CSam, this is true of Cab 1 TMCC, but the Cab 2 allows for uniqueness such as Legacy, TMCC, Cab 1, etc.  You can build a mini database for each engine, accessory, command controlled car.

 

With the Cab 1 you can say, number several items #5, run each one indiviaually, and all is well.  With legacy, ENG 5 may be the TMCC crane, or a Vision CC2s.  The menue will be uniqe for that item.  That's the rub.

There is so much tempting stuff to buy on ebay and from the online retailers, but I am trying desperately to appreciate and run what I have:

 

As Cheryl Crow pointed out. its not getting what you want, its wanting what you got.

I limit myself, otherwise I find that the train hobby becomes another form of hoarding.  The other thing is that I find it is just as fun, if not more fun, and rewarding, to make sure the old stuff that I have, runs well and in certain cases, is upgraded a bit here and there. 

 

The other concern I have is that while I was a very early adopter of TMCC, now having owned a number of these locos for a good amount of time, I am somewhat concerned about their longevity and the availability of parts down the road.  Such is the nature of electronics generally but this is not a concern with the old trains from my dad, which were, as you all know, relatively simple affairs with reliable and timeless E units and air whistles.  I am very worried that 25 years from now, when my boys are hopefully ready to involve their kids in the hobby, that many of the engines we now have will be shelf pieces due to an electronics failure of some sort that is not economically viable to repair.  Time will tell.

Yep, way too many - but my bucket list is truly short, now. Occasionally a loco

gets added to it, but the Must Have list is down to only 2, actually - and there is one

of them up for auction right now, so if I'm lucky....down to 1.

 

This count applies only to locos that have actually been produced; were a NYC 2-6-6-2, NC&StL Dixie, L&N M-1 Berkshire, Illinois Central #1 freight Hudson (now THERE'S a rare bird!), NYC H-10 Mike, Heavy USRA Mike or any USRA 2-10-2

be offered, they would go on the list. Fortunately and unfortunately, very few of the

preceding locos will ever be seen in a 3-rail catalogue. I can scratch bash, and 2-rail

locos can be converted, so some of them may "arrive" one day.

 

I have far too many engines now. 250 plus. And this past York I bought two more. Over a year ago I bought two engines for the wife because she liked the color shemes on them so they don't count. I can only run five at once unless I double or triple head them and who is to say what this year  will bring but I have definately slow down my buying but then again it depends on what the new catalog will offer. ......Paul

You cannot have too many engines; only too little space. I am running out of space, so I have sent a couple of engines out into a "lease pool service" to junior club members. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Shaggy:  Hey Scoob, how many layers on a Club Sandwich are enough?

Scooby Doo:  I ron'nt row!!

Shaggy: Trick question!  There's NEVER enough.

 

Same concept, less mayo.

Have as many as I could ever run or have on the layout at the same time so we pretty much stopped buying.

Have most all the types I'd want anyway ...

Hi Folks,  I model the New Haven railroad.  I couple of years ago I counted that I had 5 EP-5 electric locomotives in my collection.  

 

The actual NH had only 10 of these engines.  I realized that if I didn't stop buying I would have more locomotives than the real railroad.

 

3rd Rail has just released the NH FL-9.  I have two on order.  The real NH had 60 of these engines.  I hope that I can stop at two models.

 

Yes, I have more locomotives that I need or can run.

 

Joe

I limit myself, otherwise I find that the train hobby becomes another form of hoarding.  The other thing is that I find it is just as fun, if not more fun, and rewarding, to make sure the old stuff that I have, runs well and in certain cases, is upgraded a bit here and there.

The other concern I have is that while I was a very early adopter of TMCC, now having owned a number of these locos for a good amount of time, I am somewhat concerned about their longevity and the availability of parts down the road.  Such is the nature of electronics generally but this is not a concern with the old trains from my dad, which were, as you all know, relatively simple affairs with reliable and timeless E units and air whistles.  I am very worried that 25 years from now, when my boys are hopefully ready to involve their kids in the hobby, that many of the engines we now have will be shelf pieces due to an electronics failure of some sort that is not economically viable to repair.  Time will tell.

You know, there's always a smart guy in the crowd that has logic and common sense that make guys like me look bad!  Truth is I'm beyond hoarder and have become the hoard, a real O-gauge hoard!

Stack

I won't know if I have too many engines until I get my next house (3-4 years) and see what kind of wall space I'll have for display.  Until then I having plenty of shelf space in my current (unfinished) basement/garage/U-Stor-It.

Yes - I can only run 3 or 4 trains at a time, and I have about 13 currently. More often the problem is that I buy locomotives and wait ages before buying matching consists for them.....

As far as I know, I'm at around 20-21 locomotives (may have to do a roster check while I'm out of school for the week).  I have thought of selling several of them, but when I think about it, they all get run at some time or another and many of them have sentimental value.  There are only a couple that I'd be willing to sell at some point.  I think I'm out of storage room though and I'll be going to College next year, so the purchasing will probably slow down or even stop soon.

Once I used up all of my layout space, wall space and shelf space I swore to myself I would never buy another engine.  I guess I lied to myself.

When and where do these meetings take place?  I think I may need a 12 step program and my 10 year old son is not far behind!!

 

We have probably bought 20 engines over the past year....which is 19 more than I can run on the layout under construction right now.  Add the 5 that we previously had and we might be accused of having a problem. 

 

Everytime I get the credit card bill or see the stack of boxes in the basement, I just do my best Sgt. Schultz impression from Hogan's Heroes   "I see nothing!!"

Dave you know the answer is Yes.

 

I think Chug does the best thing, he sells engines after a while then buys new ones.

I think that most of us are inflicted with "catalogitis", a highly infectious ailment that we are subjected to at least twice a year. This disease manifests itself when we are compelled  to ravage through the new catalogs and we have virtually no resistance to purchasing new engines appearing in the wonderful pages. One of the symptoms is to experience temporary memory lose of our current inventory of engines. This is highly dangerous as this causes acquisition of engines without any concern in terms of what we have in inventory.

 

It is reported, though not confirmed, that train engine manufacturers have successfully kept of the market pharmaceuticals that can correct this ailment.