What engines do you have that you don't run?

I just have two that don't get run.  A Lionel 1684 from 1942 has zinc pest.  An American Flyer 43226 from 1938 keeps burning out reverse units, so I don't bother replacing them.  Otherwise, everything gets run.

My layout is TMCC, which focuses on L&N, and thus I have MTH engines that don't get run. (about 4 of them)

In addition to those I have a few TMCC engines that don't get run:

• Soo Line SD60
• NYC NW2
• Milwaukee Road GP9
• NYC Mohawk L-3a
• Gold Hudson (on display)

I also on display a 3rd Rail PRR 2-8-0

I haven't given much thought about either running them or finding another home for them

A few O Gauge engines that have been parked - 

MTH Imperial 0-6-0. Boards blew up shortly after the warranty expired (of course!) and couldn't afford to get it running again. I eventually gutted the engine and turned it into a "dummy" although I rarely used it as such. The drawbar pin fell out of the tender so I can't hook the engine to the tender but it is in like new cosmetic condition. It is just sitting there. Bought another one and sold it shortly after. The original isn't going anywhere as it holds sentimental value to me, being a gift from my mother.

MTH Railking Rugged Rails B&O F3 - the "shorty" version from the train sets. It runs but apparently there was a known issue with the boards on this production run of engines where the engine will go totally dark and silent and lose control at speeds over 20 or 30 MPH. Unknown to me until a year or so ago. I had the issue but rarely as I usually ran the engine slowly. Ran great otherwise. Still runs but has no battery in it and having about or over 5,000 scale miles on it, the gears, etc are really sloppy. I opted earlier this year to park it and the original train set it came with on display. If MTH did another run of the B&O F3 freight train set, I'd grab one in a heartbeat. Not for sale and never will be. I'm a B&O fan who has grown up living in the shadows of the old B&O Metropolitan Sub (now CSX) and has spent years wandering the B&O museum and it was a birthday gift from my mother, my second set following the PRR Flyer (below) that really cemented me returning to O gauge from many years in HO, N and G. 

Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer. The set that got me back into O Gauge at Christmas 2004. Nothing wrong with it other than the air whistle broken or missing in the tender (can remember which) and the smoke unit/headlight missing. It runs great otherwise. I'm working on converting my layout from 100% command control to 100% conventional control. In the process, I've had the urge to get that old girl fixed up again so once the backlog of repairs and train purchase/repair bills is worked through, I will get it whistling and smoking again and the headlight working again. I parked it when I went 100% command but it was a Christmas gift fro my mother and it got me back into O gauge so I won't sell it. Hopefully sooner rather than later I'll get it back to its old glory. 

I run all my engines, just have to rotate them right now because my layout is not large enough to hold them all. Hopefully in a year or two the layout will be expanded as planned an they will then all be out on the layout.

I have only modern diesels and am trying to stick with one road name, BNSF. I've done pretty well at that except for one UP SD70ACe and one Interstate RS-3. BNSF has no RS-3's so my railroad had to lease one from Interstate. It's also really a nice looking engine.

I have more engines than I have layout so a number of engines are in storage under the layout.  Getting to the engines that are deep under the layout is a pain so those engines aren't run much.  I don't have the walls for shelf space.     

I also bought a couple of engines with the intention of converting them to Lionel command control.  I haven't gotten around to the conversion.  I only run command control engines so these engines haven't been run in a long time.

Sometimes I think I would be better off with just 4 or 5 engines instead of about 20.

Joe

My layout is currently set up for dcs only.  This leaves some of my older engines silent.  My favorite of such is a postwar 2360 gg1.  I do make it a point to run this engine at least a few times a year.  I will unplug the tiu and get out the old 1033 to power a nice postwar consist.  

I run all my engines either conventional or tmcc or dcs and i only buy what i like in engines and cars so i don't have to sell anything off. 

My TMCC Santa Fe F7s  were an "impulse buy" when I began  my switchover from H.O.

I do like them, they run and sound great, but my appetite for steam from "eastern roads" leaves them sitting on the shelf most of the time. I have a GP7 in the "appropriate" road name thats on the layout, but its parked most of the time too.

I've considering selling them to fund other purchases by I'm afraid I would regret it.

I have a lot of engines I don't run. They fit into a few categories:

Postwar: I have a few postwar Lionel engines, including the ones I had as a kid in the 50's plus a couple I have acquired since. I plan to run them someday, after I get more done on my layout, which has one loop dedicated to postwar and repro operation.

Awaiting repair: I have several engines that I like, but they need work and I just haven't had the time to fix them. These include:

Weaver Milwaukee Road F6a 4-6-4 that seems to have a loose wire inside. This engine is not fun to take apart.

Atlas Dash-8 that needs a bunch of cosmetic and mechanical work. I may repaint this one as well; we'll see when I finish the mechanical work. 

Weaver brass 4-6-4 Hiawatha that needs me to collect the best parts from a pile of quasi-junkers to make one good one

Weaver Hiawatha Atlantic that needs tires

3rd Rail Cab Forward in need of some difficult cosmetic repairs

A couple of Weaver VO-1000's in need of this or that

Three MTH electrics needing the automatic pantographs fixed. These I can run, but I need to fix the pans. 

And a few more that don't come to mind at the moment.

Awaiting repaint or upgrade:

An old Lionel Northern that is part way to a TMCC upgrade and a repaint to Milwaukee Road

Lionel USRA 2-6-6-2 that is to be redecorated as either Rio Grande or Gadsden Pacific Lines (house railroad of the Gadsden Pacific Toy Train Museum)

Lionel Legacy Mikado awaiting redecoration as Milwaukee Road

MTH B&LE AS-616 to be redecorated as Milwaukee Road

Lionel F-M H12-44 to be repainted and redecorated as Milwaukee Road

RMT Beef passenger set to be repainted in Hiawatha colors

Rail King Scale SW-1 to be redone in solid black with CM&StP herald, as delivered

A couple of K-Line semi-scale GG-1's, one needing a TMCC upgrade and a couple for repaint in Milwaukee Road color schemes

K-Line Dreyfuss Hudson to be repainted to coordinate with Rail Chief passenger cars

K-Line semi-scale Mikado awaiting redecoration as Milwaukee Road

An unbuilt Atlas kit for a "toaster" electric that will get TMCC and Milwaukee Road paint

A few more that I can't remember just now.

Standard Gauge: 

CMC/CMT 2-4-0T disassembled awaiting restoration

Lionel 10E disassembled awaiting restoration (I think I have two of these; not sure)

McCoy 2-motor Cascade needing parts and restoration

Lionel 380 needing motor work

Williams repro 381E needing repaint and assembly. This will be done in gloss black. 

2 Legacy SD70ace Southern Pacific engines that are dead and are at the Lionel repair center guy near me....going on 3 weeks. Both are just nightmares and had those been the only engines I had ever owned I would have walked away from model/toy trains and never looked back.

Yes, they are that bad and even the repair tech refers to them as engines from ****....

1936 Lionel Passenger Train Set

     This was my Farther-in-laws train set when he was a kid. Went off to WWII and made five combat jumps, under fire in the South Pacific. U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne, 503 Infantry. It does not run well, so it is part of a static display.

     The second photo is a reproduction of this Lionel Passenger Set, as seen on page 19 of the MTH 2012, Lionel Corporation Tinplate.

  Click photos to enlarge

Counting everything in O and several S gauge, not my old Standard gauge, I have about 50+ engines. Unless one is pooped out I run the all. At least occasionally.  I think it is good for them. The oldest I run is a 1915 cast iron O gauge engine my wife bought me.  Mostly steam but some diesels and electrics.

I have a spare 1684 shell if that would help...

The only engine I have that doesn't get run is my 4=8=4 project that is waiting for some parts scrounging from a few shows.

A GG1 dummy...not you dummy the loco

A dying black PW Erie diesel switcher.

And a sickly 0-4-0 plastic scout with the plastic framed motor. It my "old sparky" and gets too hot for its own good if pulling more than two light cars, counting a caboose. 

I agree that there are a number of categories, many project engines and awaiting repainting.  Those are all special, and may wait a decade.

I have a number of operable engines that are sitting idle in the box.  Trouble is when you pull them out to sell them you have to open up the box and take some pictures....   and you realize why you bought it in the first place.  So now it isn't forgotten anymore, and it is tempting to put it on the tracks!  I have to force myself to sell stuff that I really like and commit to buying no more.  Unless of course something good shows up in BNSF or..... NP, or BN, or GN, or SP, or SP&S and of course who can turn down Pennsy?

A CMC Std Gauge 10 wheeler. Was running it at a TCA meet a year or so ago and the worm gear came off the motor. The gear was so hot, you couldn't pick it up off the floor. Gotta get it torn apart so I can press the gear back on and make sure it's adjusted better so it does not heat up.

Steve

About 30 Postwar, LTI that are shelf decorations as my layout is DCS and approx 40 MTH Diesel since I am currently running all steam. I doubt if I will ever be able to get all of my motive power on the layout at once. My problem is I want one example of each locomotive the PRR had on their roster post civil war. Besides "He who dies with the most toys(trains) wins" Still dead but wins!

Most of my Demostrator locomotives

I don't know if this can be considered an engine,but it is the only motorized unit I have not run,except for a test.It is a two rail O scale brass streetcar.It is wired to get the electricity through the pole on top.I have three rail tinplate track only,so it sits on a shelf.

Dan 

Wow, that's a beautiful model of the Green Hornet PCC, Dan! Who made it?

The box it came in is buried under my train layout,so I don't know the manufacturer right now.It is an unpainted brass O scale model I bought at Chicagoland Hobbies in the late 1980s.They had an artist that painted the model for me.The craftsmanship of the paint job is the best I have ever seen.I could barely afford it at the time,but it was too attractive to pass it up.

Dan

I have over 120 locos now and can run a maximum of three or four at once, so something sits on the shelf a lot.  

What I don't run at all because it is delicate or too precious to me and just leave on the shelf.  My fathers mid 1930s wind-up Marx set, the Lionel Lincoln Funeral Train.

What I don't run because it doesn't run well: Almost anything without on-board electronics and cruise.  Post-war and MPC, WBB locos that haven't been modded with cruise commander or something. I've been completely spoiled by the low-speed behavior or modern locos built with on-board electrics and cruise, etc. 

What I don't run because of size: big articulated locos - I have the JLC Big boy, Allegheny, Legacy EM-1, Vision challenger, and most of the other big ones in Premier or Legacy.  I have curves big enough to run them but I never do - they look weird on curves, even 84" curves.  I used to take each  down once and year and run it for an hour, but not anymore: they are pure shelf queens now. 

The only engine I don't run, except once and now back in box, is my Williams GG1. Beautifull engine, but doesn't fit into my scenes. Would sell it, but resale is so low, I rather keep it.

My current layout allows for two trains running at once, so all my O-gauge locos have to take there turn, but they all get run time!  lol

The engines that don't get run are my On30 locos. No place to run them anymore.

all of them

I rune them all. No shelf queens here.

Scale Lionel TMCC Santa Fe 3751.  A 'box queen' as I don't have a layout or shelf.

Need to sell it, doesn't fit in with my all UP steam fleet.

LOL

Lionel ESE

Lionel Legacy Daylight

Lionel Hudson w/vandy tender

Lionel Water level Route (mohawk)

Lionel Texas e7s

Lionel CC Santa fe f3s

Lionel GG1green cc

Lionel Black 5 stripe cc

Lionel mint  car gg1

Lionel Green PC 5 stripe

Lionel Scale chicago and alton

Lionel tin hiawatha

Lionel 3751

Weaver NYC 0-6-0

Kline NYC Shay

Kline J1e

Kline Liberty gg1

Williams 25th Anniversary gg1

Williams conrail gg1

Williams silver gg1

williams as delivered gg1

williams tuscan 5 gg1

williams pink gg1  ( yes I know, but I'm committed)

MTH PC gg1

MTH green gg1 5 stripe

MTH Amtrak nose gg1

MTH captain america gg1

MTH tuscan 5 stripe

MTH black silver stripe ( angel wings)

MTH ESE 999

MTH dreyfuss

MTH orient express black

Tin

Commodore Vanderbilt

Blue comet

girls set

armored set

Thats all I can remember.

rat

My old Lionel turbine from the 1950s sits on a shelf in the basement.  Last time I ran it has to be 10 years ago and it pulled 23 of the newer fast angle wheeled rolling stock.  However, I like all the new command control stuff so that's all I run now.

.....

Dennis

My Post War 2343's and Train Masters. Not that I am worried about their value if I would to use them regularly, I am just too much of a Modern Era guy.

To begin with...

The scale Lionel Dreyfus, on the left, is my absolute favorite, and it never leaves the layout.

The middle engine, a scale 3rdRail PRR locomotive, I gave to a dear friend for helping me work on the Lionel corporate headquarters layout, a couple years ago, so it's gone from my layout entirely.

On the right, the Weaver scale "Cincinnatian" (sp?), I do not run at all since I only use my TMCC-equipped locomotives, esp. when we have company in the trainroom, so I will have maximum control over the ten trains a-runnin'.

...to be continued...

I have a growing list.

Original Lionel Pennsylvania steam turbine

First Atlas engine that sparks so much I can't run it.

MTH UP U50C quit running and my MTH repair hasn't been able to fix it

K-Line UP E8's run rough without cruise control

MTH UP Sd70's keep throwing traction tires so often that I gave up

But they all look good smiling at me form their display shelves.

Art

...the Williams scale "Challenger" on the left, has a very finicky front truck which appears to enjoy derailing as often as it can, so whoooosh - off the layout and enjoy your shelf, babes!

The scale Weaver UP engine was converted to TMCC and given a nice whistle/horn thingy, so when I am in the mood to translate the entire ten loops over to SP and UP trains, it takes its place on the layout.

Unfortunately everything is in boxes right now but when they were set up...

k-line rock island mp15 with matching caboose: nice reliable engine, want to use as a switcher when I have a layout with a decent yard

same set in union pacific, barely ever ran it because the couplers broke shortly after i bought it.  recently dug it out, replaced the broken parts and sold it off

Lionel MPC Amtrak Lakeshore Limited set: ran it when I first got it, but upgraded to postwar aluminum passenger cars.  I want to sell it, but i don't want to deal with shippiing since it's in the long set box.

K-line KCC PRR GG1, used it to pull my set of k-line broadway limited madison cars, but then I won a k-line PRR mikado at a k-line visit to my LHS (think it was rigged since the k-line guy was trying to hit on my mom...), and i just enjoyed watching all the linkages of steam wheels better, so the GG1 went on the shelf, great quality engine though, just not enough space on my old 2-3 mainline 8x8 L layout.

K-line US Army set: very cool set headed by a mp15, used to run it a local show because the kids loved it, but at home it was mostly on a siding next to the military base (plasticville style airport hanger, mth lionel copy radar tower, some plastic army guys, and old window screen cut up to be chainlink fence)

I also have a Lionel MPC New Haven diesel (GP-9?) that I fixed for my uncle, his trains were in boxes as well so he told me to hang onto it and use it on my layout, nice engine, but I just love those steamers!

Hey. I can help all you guys with this stuff!!

https://ogrforum.com/t...project-help-please?

We could use some motive power.

My MTH premier allegheny.  Its not even in my train room.  I put it on dispaly on the shelf above the fireplace in my family room.

I only bought it because I am nostalgic about seeing the prototype display in the Henry Ford Museum when I was a kid.

I don't have any coal hoppers or appropriate caboose to run with it, anyways.

Lionel 153, Lionel with TMCC and early MTH conventional locomotives. If it doesn't have DCS PS2, then I do not run it.

All of them get track time.

I dont run my Post War Trains,digital only and my WP Legacy A B B A,waiting for Atlas Ca Zephyr Observation.