STEAMER - I'm interested. Would it be possible to email me some shots of your shell, with closeups of the bad spots? My address is in my profile. Thanks for the interest.
If it doesn't have cruise, it hardly gets run, and I have a pretty level layout! I need to look into buying a number of the new ERR Cruise Lite boards.
Stack
Unfortunately, all of them. I have no layout at this time. Everything is in storage. Bummer.
Mark
Mark, can't you at least set up an oval of track temporarily, just to hear and smell trains running?? 
I couldn't get along without it!
i have a pair of custom painted Lionel UP E6's. they started out as FEC. out of the box, both had running problems that sent them back to Lionel. since the customization, which looks great, BTW, they have had TMCC issues. one refuses to have the ID changed. when MUed as a TMCC lashup, they lose signal and stop at the same place on the layout every time. no other engines have an issue. have grounded all the the relevant track and structures to no avail. they now sit on a shelf, replaced by Lionel E9's
My MTH PRR Q2 that landed on my doorstep DOA.....bought used so I am deciding what to do with her. I've done a number of brain transplants but yet to tackle this one. As soon as the layout is upp and running I'll figure out what to do.
Sounds like it might be an antenna problem. Have you checked to make sure the antennas were reconnected after the paint job?
Originally Posted by Forrest Jerome:
i have a pair of custom painted Lionel UP E6's. they started out as FEC. out of the box, both had running problems that sent them back to Lionel. since the customization, which looks great, BTW, they have had TMCC issues. one refuses to have the ID changed. when MUed as a TMCC lashup, they lose signal and stop at the same place on the layout every time. no other engines have an issue. have grounded all the the relevant track and structures to no avail. they now sit on a shelf, replaced by Lionel E9's
To go back to one of the original questions "Why do you keep them?" - why on earth
WOULDN'T I "keep them"?
I bought them because I liked them, and I still do. I do not have to run things to want
them (how odd), nor do I have to even SEE them all the time. They are there, when and
if, or never. I do not run most of them, though all of them that can run have been.
I do have "novelty" items - old 2-railers that I bought for historical reasons, for example.
One does not have to pick up the Mona Lisa and walk it around the block to "enjoy
it". It is what it is. Striking. Impressive. Notable.
So are the railroad items around here - at least many of them. And, unlike the Mona Lisa,
they're MINE.
We have a smallish layout plus a holiday layout so just not enough room to run all of the trains. Can only run 2 at a time in the basement plus one more on the holiday layout. Working on a new track plan that will allow at least 3 trains to run at once.
The biggest issue is that I keep finding trains that I want and keep buying throughout the year. Most of them are in boxes just waiting their turn to come out and play.
...and another...
This scale B&O by 3rdRail used to be a favorite and a standard on the layout until, one day, I began to run the trains for company (of course) and the locomotive started screaming bloody-murder with its whistle, which would not stop and has never stopped since then; plus, it will not move. So, it's off the layout until the cows come home.
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The WBB BL-2 I got in my school colors (orange and blue). It was gonna be my "victory engine". Run every Sat am before the game for good luck. Bought at the beginning of last season which we finished with our first losing record in over a decade. 
So it sits.
Oh dear...
Were I to answer this thread's title question fully and completely, the embarrassment would be more than my heart meds could cope with, I'm afraid.
Suffice it to say, 'way to many'.....probably.
Sounds like I'm not alone, in reading other responses. And when one's 'better-half' participates in the hobby, too, ......well........dear, oh dear!
"Too many trains?",
I asked my dear wife.
"You're kidding, of course!?",
She replied. "It's our life!!"
(rim shot)
KD
OK, then, on a positive note, here's one that is seldom run but still loved and appreciated. It is a 3rdRail scale PRR Turbine, which does its thing quietly (just like the prototype) and with a big, big look of power and prodigiousness (now, that's a word.) Since it's not TMCC-equipped, I put it on the tracks when I feel like running that long coal-drag you see here, knowing I'll be running it just using the ZW to operate in conventional..
...oh, and did I mention, I love that room-filling smoke it produces (!)
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I have a flock of older brass locomotives, mostly PRR, that only run conventional and a couple older MTH locos. Until they get upgraded to TMCC they sit in their boxes.
FWIW, my go-to steamer is the Lionel PRR J-1 (initial release) that is absolutely reliable on the sometimes iffy TMCC signal at the club, will pull stumps, and sounds great.
Everything I have gets run in time. If does not run and can't be fixed, away it goes.
Originally Posted by TrainsRMe:
STEAMER - I'm interested. Would it be possible to email me some shots of your shell, with closeups of the bad spots? My address is in my profile. Thanks for the interest.
e mail sent
I've got a BNSF ES44AC, Burlington F3's, ACL F3's that are still track virgins.
Most, on these shelves, see light run time.
And a few more.
Rule is: nothing in a box, either on the shelves or on the layout. Those on the layout run. 
Mike CT 
I try to run all my locomotives when I can. At the moment I have more train than space, so "when I can" translates to "maybe once a month if I'm lucky." I'm unfortunately still in the set-up-tear-down faze.
I have several engines on my roster, and all but one works, so consequently they all see track time. Some more than others, but that's due to space available at the time of setup. Examples:
MTH PRR S1; she doesn't get run as often as I'd like because of her size. I have a loop of O-81 curves that I bought specifically TO run her, but few of my friends have the space to set up that size loop. And I'm actually considering getting a shorter drawbar to fix the unnaturally wide gap between cab and tender, which will only aggravate the issue. Why am I doing this? Because I hate myself and I have no self-control.
MTH Railking Scale Rock Island RS-3 with matching bay window caboose; this engine was sort of an impulse purchase. It had a gorgeous paint job and awesome Alco prime-mover sound effects. It'll negotiate O-27 curves, so space ain't the issue. I'm just not much of a diesel fan. I love the action and drama of steam engines, so this one doesn't get much track time.
Weaver Brass Lehigh Valley John Wilkes; this gorgeous engine I got in an ebay auction, and I think I might have paid too much for it. She's an old Proto-Sound 1 engine with conventional operation and QSI electronic reverse, and when she arrived and I went to test her (after installing a new fully charged PS-1 battery), I only got lights and smoke, no sound, direction or movement. So she sits quietly in her box waiting for me to get the money to do a PS-3 upgrade through JDS Limited.
To answer the question of whether or not I sell what I don't run, I'm considering selling off most if not all of my O-27 rolling stock, mostly old MPC junk I picked up here and there. I'm really into the high-end scale stuff now, so I don't really run those pieces anymore and they're occupying valuable real estate in the house. Anyone interested is more than welcome to PM or e-mail me about the stuff, and I'll send them a list with pictures and prices.
I have an MTH PS2 Railking Imperial SD70ACe in CSX livery that was an impulsive purchase at a train show a few years ago. It has never run right; the sounds are unnaturally muted and have to be manually adjusted each time it is turned on, and the smoke unit sounds like it's on its last legs. Consequently, it sits in its box most of the time.
I also have a K-Line US Steel Plymouth switcher. It's a very nice engine, but it has no command control and no flywheel, so it sits in a box.
I have an awful lot of locomotives, both USA and foreign-- steam, electric and diesel. Each but one are capable of running. My Lionel City of Portland can operate but is a shelf queen, because I rebuilt my layout with a maxmum curvature of 0-54. Most of my foreign 0 gauge sits quietly on the shelves. Every once in awhile (twice a year at best) a friend will drop by and we'll run clockwork locomotives. If I had more guests, I'd run more locomotives.
lewrail
When I had a larger layout, I would run most of them, even old cast iron ones. If they didn't run they were cleaned, lubed o repaired. Had about 50 of all kinds. I knew I would eventually move so sold and traded them to an antique dealer I knew. Got some $$ and a nice gold RR watch plus a couple of nice antiques. Still have about 30 which I plan to run most on my little carpet RR this year. THe old Lionels need run once and awhile.
I can't run my 3 Railing Hudsons with PS1 (a waste of $1200). Also, my dad's Lionel 1684 sits on a siding for display. Have sold the engines I inherited from a cousin on ebay to get stuff for the layout. Mostly run Williams by Bachmann, or Railing with smoke/whistle only. No issues with them.
I have four "segments" of my collection.
1) N Gauge collection (very limited), none runs or is likely capable of running.
2) HO Gauge - it has been probably around 8 years since I last ran anything. A handful of engines were purposely kept "functional" in that I lubricated them and manually turned the motors to keep the gears lubricated and free-moving. I have no means, intention, or desire to run them. 90% is under glass, with the rest collecting dust on shelves.
3) G Gauge collection (Very limited). Most likely will run if given track and power, last ran about 5 years ago on White House lawn around National Christmas tree. No intention or means to run them, slight desire to run them at Christmas every year but never do. They take up way too much room.......
4) O Gauge collection. Have 40 engines including but not limited to Postwar, Lionel/MTH Conventional, PS2, PS3, Lionel LC+ and LC, etc. All but one runs. The sole non-runner is display only. I've attempted to get it running again but several techs have deemed it too difficult and missing too many mechanical parts. 5 can be on the layout at once, although I really don't run anything often. When I do run something, it may be for only a few minutes before it gets parked again.
I used to have a much larger home in CT where I had a good sized layout. Now that we live in a very small home here in MA I only have a single track dogbone style layout in the basement. It is only 036 curves so my Lionel AMtrak Accela is packed awy. I also no longer have a stnadard gauge layout, which I really miss. The standard gauge stuff is on the shelves in the living room.
