I swap out trains in staging/interchange to see different cars. While one train may consist of 7 woodchip hoppers, I will often change out to different roadnames, so those cars have to be stored somewhere other than staging.
Since I frequently handle the cars, its just sort of habit to put them all away if I think I’m not going to be running for a while. And then when I put the 30 or so cars back on the layout, its usually a different combo of cars than what was removed.
Locomotives do tend to stay on the layout longer but are placed in a protected area.
I am happy to say that I’ve never damaged a car by handling it normally. All of may damage comes at the workbench when I am fiddling with it for other reasons…repair or weathering. This is also why I’m quick to return flawed items back to the dealer. I have damaged something further when I try to repair a car that I received damaged.
If you store cars on the layout, I can see where you’d want to safeguard against them rolling off the end of the layout…LOL. Build properly, modern models are very free rolling.
In my world dead end tracks have bumpers of some sort…
As a few others have commented, I avoid handling the models. Not that it is a problem, it is just easier.
As someone interested in both mainline and switching operations, trains come out of staging, go to the main (only visible) yard, and are broken up for switching to the industries.
Pickups from the industries are made up into trains that then traverse the mainline and return to staging.
I swap out trains in staging/interchange to see different cars. While one train may consist of 7 woodchip hoppers, I will often change out to different roadnames, so those cars have to be stored somewhere other than staging.
Since I frequently handle the cars, its just sort of habit to put them all away if I think I’m not going to be running for a while. And then when I put the 30 or so cars back on the layout, its usually a different combo of cars than what was removed.
Locomotives do tend to stay on the layout longer but are placed in a protected area.
I am happy to say that I’ve never damaged a car by handling it normally. All of may damage comes at the workbench when I am fiddling with it for other reasons…repair or weathering. This is also why I’m quick to return flawed items back to the dealer. I have damaged something further when I try to repair a car that I received damaged.
If you store cars on the layout, I can see where you’d want to safeguard against them rolling off the end of the layout…LOL. Build properly, modern models are very free rolling.
In my world dead end tracks have bumpers of some sort…
As a few others have commented, I avoid handling the models. Not that it is a problem, it is just easier.
As someone interested in both mainline and switching operations, trains come out of staging, go to the main (only visible) yard, and are broken up for switching to the
That sounds way cool Sheldon. Would love to see that.
My downsizing as a step towards retirement certainly has had its disadvantages. Would have loved to have done something like that. Only had that kinda space before the house was sold in Prior Lake.
Can you post some pictures as my interest and curiosity is killing me. That set up sounds like the Cat’s Meow Man.
I swap out trains in staging/interchange to see different cars. While one train may consist of 7 woodchip hoppers, I will often change out to different roadnames, so those cars have to be stored somewhere other than staging.
Since I frequently handle the cars, its just sort of habit to put them all away if I think I’m not going to be running for a while. And then when I put the 30 or so cars back on the layout, its usually a different combo of cars than what was removed.
Locomotives do tend to stay on the layout longer but are placed in a protected area.
I am happy to say that I’ve never damaged a car by handling it normally. All of may damage comes at the workbench when I am fiddling with it for other reasons…repair or weathering. This is also why I’m quick to return flawed items back to the dealer. I have damaged something further when I try to repair a car that I received damaged.
If you store cars on the layout, I can see where you’d want to safeguard against them rolling off the end of the layout…LOL. Build properly, modern models are very free rolling.
In my world dead end tracks have bumpers of some sort…
As a few others have commented, I avoid handling the models. Not that it is a problem, it is just easier.
Dust can be a proublem at times over a long period of time but I can clean it off the cars with a makeup brush or if extreme WS dust dabber but the dust dabber is only needed if there is a real buildup, like a year or more like the few cars I have sitting open and not on the layout per say.
Take them off layout and put them back in their boxes. [:)]
Edit: Rewrote this to hopefully be more clear.
As it stands now, I have a yard track for each train that I run. Acts like staging. Train A occupies track 1, etc. The loco takes the train and swaps out cars at the various industries and returns the used cars back to its dedicated track. Pretty simple. I have 3 trains now with track capacity for 4 or 5. These trains, cuts of cars really, get swapped out at the end of each session with similar cars (A 3281 CF Cement Hopper with maybe a 2970 CF Cement Hopper, etc.). But I don’t swap cars out religiously if I’m lazy.
What I want to do is to have “yard ops” where I move trains from the yard track to interchange and back based upon intervals of when the Class I RR would pick up and drop off. In between those moves I would build trains in the yard…instead of just starting with dedicated yard/staging tracks for each train. Because of the amount of industries/cars I have, and the desire to have train length as long as possible (I don’t want a bunch of 3 car trains for example) incorporating that that “yard ops” part into a train build and operat
I generally bring back the same cars but will occaisonally swap out a few cars.
Prototypically, cars that are delivered to the other railroad as loads have a better chance of coming back empty. Cars delivered to interchange as empties are less likely to come back.
There is also the mix of cars. An interchange will tend to have more of the home road cars passing over it. A PRR interchange will handle more PRR cars than B&O cars.
I have about 250 cars on the layout, and most of my cars are multiples of a type. I might have a B&O hopper, but I have 5 of those B&O hoppers, so seeing a B&O hopper, it’s less likely to be recognized as “that” hopper. It’s just JAFH, just another friendly hopper.
My prior layout, some cars and loco’s rotated, while others remained. I only emptied the layout to dismantle it for the remodel.
My new layout (Almost half the benchwork is up!) will be similar. Some will rotate, but the main operation is local freights, and the same set of power and cars will always handle that operation.
Some rotate in and out simply because my smallish sized layout can’t store many “through trains” without clogging the main line. So, for variety of run-throughs, those may change on occasion, but most trains will remain on layout.
Dust I have always used the make up brush removal method, with a small vaccuum hose and a dedicated make up brush.
Layout is 10x20 around the walls, with room for six 12 or more car trains in staging.
For the most part, being mid-late 60s era, the diesels and the freight cars stay on the layout. Steam can take turns being in the roundhouse or in boxes, I run them when I just wanna watch them.[:)] Dan
I’m still working on scenery on a few parts of the layout, so when it’s a scenery day, I usually pull most of the locomotives and rolling stock off of the layout so they don’t get dust in the moving parts.