I plan to start a large layout 5-10 years down the road, and I’m working on a fleet to populate that layout. This means that I need at least four road engines and two shunters - ideally, six and three. With three distinct groups of engines for certain timeframes in mind, that means around thirty engines, with ten or so on the layout at a time. All those engines are getting built now as time and resources allow.
Between completed models, in-progress projects and acquisitions waiting to be started, I’m around 1/3 of the way there.
And don’t even get me started on how many freight cars I need to do…the numbers of LPG tanks I need is enough to make me shudder.
Hmm I am going with Noah on thiso ne two of each kind UP had betwen 1944-1955 then I will see where I stand. My grandpa had his own shortline of steamers I would have to say somewhere around 100 in all.
I know I have far more locos than I need, or have space to run at once. I tend to rotate my fleet so that three locos are in use at any one time (of a collection numbering well over 20). I’ve slowed down buying HO equipment of late, mainly due to the fact that I have examples of pretty much every loco and car I want - just buying up the more oddball items now (my most recent HO buy was an E R Models FP7 - wanted one of these for ages and found a store selling them very cheaply, planning to buy one of the Baldwin Sharknoses by the same manufacturer). I’m also looking out for a few locos to complete my collection - another CNW Erie-Built and the CNW DL109, both now out of stock at my LHS so eBay will be watched carefully! I’m also trying to build up usable train formations in the hope of one day building a decent size layout - working on a set of Walthers Autoracks to run with a Dash 8-40B and Dash 9 at the moment.
As a previous response said, it’s a case of buying what you can, when you can - I keep forgetting to buy a set of Walthers 53’ double stack cars to complete the train I have, though I know if I leave it too long the stocks at my LHS will sell out.
What’s the definition of “need” in this question?What the layout’s operational needs are or the modeller’s hunger to own a wide choice of different types of locos?I guess half a dozen locos would operate most layouts quite well for a single operator even with some level of automation,isn’t it?
But most modeller don’t satisfy with this,and I fall in this category too.To my lady,who doesn’t understand but accepts,I already have too many.Is twenty too many?Not to me anyway.I know a fellow who owns 200…well,maybe it is overdoing it a little for some people but yet,it’s his pleasure.Personally,my goal sits around 60 or so with 35 six+ axle and 7-8 four axle diesels,mostly freight.Add to this a few switchers and my growing collection of steamers(planning on 15-20) and I feel I’ll have an interesting roster.
Some of my purchases are planned but most are dictated by availability and yes,by impulse,so will I stop at that count?I wouldn’t dare say that…
One needs a loco to pacify an inner desire, After being in the hobby for over 50 years I don’t know how many locos I’ve got. I probably have more locos then a lot of people have cars. If you enjoy them don’t worry about the count - that’s for the kids and wife to do when I die.
Have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob
When I started out modeling the C&O I wanted a good presentation of the C&O and Chessie(C&O) roster…In my zeal to accompli***his I ended up with far to many locomotives. As a example I have 14 GP7s and 16 GP9s…This of course is far to many of two class of locomotives even though the back bone of the C&O motive power fleet was GP7/9s.Thankfully I limited myself to 4-6 units of the other C&O locomotives except the GP38 and I ended up with 10 of these units.[8][B)]. I also have some Chessie(B&O) units.Now throw in my C&HV units and other road name locomotives you can plainly see that I ended up with far more locomotives then I planned or need.
If I could start over I would only concern myself with my C&HV roster like I did in N scale.It is a true saying :Hind sight is always 20/20…[:D]
Aggrojones: So YOU’RE the reason I can’t find any more Missabe 2-8-8-4’s! How do you expect me to make up a decent fleet of ‘Never Were’ Rio Grande 3900’s if you keep beating me to the brass websites and swap meets? Seriously, though, this is a good topic–just how many locomotives do we really need on our railroads? I’ve got shelves full of Rio Grande, SP, GN, C&S to say nothing of Pennsy and C&O, but yes, they do get run. All of them. Depends on my mood at the time. Maybe I’ll want an operating session with just Cab-Forwards and reefer blocks, or perhaps a session of Rio Grande drag freights, or some coal trains, or little Consols and Mikes chugging along with way freights, or even a Pennsy triple-header with 2 M1’s and a J1. Thing is, I’ve got the locomotives to do it, and no, I’m not even NEAR finished collecting. After all, isn’t BLI coming out with an ATSF 2-10-2 this winter? If you’ve got them, RUN them. And work on the junkers. I have. Let’s face it, we’re in the highly enjoyable hobby of model railroading, and which of us DOESN’T get an infusion of ‘Squirrel Blood’ once we get going? Heck, I’ve still got my first brass locomotive, a little PFM 1850 Santa Fe 2-8-0, and I bought it in the late 'fifties. Re-built the gear-box about ten years ago and it’s still chugging away happily.
I suppose if you model inclined cable railways, you would need none. I’m thinking of the 7,000’ long Otis Elevating Railway in the Catskill Mountains during the late 1800’s. Sure they were owned by the Catskill Mountain Railway that met them at the base station, but no locos ran on the inclined line.
Some logging operations used inclined tracks, raising & lowering log cars via steam-powerd cable winches.
Since I don’t have a layout (yet) OR a place to build, I guess you would call me a collector. One of my prizes is an Akane DM&IR 2-8-8-4 that I paid $450 for a couple of years ago. It’s the only brass engine in my fleet. I have 3 DM&IR SD-9’s that I painted (Athern), 32 GN (about half are F Units), 5 Milwaukee Road, 21 NP (Mostly F Units), an A-B-B Santa Fe Warbonnet lashup (I don’t think these will make sense with my dreamed about Midwestern lines, but doesn’t EVERYONE need some Warbonnets?) and 3 SOO Line F’s. Yeah, I like the F’s…most of them are now Genesis. I won’t know if I have too many or not enough until I build a layout, I guess!
You can never have too many! Well, maybe you can. I always try to get more, but always have to justify their existence, run-through power and the like. Lets just say my railroad leases a lot.
There is no such thing as to many locos. You always seem to need 1 more than you got. I have 12 now and would like to have about 3 more.
I know I will never equal my freinds 225+ with 5 more on order. He needs a lot of power to pull his 1000+ freight and passenger cars. There is advantages to being in N scale I guess On his old layout he had about 15 locos and 100 cars max. at any one time.
But he is now planing a larger layout .
I always tell him every time he aquires a new locos that he has more locos than brains.[:D]
My theory if I like a engine and it runs good and isnt to expensive buy it. I know i will run them. I run steam engines on the front of an intermodal train i dont care if it matches the period or not.
My dad thinks i have to many but i dont think I have enough[:D]
I could technically get away with a single engine on my small N-scale layout. But I have some 30 planned, and I will swap them out for variety. But I am primarily doing this because I like detailing engines.
I understand what some of you mean. In the past decade, I actually shrunk my fleet as I had various railroads. I’m now concentrating on railroads found on the eastern half of the U.S circa 1960s thru early 70s (SCL, FEC, L&N, NH, NYC,. Only exception, of course, are those sleek Santa Fe cowls.
Don’t want to have any more than 25 HO locomotives tops! While it sounds nice to have more, I discovered the hard way that units that sit for a “L-O-N-G” time on shelves between runs can actually develop annoying electrical pickup and gear noise problems due to lubricants drying out, surface rust on mechanisms, and dust. Now imagine this scenario today with DCC! I don’t even want to think about it! Some would say “Just put them in the boxes”. But of course, many of us enjoy displaying our fleet.
If one has been a model railroader as long as I’ve been-40+ years-it stands to reason that one collects a sizable numer of locomotives. It all started with a Globe F-unit around 1958 and after that a numer of Tyco GP20’s and F7’s as well as a Tyco Mikado and an Athearn GP9 in the sixties. Also in the sixties came the first Atlas units, SD24, GP40 and boy were they an improvement on the Tyco’s and Athearns. Later came Life Like and Kato and each time the locomotives were better than the older ones. So I couldn’t resist buying some of them and now I have a huge collection of engines. The old Athearns are repowered with can motors and the Tyco’s are dummied and all play their role from time to time next to the newer generation.
Unless your layout is ernormous, I’d say about 8. One for every type of duty.
A high drivered steamer for passenger trains.
A fat 2-8-0 or 0-8-0 for shuffling cars.
A plodding Santa Fe type for drag freights.
A challenger or cabforward for a long reefer block.
2 large drivered mountains for fast freight.
And creeping mallet for those coal drags.