There is another Forum for those of us who have in interest in Classic Toy Trains ( “O” / “S” Gauge ). Some of us have very scenic layouts and some of us just run the trains, as toys. One might say that we “play” with them.
Got to wondering: While this Forum is pretty much dedicated to the smaller gauges and to the details of operating railroads in a ‘real small world’, does anyone on this Forum just run their trains for fun without thinking about whether they are exact replicas of the “real” stuff, time tables, scale speeds etc.? (Don’t Shoot the Messenger) As always, many thanks.
I’m not really into “running a railroad” the proper way, like, I would assume a club, I don’t do trip tickets, arrival/departure times, etc. I don’t have a layout that’s transition or some other era, but I do suppose am more like the transition era, as a young lad in the 40’s to 60, I never saw a diesel, they were all steam. I live in West Virginia and you can go from town to town, city to city and it all changes in a New York heartbeat. From modern to the 50’s. Like I always said though, I love WV to me it’s truly “Almost Heaven”. Here in Elkins I’ve seen Shays pull into the yard, some beautiful steamers, and of course FA’s. I’ve even seen wooden cars on trains. And that’s in the last few years. The state is working on connecting lines and the big thrill of seeing the old turntable and roundhouse brought back and restored in the yard, which they were working on. So it seems what’s old is new again here at least!
A lot of times I grab a couple beers and just run the trains around the layout. I do that more often then actually operating it like I designed it to run. Sometimes I’ll run a GO Transit train, A VIA Passenger train, a CN or VIA Turbo, a ONR Polar Bear Express and a Steam loco pulling some old CN Rapido passenger cars all at the same time. The more beers I have the more interesting it gets. [(-D]
I do both. Sometimes I just want to run traisn, and not really worry about what goes where. Other times, I run the layout in a realistic fashion with specific cars going to certain industries and cars blocked in the small yard for proper delivery order. Whatever mood I’m in at a particular time.
I just can’t be one of those who has a formal op session once a month and pretty much never moves a train other than maybe to restage things for the next op session. Running trains is too much fun to limit myself. But I also enjoy the challenge of realistic operation.
I’m with Randy, although I’d like to have some buddies over for ops sessions ,too. I play/run the trains all the time. Sometimes for fun ,sometimes in operations.
Me too. I run my railroad like the prototypical as I can, and I also just set em and go. I have two separate mainlines, so I can run 2 trains in opposite directions automatically.
Well, I’m building a point to point 12x31 ft layout. But I also have a 5’4"x12’ tabletop layout that has loops of HO, S, and O27. So I can run 3 trains in 3 scales at once. I run them a few times every week.
I think all scales have folks that just like to run trains and a plywood surface, all the way to the other extreme to the point of being called rivit counters. Most folks fall in between, having both scenic elements and some operating ability.
Having fun is what it’s all about. Do what you like to do.
I sure do. I don’t want to follow a time schedule anymore and my “operations” are just whatever I think of at the moment. I operate a free lance railroad but try to keep everything within a certain time period, late 40’s early 50’s, run at prototypical speeds with appropriate equipment; however, non-prototype practices are certainly present on my layout. But hey, I’m having fun and just enjoy having a train running around whenever I’m in the railroad room.
My trouble is I have to walk past the layout to get to the workbench where the structures are slowly coming together. I say to myself just a couple of laps and I’ll get to work[:-^] A lap takes about fives minutes, so after saying “just one more” a few times, the afternoon or evening is shot to HEdouble hockey sticks.
I find it very relaxing just letting them run with a glass of wine in hand. The layout will have a handful of industries to serve if I feel like doing a little switching. Getting structures and landscape as real looking as possible on this layout is my goal. Having properly weathered rolling stock to fit in is also important.
My work heavily involved a lot of logistics so the last thing I wanted was more when I got home. That may change now I have retired but for now! Let’em roll baby let’em roll.
My layout is further along than what you see in this video as in more scenery and structures, but you get the idea of what I see as I relax in my captains chair.
I am happily surprised to see that the replies to the OP indicate that most folks allow for some plain ol’ train running. I kind of expected some tisk-tisking at the notion of anything other than prototipical operations. Now that I have got mainline track laid and some engines decoderized it is very rewarding to let them just run while I ponder the next project.
I run trains, sometimes more formally, sometimes less so. I personally consider all of it play. It’s recreational and play is good for the soul, so it’s play as far as I’m concerned.
Planning for operations does not mean that you only have to run prototype-similar operations. But it will likely give you more options about how to run your layout - having more options is often considered to be a good idea
And yes, of course - like most people (I suspect), I sometimes grab a throttle and just run a random train.
I have a fairly large layout with a double main line complete with engine servicing facility, freight yard and passenger coach yard. So, I am set up to replicate a lot of prototypical operations.
I operate my layout both ways, sometimes I “run” and sometimes I “play”.
Like a lot of others, I often find more pleasure in just running trains than in conducting prototypical operations.
The more prototypical you get, the more problems you run into, just like the real railroads.
To my mind using card cars/waybills,waiting between moves for the brakeman to unlock and line a switch,open a derail,set hand brakes etc on my switching layouts adds to the play value more then just randomly switching out cars at the industries and not allowing time for the switchman to do his work.
I never cared much for watching trains run in endless loops since I become quite bored in about 30-40 minutes.
Being the sole owner, builder, operator, and maintenance guy, I run the trains any way I see fit. And that ranges from prototypical starts of long passenger and freight trains with scale speeds and movements - to - “let’s play chase” with two trains or “let’s drag race” and the like.
While the creation of this minature world is really important to me, I value the “fun factor” even more.
