Hitting the Century mark.....

I was doing an inventory of my freight car roster recently, and was pleasantly surprised to find that my revenue freight cars now number over 100(106, actually), about a 60/40 split between "regular" (boxcars, hoppers, etc...) and intermodal cars. Not bad, considering that as of this moment, my layout exists on paper and in my head. Passenger equipment is about 30 assorted Amtrak cars, and a 5 car MetroNorth/CDOT commuter trainset .Maintainence Of Way is 31 cars so far,
Anyone else out there have a roster of over 100 cars??


P.S.: As of 3/20/04, We're now up over 108....and showing no signs of stopping!!!!

I have 100+ on the layout right now and probably 200+ still packed away either built or waiting to be built. :D :D Most likely way too many but who cares. I can only run so many at a time though!!

Well, I decided to look at my roster and I was surprised to learn I have 228 cars. That's bordering on ridiculous for someone without a layout! I may have to get rid of some of these cars simply for the storage space. Many of them can stand to be replaced by better models anyway.

I guess I'm adhering to the old Chinese philosophy that "less is more," as I've been paring down my locomotive roster (also mostly on paper) and have been less ambitious with my current project layout.

Still, when I build "the big one," I'm going to need quite a few grain hoppers (2-300, maybe?)... staple of the Midwest railroading scene.

Freight, freight, freight... Anybody nutz about passenger service other than me? I'm still trying to lure those paying customers onto my revitalized heavyweights and brand new P/S and Budd equipment... "On Time or Else"...

Harold

Well, the only passenger trains that would run on my layout would be the "Empire Builder." There's talk of the Twin Cities doing feasibility studies on commuter rail to the 'burbs (like Hastings and Northfield) and I would also include a segment of the "Hiawatha Line" (the new light-rail system being built between Minneapolis/St. Paul)... assuming I can get models of the Bombardier equipment and actually extend my railroad north from Winona or Sibley (just north of Austin) to the Twin Cities.

Other than that and the executive/inspection train, there isn't much call for passenger service on my road, and I think the same goes for many of us here on the forum. Unless they're modeling an earlier era or the northeast (NJT, SEPTA, Metro North, Long Island, et all territory...).

I counted ALL my cars being plstic Tyco and new stuff, I have 159 with kadees, 78 with horn hooks....

Love passenger, but the pickens are slim (P-72,P74,3rd rail, overhead, ect...), and I've had bad luck with the kits (funerrella...3 brothers). Why they don't see a market seems a mystery to me...

Our friend Mr. Smith keeps appearing with boxes full of trains down at the club... we're not sure how many trains he has, but we know he has a whole rolling toolbox just full of engines... I think his collection multplies during the night (probably based on the Heisenberg Principle of infinite possible random locations for model trains). The more he seems to decomission, the more starts to appear, I swear! haha! (now Mike can get back at me and my small collection of somewhere near 50).

-otto-

I worked it out the other night, I can run 30 locos with each loco pulling 5 cars, one train of 1 loco pulling 4 dummies......................30 plus locos running, and 150 cars..........................layout holds 50 cars
stuart in iowa

Otto, I've seen those rolling tool chests.... The club I was a member of back in the '80s( and have been invited back to...will wonders never cease ) had several of those shoved under various sections of the layout, and people STILL had stuff overflowing their lockers, as well as people leaving things staged in the fiddle yards.( usually club owned equipment.) My collection only really started to blossom in the past year or so. I still need some coal hoppers, and I'm thinking about some of those Stewart ore jennies. Lets face it...I'm a LONG way from finished....
Oh, and someone asked about passenger....My Amtrak collection is by no means finished. I have about three or four short( 3-4 cars) consists , of mixed Amfleet, Amfleet II, Horizon, and Heritage fleet, as well as a Talgo Pendular and a Acela Express trainset. Rounding that off are about 10 MHCs and Express boxcars, and 10 or so RoadRailers. No Superliners( I'm not that big a fan of them), although those Pullman Bi-Levels look awfully tempting. I have a MetroNorth commuter set, but it may end up an orphan, as my freelanced railroad is mostly set in the PA/NJ area, so some New Jersey Transit hardware is in probably in order, although I like the look of the VRE trainsets too.I want to start modeling earlier eras, and those new PRR P-85 coaches look sweet, if a little expensive.