Do You Leave Trains on the Layout?

[brianusa]

My tinplate trains stay on the layout and also on shelves around the room. The prospect of having to remove them for whatever reason is not something I would like to contemplate. I think the last time I did such a thing was when my Mother told me to pack away my MO set before tea, many years ago!

 

Brian.

[Jinty3f]

My erstwhile 00 layout was in the shed at the bottom of the garden, and there was so much stuff ( made £3K when I sold it on eBay) that it was not practical to keep it anywhere else except on the layout itself. I am now in the process of building an O gauge layout in the same shed, with a fraction of the stock, and I tend to leave my 12 wagons on the tracks, but remove the 3 locos to the house for security, on the principal that replacing weathered stolen wagons would be, for me at any rate, easier than replacing weathered locos which cost more per unit, and take me far longer with much more agonising to do ( weathering is not my forte). I guess if the location is 100 percent secure then the options are different, but an outdoor shed does raise security considerations. I have been lucky so far, and have my own security arrangements, but who knows......

[Londontram]

If you take the locos off the layout what happens after midnight when all the little people come to life. There's nothing for them to drive!

[The Johnster]

I regard my railway as a real railway, not a model; real, but small.  It provides passenger and freight services to a small South Wales mining village and it's various industries as well as the colliery.  On such a real railway, goods wagons are left overnight and over weekends in the goods sidings, though locos, passenger stock, and the full and empty rakes of mineral wagons live in sheds and sidings at Tondu overnight.

 

They all stay on the railway all of the time, and are never put away.  The railway shares space with me and the squeeze in the bedroom, running across the window bay and half way along 2 side walls, some 18 feet of 'run' of which about a third is fiddle yard, which is of necessity where most of the stock is most of the time.  There are blackout curtains up to the toplight level of the windows (this is a ground floor flat with the bedroom fronting on to the street, so these are needed for privacy, but daylight enters through the toplights.  The railway is lit by it's own dedicated anglepoises, which are needed even in full daylight, so stock is protected from direct sunlight.  Dust does not seem to be an issue, and the very slight amount of fading of scenery and stock that has taken place over the last 15 months since it came into existence helps to blend colours and reduce the tendency to toy-like brightness and vividness.  

 

I reckon that colours outside in the real world fade to some extent unless viewed very close up, and this goes for gloss finishes as well; go out in your street tomorrow and look at the cars that are more than about 20 feet away!  High gloss finishes are banned, and such die cast road vehicles as I possess have had a coat of matt varnish even when they are not weathered.  I like this setup; I can go an operate trains at a moment's notice at any time I want and I also reckon that frequent use considerably improves the reliability and running of a 4mm scale railway!

 

I am of course aware that not everyone is able to situate their railway in the heated, ventilated, 'living' part of the home, but it is. a very major advantage if you can.  Having had previous railways ripped apart by temperature variations in lofts and garages I will not tolerate one in any other location than somewhere in the 'living' area.  I am lucky to have the support of my squeeze in this; she has no objections to the railway she shares her bedroom with (this one's a keeper!) but complains that I spend too much time on a certain website...

[brianusa]

I regard my railway as a real railway, not a model; real, but small.  It provides passenger and freight services to a small South Wales mining village and it's various industries as well as the colliery.  On such a real railway, goods wagons are left overnight and over weekends in the goods sidings, though locos, passenger stock, and the full and empty rakes of mineral wagons live in sheds and sidings at Tondu overnight.

 

They all stay on the railway all of the time, and are never put away.  The railway shares space with me and the squeeze in the bedroom, running across the window bay and half way along 2 side walls, some 18 feet of 'run' of which about a third is fiddle yard, which is of necessity where most of the stock is most of the time.  There are blackout curtains up to the toplight level of the windows (this is a ground floor flat with the bedroom fronting on to the street, so these are needed for privacy, but daylight enters through the toplights.  The railway is lit by it's own dedicated anglepoises, which are needed even in full daylight, so stock is protected from direct sunlight.  Dust does not seem to be an issue, and the very slight amount of fading of scenery and stock that has taken place over the last 15 months since it came into existence helps to blend colours and reduce the tendency to toy-like brightness and vividness.  

 

I reckon that colours outside in the real world fade to some extent unless viewed very close up, and this goes for gloss finishes as well; go out in your street tomorrow and look at the cars that are more than about 20 feet away!  High gloss finishes are banned, and such die cast road vehicles as I possess have had a coat of matt varnish even when they are not weathered.  I like this setup; I can go an operate trains at a moment's notice at any time I want and I also reckon that frequent use considerably improves the reliability and running of a 4mm scale railway!

 

I am of course aware that not everyone is able to situate their railway in the heated, ventilated, 'living' part of the home, but it is. a very major advantage if you can.  Having had previous railways ripped apart by temperature variations in lofts and garages I will not tolerate one in any other location than somewhere in the 'living' area.  I am lucky to have the support of my squeeze in this; she has no objections to the railway she shares her bedroom with (this one's a keeper!) but complains that I spend too much time on a certain website...

You are fortunate to have such a tolerant 'keeper'!

 

Brian.

[Clive Mortimore]

On my old layout my trains could stay on there for months, then they would get swapped for something else.

 

I did find leaving them my exhibition layout wasn't a good idea when I came to pack the layout up to go to a show. Yes I had left some stock on the layout when collapsing the boards down. It had been in the same siding so long I must have thought they were a fixture. :nono:

[Tim Hall]

If you take the locos off the layout what happens after midnight when all the little people come to life. There's nothing for them to drive!

 

[njee20]

Everything left out all the time here. In a largely insulated, but unheated garage, doesn’t get below freezing, but does get quite nippy. Wonder about a light dust sheet, but sure I’d knock loads of stuff off putting in on/off, probably better just leaving it be and giving it a clean!

[FPH 603]

If you take the locos off the layout what happens after midnight when all the little people come to life. There's nothing for them to drive!

  

Unfortunately the trains on my layout don't have much track to operate on though! The thing only measures about 1200 x 390 mm! And there are no little people on the layout yet. Maybe they sneak out of my cupboard and climb the mountains (the giant stairs, actually!) and somehow get to the layout once I'm in bed directly next to the layout! I have had a spider live on the layout before though...

[Sir TophamHatt]

Train - a series of connected railway carriages or wagons moved by a locomotive.

Trains and trucks????

 

Locos and wagons surely.

*Yawn*

I didn't think we did the whole railway/train station pedantary on this forum...

Despite some people's lust to keep the terms "proper", surely they've all become interchangable these days.  I do understand the differences between a "train" and a "locomotive" but the accompanying post suggests train = locomotive.

 

Althoguh I'm still early days with the layout so I guess I could just start leaving them out to encourage me to play around more.

Edited February 5, 2018 by anotheruser

[lenht]

Trains and trucks????

 

Locos and wagons surely.

Love your avatar, you must be a man of exquisite taste

Edited February 5, 2018 by lenht

[Black5]

Have to say my situation is much the same as njee20, my layout is in an unheated integral garage with the usual up and over door which when opened lets all weathers in. Very nice in the summer when it`s warm and

[Black5]

Not sure what happened then, but as I was saying, the garage is fine in the summer but with the door shut, can be uncomfortable in the winter.

I usually a few things on but don`t cover it because of potential damage.

Cheers just now,

Jim.

[davefrk]

*Yawn*

I didn't think we did the whole railway/train station pedantary on this forum...

Despite some people's lust to keep the terms "proper", surely they've all become interchangable these days.  I do understand the differences between a "train" and a "locomotive" but the accompanying post suggests train = locomotive.

 

Althoguh I'm still early days with the layout so I guess I could just start leaving them out to encourage me to play around more.

 

Sorry but I think most people on RMweb would refer to a loco as a loco not a train so why should we defer to the street talk of non railway enthusiasts..

 

Just saying.

 

Dave Franks.

[JDW]

To answer the oddly-phrased question: Yes, everything stays on the layout that's being used on the layout.  It's a fixed layout so everything can stay.  Stuff that is used sometimes (eg slightly different eras or regions that I tend not to run at the same time) is on a few shelves nearby.  Stuff that is used rarely lives in boxes in a cupboard.  A few more are in display cases which tend to have vague "themes" - currently mostly RfD liveried stock.  

 

As for the "pedantry", in general I agree that it's not something that we tend to "do" on RMWeb - but in this case it renders the question somewhat meaningless - "Coaches, trucks but not trains" makes no sense for example.  Asking if you take off potentially valuable locos or multiple units filled with electronics but leave on less expensive coaches and wagons [collectively: rolling stock] might be a pertinent question, especially for those with layouts in cold or damp sheds or lofts.  The OP might be new and so not aware of his misuse of the terms, so it might be helpful to advise.  It might also be the case that more people would answer if the question were properly-phrased and more meaningful, it would sound less childish.

 

Being in boxes doesn't necessarily protect them either - sometimes the more handling, the higher the risk of damage - though it will prevent them getting dusty of not used for a while.  

[davefrk]

Love your avatar, you must be a man of exquisite taste

 

And yours too. Check out the thread for old motors and you'll find quite a few Landies including mine.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73445-for-those-interested-in-old-cars/page-1

 

Don't answer here though as it might upset the OP.

 

Dave Franks.

[Dave John]

Well, stuff on the traverser stays there, but I am very careful about shutting out direct sunlight. I have had bleaching problems with all sorts in the past. 

 

As a wise man once said " If it wasn't for Venetian blinds it would be curtains for all of us ............. "

 

Sorry.

[Ian Abel]

Given the advantage over some folks of having my layout in a finished basement (livable space/climate controlled same as the rest of the house) I leave everything on the layout.

Whilst I don't have the volumes of locos and rolling stock some folks have, I certainly have enough that it'd take me a good hour or more to unbox or box it up, so I'd never get the right amount of operating time if I did so.

Besides, unless I built cassettes or some other holders for the permanently coupled rakes, etc. there'd be a very good chance of damaging precious items each session.

[Richard Lee]

My stock stays on because my two small layouts are in the house.  However, if I do go on to make a "three-seasons" layout under cover, but not locked away and open to various creatures, I will bring the locomotives, carriages and wagons back into the house, in case of attention by two-legged creatures.

[Sir TophamHatt]

in this case it renders the question somewhat meaningless - "Coaches, trucks but not trains" makes no sense for example.  Asking if you take off potentially valuable locos or multiple units filled with electronics but leave on less expensive coaches and wagons [collectively: rolling stock] might be a pertinent question

I can only apologise my elocution isn't that great sometimes.

It's not like the majority of voters didn't realise what I meant though :/

[BWsTrains]

As I run two different eras, the mid 1930s and late 1950s, only the current Stock is left out at one time. (Not much changed in sleepy West Somerset in my little setting).

Stored stock is all in sealed lid plastic 5L storage containers on/ in bubble wrap. As it doesn't get moved, I reckon it's safe enough and is easy to access when grandchildren want some "modern" Steam engines. Temperatures range from 10C winter to 23C mid summer and haven't struck any problems that can't be fixed by running the track cleaner and giving stock a light brush down to remove dust.

[BWsTrains]

....  I am lucky to have the support of my squeeze in this; she has no objections to the railway she shares her bedroom with (this one's a keeper!) but complains that I spend too much time on a certain website...

Clearly the threat of being fixed to the underside of a loco chassis was effective then

[The Johnster]

You are fortunate to have such a tolerant 'keeper'!

 

Brian.

 

I know; this one's easily the best so far!  Touch wood she won't realise what a total idiot I am for a few years yet...

[The Johnster]

Everything left out all the time here. In a largely insulated, but unheated garage, doesn’t get below freezing, but does get quite nippy. Wonder about a light dust sheet, but sure I’d knock loads of stuff off putting in on/off, probably better just leaving it be and giving it a clean!

A dust sheet would be fine supported by a light framework over the layout, either permanent or removable, but if the surfaces in the room, or garage in your case, are sealed, dust shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[The Johnster]

Sorry but I think most people on RMweb would refer to a loco as a loco not a train so why should we defer to the street talk of non railway enthusiasts..

 

Just saying.

 

Dave Franks.

It jars with me as well, Dave, but some of our readers are new to railways and need to 'absorb' the language a bit.  I think we should encourage them where we can, but I try to avoid pointing out 'mistakes' as my own terminology is a bit off sometimes.  And I used to work on the Railway; it's just that the names of things have changed in the modern world.  I want to rearrange people who talk about train stations' stupid modern ill-informed wrong faces with a baseball bat, but refrain from such action.

 

Usually...