# cars per locomotive



## MrDuane (Oct 21, 2011)

Hi again, I'm working on length of spurs and such. In real life, a loco will pull 100 cars as they go past my house. but in our world that just isn't possible, well, at least for me. ^_^ If I had a challenger, it'd be silly to have it only pull 4 cars, so what 'seems' to feel right for you guys, for different engines? given 40' cars on average

0-4-0
0-6-0
0-8-0
0-10-0
2-6-6-2
2-8-8-2

my wife, an accountant type, would say, Duane, it isn't cost effective for a Big Boy to take one tank car full of beer to the loggers, even if it is an emergency.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I've seen N-scale stuff at shows with two locomotives pulling at least a 20 foot train, so that's got to be around 60 cars or more. I didn't count them, but I was impressed how many they could pull. 

I've personally pulled 30 boxcars and a caboose with an O-scale dual-motored locomotive.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Duane, Rule #1 of Model Railroading states "It's your layout: the only "right" answer is yours. When other opinions are offered (including those from this site), the proper response is to nod sagely and then do what you want to do---yours is the only opinion that matters."

Personally, I'd say that it's not a numbers game at all---your Challenger will haul a certain number of cars and that's it. Model Railroading is about the illusion of a railroad, not a (rivet-counters cover your ears, here) downsized, exact copy. As you pointed out, a 100-car consist would not only look silly, but won't move.

Your locomotives are images of the real thing, not able to do what the real ones do. You may find that your lighter 0-6-0 is the most powerful locomotive in your fleet because of the power-to-weight ratio: that 2-8-8-2 may have the same power, but greater weight and be unable to match it. Put what the locomotive can pull in the consist and don't worry about trying to match real life. The fun is in watching it all come to life and the trains whizzing around your imaginary world!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Reckers said:


> You may find that your lighter 0-6-0 is the most powerful locomotive in your fleet because of the power-to-weight ratio: that 2-8-8-2 may have the same power, but greater weight and be unable to match it.


It may not be a numbers game, but if my locomotive would only haul four cars, I don't think it would last long.  Other than little switch engines, I think anything you have should be able to pull at least a 10-12 car train without issue. FWIW, I find the heavier locomotives generally have the better pulling power, simply because it's frequently a traction issue, not a motor power issue.

For some reason, whenever I see N-scale stuff, they always go for the really long trains, I don't remember any shows where there was a large N-scale layout where they didn't have at least one really long train pulled by two or three locomotives.

I personally think it's cool to see a really long train going by, just like the real thing.


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## MrDuane (Oct 21, 2011)

Hmm, I guess I said it the wrong way, lol, if I make a spur to haul 3 beer cars up the woods, what size engine would you use to do that job. or to haul down 10 cars of timber to the saw mill, I'd think you would use the smaller engines for the smaller task. so it was a question on what size of engine to use. I'd not use a big boy as a car shuffler in the staging area but to pull the load after it's all put together. that kind of question, ^_^ 

speaking of which, some locomotives are more for passenger, while others freight, is there a general guide on which is which? like freight steamers don't have any wheels but the main drives or such? 

the carpenter came by last night, and it'll be about a week for the garage remodel, so hopefully we can start the whole process before thanksgiving and maybe have something to tinker with for christmas.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Duane,

Good question. No direct answer on my part, but this link offers some examples of real-world steamers, and the RR lines that they operated on (via table at bottom, and footnote links) ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whyte_notation

TJ


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Well IMHO if your going to be hauling Beer, and hopefully a barrel or 2 of Bourbon up the hill to the logging crew, your going to need to get it there with a 2 or 3 truck Shay or a Climax or maybe a Heisler to do the job properly!


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I agree with Sean: inbound volume and variety are the real issues. Once that's accomplished, who cares about the logs? The woods are full of them!


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

to add: pulling capacity will also depend on ruling grade of your layout.
i find that my table is bit tilted (i never used a bubble level). this is invisible by eye and even the most free rolling car stays put on that tiny grade. yet when 6 of them are there there is quite a difference in speed going up and down the grade.

so the exact number will depend.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I sure notice running conventional that a 1% grade makes a huge difference in speed if you have 5 or 6 cars behind a loco. Cruise control to the rescue.


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## MrDuane (Oct 21, 2011)

and I thought that a 0-6-0 would be the mountain climbing engine over the "Shay or a Climax or maybe a Heisler " is there a list of locomotives and their prefered jobs? the only thing i would consider given is the sleek engines are for passenger,


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