# How long is too long?



## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

I tend to let my trains run for quite a while. So here's a stupid question; how long should an N scale locomotive be run continuously? I've never run across anything that set any kind of guideline. Any thoughts?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well. some hobby shop store layouts run all day long, so a quality locomotive should be able to handle that....the train store I work/volunteer with runs a couple of trains on their N scale store layout all day (10am to 5 pm, 6 days a week) and seems to suffer no ill effects...

Of course, the longer something runs, the faster it will wear out, like any mechanical thing....


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

OK, well that's actually a good frame of reference. I've never had an engine wear out actually, but I have often wondered if I might be overdoing it. I'll stop worrying about it. Thanks!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I usually run various locomotives for up to six hours during a session. Sometimes as long as eight. I'd hate to think how many actual real world miles are on some of my older locomotives. They keep (literally) humming and buzzing along though hour after hour.

These are HO locomotives though, and I don't know if the size of the motor relates to the same speed of wear.

Sometimes locomotives and trains are changed out, but the one or two constant runners are the Rhätische Bahn trains. They run anytime the layout is operating.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

MichaelE said:


> I usually run various locomotives for up to six hours during a session. Sometimes as long as eight. I'd hate to think how many actual real world miles are on some of my older locomotives. They keep (literally) humming and buzzing along though hour after hour.
> 
> These are HO locomotives though, and I don't know if the size of the motor relates to the same speed of wear.
> 
> Sometimes locomotives and trains are changed out, but the one or two constant runners are the Rhätische Bahn trains. They run anytime the layout is operating.


I had HO trains as a kid, I probably ran those for hours as well. They were still around till my 30's, and ran just fine.


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## Roy Merritt (10 mo ago)

I don't see an issue with it. Every month of so I think I'd pull it of the layout, brush any dust or debris from the bottom and give it quick inspection of obvious wear. Only if it started running poorly would I take it apart for a clean and lube. I also wouldn't run my-most-cherished-family-heirloom loco this hard.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Roy Merritt said:


> I don't see an issue with it. Every month of so I think I'd pull it of the layout, brush any dust or debris from the bottom and give it quick inspection of obvious wear. Only if it started running poorly would I take it apart for a clean and lube. I also wouldn't run my-most-cherished-family-heirloom loco this hard.


Do that and also clean the wheels.
Clean wheels makes for a happy Locomotive. A little oil too.
I got most of my N used, a lot wouldn't run when I got them.
Cleaned the wheels and 95% are runners now. I never had any but one apart.

How long to run?
Like the others have said. I guess.
I never ran any N scale for more then an hour straight.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

In the model RR world we don't put anything anywhere close to what I'll call "scale tonnage" behind a locomotive. If we did you couldn't get away with plastic gears & other drive train components and cheap plastic couplers. So, I think it'd be next to impossible to wear out a modern model's motor (sure, you could if you really wanted to). Those plastic parts on the other hand...


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That's probably why BEMO uses brass gears in their locomotives because of the grades those modeling the Swiss Rhätische Bahn build into their layouts.


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## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

The must be heavy too. Even on the modest grades on layout de Stumpy what stops the locos is wheel slip.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I had a garage layout when I lived in Pensacola, Florida. It was hot and humid in the spring, summer and fall. I ran the trains, Kato F3s and Atlas and Life-Like GP7s and GP38s. for hours. A few Kato F3s all the Life-Likes and an Atlas GP7 wore out. Being ignorant, I took them apart but they still couldn't run, motors apparently shot. This could have been because of heat and humidity. In my Michigan basement it doesn't seem to matter if I run a loco for hours, whether it's a Life-Like E model or a Bachman, Atlas or Kato anything. Track gets dirty, and the electrical pickup wipers get dirty and need occasional cleaning. In Pensacola they needed more cleaning. Very humid in Florida. I miss it. Hate the cold.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

I wouldn’t worry about wearing out a motor unless you’re running a single GP9, up a long grade, with the maximum # of cars it can drag up for hours on end. But even if that is what you’re doing, add a 2nd GP9 to reduce each motors’ work by 50%. (Or halve the train length)
The only locos I’ve seen burn up, in any scale, from that sort of thing are 1970s-1980s era productions. They’ll burn up from being over-burdened for a prolonged period, which is pretty hard to do even on purpose.


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## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

The Spook sometimes runs his n scale locos continuously for days around his test oval just to break them in.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I have locos I have collected for years, but few have even an hour or two of run time. Since I burned a few up in the 1990s I just assemble a train and run it a couple of laps. How do you know when a loco is broken un? When the tinning is worn off of the wheels? I suppose as long as they run, there's no need to be concerned. I do wonder what is meant by breaking in a loco.


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## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

Some locos especially ones with heavily blackened wheels need extended running to wear off the blackening. Also breaking in the loco wears in the gear mesh, the lube, the motor brushes, contacts, etc which shows as lower slow speeds, smoother running, quieter operation. Run them until the improvement is negligible. Clean the wheels and contacts, and lightly oil. Da Spook talks about his test layout and how he runs a new engine for 20-30 hrs over 2-3 days before doing an evaluation here: N Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia (North American Prototypes)


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks. I have started running some of these locos at quarter speed with a load for a few hours. I'll vary the speed over time.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

ww


Stumpy said:


> The must be heavy too. Even on the modest grades on layout de Stumpy what stops the locos is wheel slip.


They are, and Bemo does not use traction tires.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

pmcgurin said:


> Thanks. I have started running some of these locos at quarter speed with a load for a few hours. I'll vary the speed over time.


Also do the same in reverse….


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Old_Hobo said:


> Also do the same in reverse….


\Thanks, I didn't think of that. So, long hood forward.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I have been running a Kato 2003 release of the EMD F3A, Santa Fe. Unlike the other samples I have of this model, this loco moans loudly, especially at about one-quarter to one-half power. It has been rarely used because of this, and I am wondering if an extended run of the kind discussed on Spookshow.net would help. I have put a drop of Liquid Bearings in the loco, but it did not change the noise. I have several locos of this type, and all run quietly. I have been running this loco for about an hour, at about one-third power, right where it moans loudly. It does run well, just noisily.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Might be a bur on a gear or possibly the gear backlash is not exact. I would put the gear train under a microscope and see if there is anythin amiss.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

I have a kato GP38‐2 which is a vintage locomotive. I bought it as new old stock on eBay. Shortly after I had started using it, it began to make a fairly loud whining turbine like sound. When I took the shell off to check it out, it looked clean but dry (to me anyway), so I put a drop of light locomotive oil on the ends of the flywheels and gears. That seemed to take care of the noise. within another half hour or so of run time it was fine.


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## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

Are you asking out of pure curiosity, or are you actually concerned about a particular loco or locos ? Because either way it may or may not ever happen that it/they burn out..What's the diff ?
Just run it/them and hopefully the day will never come when you do find out...
------- Round and round she goes. Where she stops nobody knows ! -------


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

It must be that this F3 is a Moaning Minnie. Thanks for the replies.


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