# How Often Do You Run Your Trains



## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Just curious how long and how often members with permanent layouts run/operate their trains.

My train runs on its little 3' x 5' oval 1.5 - 3 hours every weeknight (not home on weekends) when I get home from work.
Make coffee, turn on the trains, turn on the computer and relax.
They run until about 8 PM when I turn my relaxation time to the TV.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

My 4x8 layout sits in a corner of our finished basement. I have to be in the right mood to work on it, and that doesn't happen very often. It's far from complete. When I do work on it, I run the train a short while. Hopefully as I complete more, I'll run it more. I'm convinced...I'm just lazy!


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## Guest (Nov 18, 2016)

I didn't answer the poll because I don't have a layout right now. We moved to Florida in July and will move into our new house in about 3 weeks. I had a layout, which I dismantled in July just before the move, and ran trains a few days a week for various lengths of time. Sometimes I'd only have a few minutes to kill and I'd run trains for 10 or 15 minutes, but most of the time I spend an hour or more running them. I expect that when we get into the new house it won't take me long to start on a new layout and I'll be running trains as often as I can.


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## kb2rocket (Nov 13, 2016)

Up to this point only once a year at Christmas I have been running the same train set for 55 years
.
But I have the gold plated lionel hudson engine coal car and caboose and just got 4 gold plated MTH passenger cars and I am hot to build a shelf layout so once that is done I will be running them more often


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## Don F (Dec 5, 2015)

It would appear that us "moody" people are in the lead! I have an out door shelf layout around a covered patio attached to my shop, and adjacent to our pond. I use it for photos and videos some times, but have only run trains sporadically in the five or more years, (probably more), it has been up. I can run trains any time the "mood" strikes me because it is covered, but I just have so many other things going on. Right now, orders for coal and other loads have been steady, so I have been focusing on that. I am also building a cart for moving my new load cabinet. Our former choir director, who has taken a position at another church asked me to play tubular bells for several of the selections in his choir's Christmas concert, so I have been working on a rack to hold six bells, as the entire set is just too heavy to move, and since I only need a few bells, I have been modifying a rack I built several years ago. I am due for a run soon, but I want to get some lighting so I can video the action. There are a lot of dark spots that don't show up well.
Don


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## NAJ (Feb 19, 2016)

Fire21 said:


> My 4x8 layout sits in a corner of our finished basement. I have to be in the right mood to work on it, and that doesn't happen very often. It's far from complete. When I do work on it, I run the train a short while. Hopefully as I complete more, I'll run it more. I'm convinced...I'm just lazy!


My OCD would not allow that.
Although it is just a small layout once I started I became obsessed and had to get it done, worked on it almost everyday for 2 months until I got to the point that it was 90% done and I could run the train and say to myself " look what I accomplished".
Not completely done but I am not as obsessed as I was in the beginning but I still run them everyday. 

Because of my OCD I have been bugging my Son to get the Christmas layout out of storage so I can start getting it ready, however, it is not that important to them, just to me, it's an OCD thing.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

Ours run 3 to 5 days a week, maybe average 40 minutes. I have to squeeze in my hobby time. I feel rushed much of the time.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

Sometimes I get enthusiastic about a project so I'll work on the empire just about every night after work. With winter coming on, I'll probably get more done on it than in the summer. I do a lot of traveling on the Harley when the weather is good.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Well I'm still building my layout so I'm spending quit a bit of time everyday, several hours if life permits.
Sometimes building and other times just running trains so I remember why I'm spending so much time building.  :laugh:

As long as I'm having fun it's time well spent. :smilie_daumenpos: :smilie_daumenpos:

Magic


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

D&J Railroad said:


> Sometimes I get enthusiastic about a project so I'll work on the empire just about every night after work. With winter coming on, I'll probably get more done on it than in the summer. I do a lot of traveling on the Harley when the weather is good.


 Ken, do you plan on this being your last layout? A railroad as large as yours would easily keep a person busy for many years.


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## mjrfd99 (Jan 5, 2016)

In the cold weather - every day almost- Kids come by with the grandkids a lot. Then when I'm off to Florida they watch the NJ house and come by most nights to run and race. 
Nothing like being down south when the snows deep up north. 
Good weather- we're outside.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

D&J Railroad said:


> Sometimes I get enthusiastic about a project so I'll work on the empire just about every night after work. With winter coming on, I'll probably get more done on it than in the summer. I do a lot of traveling on the Harley when the weather is good.


I have the opposite situation. My layout is in the attached garage and with the heat and humidity in the summer I don't run the train because I bring the loco and power pack in the house. I do work on scenery in the summer.


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## pjdog1 (Jan 3, 2013)

My layout is in the third bay of our three car garage. We are in Florida so it gets hot in the summer. I have a ‘L’ shaped layout 12 feet log and 6 feet wide for 8 feet and 8 feet wide for 4 feet. I run my trains every morning from 6:30 AM till 8:00 AM. Cup of coffee, a donut and the dog. We relax and watch them make laps. So relaxing. I love it. Sometimes I do maintenance but mostly run them. I have Postwar Lionel with a few modern MTH and Lionel.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

pjdog1 said:


> My layout is in the third bay of our three car garage. We are in Florida so it gets hot in the summer. I have a ‘L’ shaped layout 12 feet log and 6 feet wide for 8 feet and 8 feet wide for 4 feet. I run my trains every morning from 6:30 AM till 8:00 AM. Cup of coffee, a donut and the dog. We relax and watch them make laps. So relaxing. I love it. Sometimes I do maintenance but mostly run them. I have Postwar Lionel with a few modern MTH and Lionel.


You know this thread is 5 years old?
You forgot to add that you like to paint them.


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## pjdog1 (Jan 3, 2013)

If the truth was told here, restoring is probably my main thing with o gauge trains.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

I run mine for about an hour in the morning as I wak up and relax. I did that even before I retired but not that I am I find that hour tretched to two hours sometimes. I also run what I can during the often long periods I am up in the trainroom working on the layout or a project - just let the trains run.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

At least once a week, usually Wednesdays. Sometimes late Saturday or Sunday too.


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## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I'm in the "design and prepare" phase for my first real layout, so I don't really have much time to run anything other than around a test track with a fairly steep incline. I'm doing this just to be sure the consist can handle the grades and curves on the final layout design.

I'm still spending most of my time constructing and painting buildings, making trees, and playing with layout concepts using AnyRail. My only real limitation (other than skill, lol) is table size. I've got the table assembled and also have plenty of foam boards ready...


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## afboundguy (Jan 10, 2021)

I plan to run mine 5-7 times a week once it's up and running. When I had my temporary oval to get my fix in I was running it daily and was having a blast with just that!


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Regular running and metal wheels keeps the track clean. I run them almost daily, even if it's just a few laps.


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