# How long can i run my train?



## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

Im just curious and google wasn't really helpful..

How long can i run my h/o engine continuously? How long can i expect it to last if i leave it running all day?


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

That depends on of lot of factors that you have not shared with us. The brand of train is a big factor, number of cars it will be pulling. I have never run a train all day evey day untill it quite. Is this just a question or are you plainning some sort of display?


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

Eh i'm just kind of curious. i picked up a bachmann starter pack, with the red rock express santa fe.

Right now i only have a small oval, but i'm planning to wrap it around the walls in my basement eventually. (Pay day tomorrow.. yay!)

Im just wondering cause i've seen the engines at caboose hobbies are basically always running..


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

perhaps a better question is, how often do you usually run your trains, and how long have the engines lasted?


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

My record is 6 hours continuous at a train show. The train was an older Atlas model and has shown no ill effects. My P2K E8s ran 2+ hours at shows regularly and they were well used (and cared for) when I got them. 

In the end, it boils down to quality of mechanism. With regular maintenance, Athearn Blue Box locomotives are noted to have had more than 1200 continual hours of running with no significant signs of wear. I see no problem not getting the same results from Kato, Atlas and the Bachmann Spectrum series. 

I would NOT ask of this kind of service from any steam engine model because of the complex rod action involved. Once you start dropping crankpins and valve gear, there's an expodential effect that just waxes worse with age. Thus art imitates life, and the maintenance headaches that killed the real steam engines will kill your steam babies.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

okie dokie... thanks for your help, this is my first train that isnt Lego, so i'm still learning...

Next i build a scale model of my house. 

although i'm gonna go buy about 200 feet of rails tomorrow.. lol


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Make sure you post pics of the house. There's a deep satisfaction that comes from building an accurate duplicate of something close to you that others recognize. When the opportunity to build a model of a late friend's pharmacy came up, I jumped on it...

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p96/1shaygetz/feinstein20.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p96/1shaygetz/Feinstn.jpg


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

that is a -fantastic- model. i only hope mine turns out half as good.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

santafealltheway said:


> that is a -fantastic- model. i only hope mine turns out half as good.


Thank you...my beloved gets most of the credit. She did all the graphics from the photos, including squaring them up from the odd angles, lettering and resizing. Without those, that model wouldn't look nearly as good as it does....


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

this will be my first model.. what sort of materials did you use?

I've mocked up a model in lego, probably buy the stuff tomorrow


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

The pharmacy was a kitbash based on a Model Power storefront, I just cut away everything that didn't look like a pharmacy, then added scrapbox bits of anything that did. 

If I did a model of my house, I would use shirtbox cardboard or old plastic store signage, since few houses in the real world resemble those available in kits. The windows and doors would come from my extensive collection of building parts I've accumulated over the years.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

well here goes nothing... i just picked up a bunch of balsa wood in different sizes, and spent the last hour measuring my house...


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

i hadn't originally planned on doing any diarama work, but after seeing the lewis and clark tiny people set at the hobby store i just might have to.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

yay time distortions! I wonder if there are h/o scale star trek figures anywhere...


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