An Age-Old Railroaders Problem

[scubadude]

Ummm, ok, now I got it....If 4 locos leave the West yard eastbound, and the other 4 locos leave the East yard westbound.......no that's not it....With 8 locos that are diesel and 2 that are steam....wall1

 

[lester perry]

I think I have around 50 running locos about 1/2 steam &1/2 of the bad ones (ask your kids or grand kids). and over 300 cars now this was last count about a year or so ago. All of my rolling stock is used or in the shop for repair. I think around 5 in the shop at any given time. My locos are not all DCC yet, only the DCC are run as of now. Its just easier that way. around 12 are DCC. so for the ratio if you mean all owned then I guess it woud be about 3 or 4 cars per loco. If you mean actually operating it would be about 30 per locoI think . Is my ciferin rit?
Les

 

[b28_82]

i might be at 3-1 for HO as for N I might be more prototypical being about 12 locos and 100 or so cars..... or does it just seem as though i have 100 of them... hmmmm

 

[stdguage]

Hey - I'm just starting out and now I find that I'm doing it all wrong. I have 6 steam locos (5 running) and all revenue cars are in kit and strip wood bundles. Oh, wait, I do have one car. Lets call it 1:5. Only nine cars to get it up to 2:1!!!!

 

[Nomad]

Uhh...let's see...I've got 8 locos and 52 cars, so 52 goes into 8....no wait...52-8 is 53, so 53 into 8 is...no wait, carry the 4....wall1

Your makin my head hurt

Loren

 

[santafewillie]

I guess I'm closer to prototypical with 450 freight cars and 60 locos. About 7 1/2:1. Now if I add those 150 roofwalk boxcars in storage...hmmm.

 

[stormfather]

Only counting my serviceable equipment, I've got 3 locomotives and 9 freight cars. It seems that the 'ratio of locomania' is consistent! I plan on buying 6 hoppers, 3 tank cars, and about 6 double-stacks on a few weeks (Once I've got tracks on my module), which will bring me up to a more reasonable ratio of about 1:8.

 

[90MACII]

Your just loco, so am i.i see one i like and won`t think about how many i already have.it`s a sickness ( locolikaitis) that`s easy to catch.i have about 150 and counting.

 

[Kanawha]

Wow! 150?? I thought I had a problem, haha

 

[logicman]

I think I'm at about 1:1 ratio, but not sure - whenever I start an inventory it turns into a wish list!

I have a mix of mainly rtr, some awaiting spares, some kits awaiting build.
I have mainly U.K. and U.S., with Some german, French, Polish etc.

And then there's the paper models. :mrgreen:

I don't think I'll ever have 'enough' locos.
I guess I'll always be 'one loco short of a full shed.' sign1

 

[90MACII]

Yeah ,mostly athearn.lots of blue box and maybe 30 genisis. Kato,proto and spectrum make up about 20. About 15 railpower 90macs.6 will become conrail 80macs and 6 will become up 6000 90macs.im collecting dd40`s to convert to dcc quick-plug and detail.

 

[Packers#1]

I got 4 locos (GP9, GP30, GP35, H-15-44) and about 20-30 freight cars, but I only use maybe 3-4 most of the time. They have knucle couplers, while the others have rapidoes (i know, I know). 2 locos have knucle couplers on front, and rapidoes in back. My newer Geeps have both ends w/ knucles.

 

[CNWman]

okay, lets see...I got 7 Desiels and my Spectrum 2-8-0, so that's 8 engines...and I got at least 12 freight cars and two passenger in service; then there's least three TYCO quality cars dissasebmbled and set aside for later projects, two Atlas (I think) X-74 type 50 high cube cars getting weatherd with washes as I type, and an Athearn coach dissasembled and awaiting paint stripping to become Riverside coach #3609. So add it all up, and it's 8 locos to 20 cars, or a 1:5 ratio for me:mrgreen:

Wait, it's 8:21, I frogot about an old Walthers kit I have as well But the ratio is still 1:5 if unbuilt kits don't count

 

[CNJ999]

Although many don't wish to acknowledge it, there is an entire segment of the hobby that is simply centered around "collecting" locomotives...in numbers far, far beyond any possible hope of future use on a layout. Many don't have any current layout and little prospect of building one in the future. The fact is that the locomotive buying mania probably is what keeps the manufacturers in business, as the number of hobbyist who honestly have viable layouts is only a fraction of those needed to account for the total number of engines sold annually.

Even those with extensive layouts often "collect" simply because they have a particular interest, or attraction, to some particular class/type of locomotive or a manufacturer. I've known hobbyists that collect Tyco ( :cry: ), Varney, Mantua, or brass locos. I personally have collections of early Aristo-Craft as well as brass camelbacks that have never turned a wheel on my layout.

So...I guess it's really just the nature of the creature when it comes to freely purchasing engines in numbers far beyond a practicable, usable, number.

CNJ999