continuous running ?

[seusscaboose]

i once let a Tony's Train exchange Power Supply run for 6 years...

it melted.

EP

[Mike C]

  Its not unusual for me to have a couple trains running for 2-4 hours every day. I'd be willing to bet I have a couple steamers that have 4 of 5 hundred hours of run time. Most of my steam locos probably have 150-200 hours on them. ......Mike

[Catt]

I let my trains run at shows for up to six hours at a time non stop.My Z stuff runs just as good as the N.As for leaving it run all by its self overnight,It Ain't Happening,I'll tempt fate but not that far.

[casmmr]

I have run trains for 8 hours every day of a 17 day fair when my club was at the Ohio State Fair about 1993-2000 ( Kato and Atlas only, Bmann Spectrum would stop after 2-3 hours).  Now, I will run from 9am until close of the GTE shows in Columbus, OH, on both days, same engines and cars.  This past Sat and  Sun, I ran the same engines at the Hartford Fair from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm, DCC, 2 units MU'd and one by itself.  Atlas GP-7/9's 2 with factory DCC, other with Digitrax DCC.  The same engines will run again this coming Sat.

[rogergperkins]

NO! POSSIBLILITY OF OVER HEATING!!!!

[pnolan48]

I've let them run for days at a time, on both DC (pre-1992) and DCC. The motors in diesels usually go first due to bearing failures. In earlier days with the Bachmann split axle gears also got them. In continuous running, the earliest bearing failure was at about 200 hours. Others ran much longer. My loop was more than 600' long, so I could run trains even when I was working on stuff, and always did.

[mmagliaro]

I have done it only for stress-testing locos, either to evaluate them, or after I have done a repair
and I want to make absolutely sure that the thing will not fly apart when I mail it back to
the customer.  If I fix an engine for anyone, will get run for about 8-10
hours straight, on at least 2 successive days, before I feel safe sending it home.

But I don't do this unless I am HOME.

As a general rule, I don't think doing this unattended is a very good idea.

A train running over a layout has a zillion mechanical and electrical points where things could go wrong
in very unpleasant ways (shorts, melts, derailments, mechanical failures).    If a steam loco part comes loose
and the engine derails, that's one thing.   If it runs for another 5 minutes, dragging parts of the valve gear along
with it and depositing them at random places in your scenery or onto the floor, well, that's quite another thing entirely.

[Skeebo]

     I've not done it with my trains but come to think of it, it mirrors my experience with airplanes. That is, if you let them sit they're a bear to get going again. If you fly the pi## out of them they never break. That was my experience with both Navy and Civilian Jets alike. The units on my layout that I use for test running, I've used for years and they don't hesitate, identical units that are waiting for the days I can run serious operating sessions often need coaxing to get going.

[Rossford Yard]

I think those locos at that Northlandz display ran for thousands of hours.  No, not N, and probably only 12 per day and stopped in place at the end of the day, but maybe not relevant.  I would suspect the same at Museum of Science and Industry layout in Chicago, or any other big layout.

Interesting side topic brought up....I wonder what the average loco's running hours are.  I probably have 200 locos, with some running zero hours so far, others probably only a few hours......some with tens of hours. I mean, the typical session might be to run trains for an hour after work, although I have had a few op sessions (old layout, not current) those are few and far between.

I would bet my average loco has only run ten hours tops.

[jdcolombo]

Interesting side topic brought up....I wonder what the average loco's running hours are.  I probably have 200 locos, with some running zero hours so far, others probably only a few hours......some with tens of hours. I mean, the typical session might be to run trains for an hour after work, although I have had a few op sessions (old layout, not current) those are few and far between.

I would bet my average loco has only run ten hours tops.

I was thinking about this same issue the other day.  At NTrak shows, it isn't unusual for me to run a 3-diesel lashup for two hours straight.  But we don't do those shows often (3-4 times a year).  At home, most of the running is done during operating sessions - but a typical mainline engine only takes a train from point A to point B on the layout - a 20 minute total run tops.  The locals may take the entire session (2 1/2 hours), but the engines are running constantly during that time.   So if an average loco puts on 20 minutes of run time at an op session once every two months, that's 2 hours of run time a year; even if those locos are pressed into service at an N-Trak show, they wouldn't get more than 10 hours of run time in a year.   And since I rotate consists for shows (and for operating sessions), no single loco is likely to get more than a couple hours of run time in an entire year.  It's very likely that none of my locos have more than maybe 30 hours run time total, and some would have much less.

They should last a while . . .

John C.

[oakcreekco]

Like I said earlier, I have WAY too many locos too. Sure, they're great to look at, but even better to look at "lashed up" and running, and running, and running.

A proper clean up and lube, especially on some brands is a must, especially on new locos. After that, it's a matter of keeping the wheels/contact strips clean, and listening for any sounds that may indicate a "reclean and lube" are needed.

I've got numerous locos that have hundreds of hours on them, running time wise, and they actually run better than some locos, right out of the box.

These little fellows were meant to run...........at least some brands were. LOL

[pnolan48]

With diesels I wasn't too worried about melting stuff due to a derailment or other problem, nor damage to the electronics, as i had pretty sensitive shut-offs. I also ran 10.2 volts peak, as my NCE command station wouldn't tweak to 10.6, but either 10.2 or 10.8.

Steam was another world completely. I ran a First Generation LL 2-8-8-2 around an test loop for about 36 hours. This wore out the mounting holes for the connecting rods, so that the press fit pins started to fall out. These had only one geared axle per engine, with the three other drivers sprung by connecting rods.

[Nato]

          "Been there, done that, NEXT."  Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[OldEastRR]

The original steam locos for the first ATSF layout at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry ran continuously until their wheel flanges were worn off. These locos are on static display (or were) in a case near the layout exhibit. Apparently all the locos through the years have been run there until they literally wear away.

[djconway]

Long long ago (when I had Lionel trains 1958 or so) I literally wore away the inside of the outer rail.  There were more than a few days when mom would call my brother and I down for supper that we forgot to turn things off only to come up a few days later and find the train still running around the loops.
Solidly built trains (1955 vintage Lionel) could take quite a bit of abuse - newer plastic models I'm not so sure of, althogh there have been a few times where the trains (N scale - Atlas/Kato/Inter Mountain) have been left running over night with no harm.