01-11-2009, 12:59 AM
Has anybody else found the cars that roll very easily difficult to pick up? And by "pick up", I mean with a loco, as in "pick up that NYC boxcar on Track 3". Unless your couplers work better than mine, you'll often end up chasing the car right to the end of the siding, as it repeatedly bounces away from the loco's coupler. It works somewhat better with a cut of cars, and, of course, if you only run trains, as opposed to operate them, then the rolling qualities may be an important consideration. And I certainly don't mean to denigrate those who merely run trains - I do it a lot, too. However, I've designed (well, I guess "designed" sounds too well-thought-out: maybe ended-up-with would be more accurate 
) my layout to be operated, with almost no trains simply running from point A to point B. There'll be lots of single car switching in each town, and batting every car down a siding will likely get pretty annoying.
I do have some free rolling cars, but I have many more that aren't so free rolling (and a few that roll like bricks) and I also like to run heavy trains. Add in steep grades and plenty of curves, and moving a train can become an issue.
There are several ways which I've dealt with this, such as limiting the length of most trains - this is really a by-product of having limited layout space, which, in turn, has limited the length of passing sidings, which ultimately determines train length. I've also modified all of my locos to pull better - partly out of necessity, and partly because I enjoy the challenge. Most of the locos can handle a regular-length freight (one that will fit into a passing siding - usually the loco, 12 or 13 cars, and the caboose), while it takes two locos to move a loaded 12 car coal train (I use "live" loads, resulting in a weight of 100 ounces for the 12 hoppers and the caboose). Now, free-rolling cars might enable one loco to move this train, although I doubt it, but it might also make problems with only one loco trying to hold back the same train on a downgrade. Also, by requiring extra locos on heavy trains (or long ones - I've run trains over 70 cars long), I'm forced
to roster enough locos to move the traffic. So, the money I save by not buying new wheels, which offer no benefits for my situation, can be put towards acquiring more locos, which will be of benefit.
This is not to say that you shouldn't re-equip your fleet with new wheels if you wish to. However, sometimes it's good to think the equation right through.
Wayne
) my layout to be operated, with almost no trains simply running from point A to point B. There'll be lots of single car switching in each town, and batting every car down a siding will likely get pretty annoying.I do have some free rolling cars, but I have many more that aren't so free rolling (and a few that roll like bricks) and I also like to run heavy trains. Add in steep grades and plenty of curves, and moving a train can become an issue.
There are several ways which I've dealt with this, such as limiting the length of most trains - this is really a by-product of having limited layout space, which, in turn, has limited the length of passing sidings, which ultimately determines train length. I've also modified all of my locos to pull better - partly out of necessity, and partly because I enjoy the challenge. Most of the locos can handle a regular-length freight (one that will fit into a passing siding - usually the loco, 12 or 13 cars, and the caboose), while it takes two locos to move a loaded 12 car coal train (I use "live" loads, resulting in a weight of 100 ounces for the 12 hoppers and the caboose). Now, free-rolling cars might enable one loco to move this train, although I doubt it, but it might also make problems with only one loco trying to hold back the same train on a downgrade. Also, by requiring extra locos on heavy trains (or long ones - I've run trains over 70 cars long), I'm forced
to roster enough locos to move the traffic. So, the money I save by not buying new wheels, which offer no benefits for my situation, can be put towards acquiring more locos, which will be of benefit.This is not to say that you shouldn't re-equip your fleet with new wheels if you wish to. However, sometimes it's good to think the equation right through.
Wayne