How do you prefer to show off your trains?


C

CbrandonB

Member
Hi all,

I don't have room for a gigantic layout, but I love big power. :) I have a Challenger at the moment and will undoubtedly get more big engines, despite the fact I don't have a ton of room to run them (although there's a large club just down the road... but they do late 50s (no DD40AXs).

Anyway, how do you guys like to show off your motive power? Personally, I have ALWAYS wanted a turntable to show off locomotives and to have somewhere to "park" them, despite wanting a fairly modern railroad. :)

I've also considered building display cases, but that's not as fun as being able to pick a loco at will and just drive it onto the mainline. :)

What do you guys do?

Brandon
 
CbrandonB said:
Hi all,

...

Anyway, how do you guys like to show off your motive power? Personally, I have ALWAYS wanted a turntable to show off locomotives and to have somewhere to "park" them, despite wanting a fairly modern railroad. :)

...

Brandon
Click to expand...

Brandon,

I can only speak for myself, but I don't "show off" any of my locomotives. Each one has a job to do on the layout, and the only "showing off" they do is while they are working. If they are not in the roundhouse getting "serviced", they are on a train heading somewhere, or sitting in a staging yard somewhere getting ready to enter the fray as dictated by the timetable or needs of the dispatcher at that time.

Sorry to disappoint.
 
Same here, I don't "show off" anything. The turntables I have are there because I have a point to point layout et in 1900 so I need to turn the engines. I have ready tracks at my main yard so I will have outbound power there waiting for its outbound train, but that's about the closest I have now. At some point when I have excess power, I will probably have a display case to put the surplus engines off layout.
 
Fair enough, guys. That makes sense, too. :)

Especially from that perspective, I think display cases make the most sense. And now that I think about it, I'd rather keep dust off of them, anyway.

Brandon
 
Guess I'm not the only one. I don't show anything off. Look at the layout, what you see is what you get.
 
And you just box up unneeded items? Or don't have them to begin with?

Personally, I'll be the first to admit I'm a gear hound. Whatever I'm doing, I enjoy having and using equipment, and that includes trains, audio recording equipment, computers (my profession, anyway), hiking, and pretty much anything else I get into. :) It also doesn't hurt that my father-in-law has a substantial collection I'll be borrowing from and running a bit.

Brandon
 
I don't 'dress up' my locos or rolling stock for photos. How there photographed is how you'd see them on my layout or in the display rack. If something has a scratch on it then it gets photographed with that scratch on it and it gets shown with it.
 
I have a couple of display cases mounted to a wall in one room of my house. I keep things there that I like, that may not be appropriate for the theme of my layout.
 
CbrandonB said:
So you use a display rack?

Brandon
Click to expand...
It's just a simple cedar wood rack with four shelves, two tracks per shelf. It's a storage location for any loco that's not on the layout.

DSCN3998.jpg
 
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What isn't on the layout at any particular point in time, is in a box. However, since the Highwood Sub is CN territory, my lone CP MP15AC and a few pieces of mostly CP rolling stock are parked on my shelf at work. That's about the only display I have for display's sake...
 
Dr., love the uniform fleet look of your diesels!

Here are my train cases, in an upstairs room-the glass came with them. I highly recommend having somewhere to display your trains, if they aren't on the layout-much better than wrapped up in boxes.
 
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Fantastic cabinets, otiscnj. I may have to copy those. :) I agree... I'd rather display (what are to me) beautiful models than keep them in boxes.

Brandon
 
I have 2 wooden display cases (one for MRL and one for Milwaukee Road) as well as some acrylic tubes to display my Iowa grain hoppers collection, but they are in my den and separate from my layout. I also have a couple of G scale items (a 2-6-6-2T and a Milwakee Road doodlebug) on a shelf in the livingroom.........but like everyone else, the locos on my layout are there to work and don't get any special treatment.
 
otiscnj said:
Dr., love the uniform fleet look of your diesels!

Here are my train cases, in an upstairs room-the glass came with them. I highly recommend having somewhere to display your trains, if they aren't on the layout-much better than wrapped up in boxes.
Click to expand...

Those are great looking cases! Certainly agree it's better not to have them in boxes. Unfortunately, with the layout taking up as much of the unfinished part of the basement as I could get away with (the only space that was available to me) - there isn't much spare room left there for a display case. But maybe someday in another room...
 
jeffrey-wimberly said:
It's just a simple cedar wood rack with four shelves, two tracks per shelf. It's a storage location for any loco that's not on the layout.

DSCN3998.jpg
Click to expand...

Jeffrey, what are the tan cars in the top right corner? MOW?


Anyway, I don't have a permanent layout of any kind to speak of, so my SD75 sits on a shelf in my bedroom until I break out the roadbed track for a while.

The others are either put away, or part of a very short consist sitting on a shelf in my basement.
 
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