Playing trains

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Not being fortunate enough to have a permanent layout, and Mrs Obi-Jiff being away for the weekend, I laid out an oval of Hornby track on the (clean) kitchen floor and played trains, in much the same way I did when I was a kid. This time, though, I did have an ulterior motive, running in some of the locos and multiple units I've bought recently.

 

Despite the 'work' involved, I had great fun, running a variety of steam (GWR, BR M, LNER) and electric (BR S and Anglia), plus assorted rolling stock from completely the wrong eras, just because it was what I had to hand.

 

Does anyone else enjoy this type of running, or do you prefer a proper running session on a permanent layout, with the right types of trains?

[Coldgunner]

I've got a box full of Bachmann E-Z track for this purpose, a trouble free carpet layout. The advantage being that I can easily set up an improvised garden layout if the weather is nice.

[Rivercider]

I have a 'Thomas' starter set kept in its box. Sometimes when my partner has to look after her nephew

we get it out and set up on the lounge floor on hardboard sheets to keep him entertained.

I must admit I enjoy seeing my old Triang 3MT Standard tank going round to stretch its wheels

as it will not negotiate the track on my layout.

 

cheers

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Oh good, it's not just me then!

[sammyboy]

I did just the thing when I switched gauges from OO to N a few years back. I bought enough track to form a typical 'Train Set Oval' from my local model shop and laid it on my parents dining room table, on which I ran my increasing collection of locos & stock around this oval, mainly in the evenings after returning home from working at my old job at Sheffield Station.

Now that basic oval has been upgraded to a proper layout.

[Jenny Emily]

I used to run in locomotives on an oval of old Hornby Dublo 2-rail track on the dining table. That was before I built my continuous run layout. The cat took an interest though, and could be found, head poking out above table height, on top of one of the chairs watching the trains go by. However when she thought I wasn't looking she managed to bat an N class off the track, which promptly derailwed and ploughed into the rather stunned cat.

[Class 74]

I've bought a Roco Digital set for run in the locos. Very useful!

[The Lurker]

I too wait for a floor session! I find the track tends to "travel" over the floorboards....!

 

But the latest plans for rearranging how we use the upstairs of the house have given me an idea.....

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

The cat took an interest though, and could be found, head poking out above table height, on top of one of the chairs watching the trains go by. However when she thought I wasn't looking she managed to bat an N class off the track, which promptly derailwed and ploughed into the rather stunned cat.

My cat is getting more timid as he gets older. When he was younger, he would watch the trains, and even make the occasional half-hearted pounce or two. Now, he seemed very worried by the 4-CEP trundling slowly around, crept past it and dashed out the back door. Later, when I'd finished playing, he crept back in, but still gave the empty track a wide berth. He is literally afraid of his own shadow; I'm sure he's still got all nine lives intact.

[pointstaken]

Last week I was checking the electrical connections on my layout. An ATSF 0-6-0 running at full tilt, and a Rivarossi Norfolk and Western Y6b hauling one freight car. Playing trains in a wife-free area is enjoyable and highly therapeutic. Highly recommended !!!

 

Dennis

[Grafarman]

I have a Marks & Spencer Evening Star trainset which my Father gave me a number of Christmases ago; I model in N gauge so have no use for it on the layout, but I find it hugely therapeutic to simply lay it out on the dining table, mats and all, and just watch the train go by for a while...!

 

Playing Trains; can't beat it...

 

 

 

 

David

[SM42]

Used to do this with any new purchase, either round the dining room floor or up and down the mantlepiece for some nailbiting shuttle moves. (Buffer stops are for wimps)

 

Don't have much chance now though and the wooden floor is now carpeted.

 

Sometimes getting back to basics is quite refreshing.

 

One thing I did notice about a wife free 2 hours  is that as the trains go faster then time passes more quickly and the wife free time ends in what seems a lot less than two hours. This disproves one of Einstein's theories that the faster you go the slower time passes.

 

Andy

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

One thing I did notice about a wife free 2 hours  is that as the trains go faster then time passes more quickly and the wife free time ends in what seems a lot less than two hours. This disproves one of Einstein's theories that the faster you go the slower time passes.

Ah, you've just described Einstein's Marital Theory of Relativity!

[bagpipes331]

Between you and me, I did have a sneaky play with the Duplo (Large Lego) set a couple of weeks back. Brilliant!!

[Removed a/c]

I have an oval of track that I set up either on the kitchen floor or the dining room table. I use it to run in my locos before I chip them, it is fun just to see them whizzing around though  

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Last time I did it was when I was running in my new class 57

[Pacific231G]

I used to run in locomotives on an oval of old Hornby Dublo 2-rail track on the dining table. That was before I built my continuous run layout. The cat took an interest though, and could be found, head poking out above table height, on top of one of the chairs watching the trains go by. However when she thought I wasn't looking she managed to bat an N class off the track, which promptly derailwed and ploughed into the rather stunned cat.

The late Carl Arendt came up with the "Cat-Skills RR" a Christmas layout designed specifically to entertain cats. http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page30/ Possibly a good use for old but not collectable toy trains though I suspect any self respecting cat would always prefer to pounce on several thousand pounds worth of Fulgurex !!

[bluebottle]

I hadn't realised that the MIL had failed to identify an 8' plank with some track on it as a model railway layout, until I set up a plain circuit of Peco setrack on the dining table to run in a Bachmann D11/2. "Oh good," she said, "you've finally got a railway built!"

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

The late Carl Arendt came up with the "Cat-Skills RR" a Christmas layout designed specifically to entertain cats. http://www.carendt.com/scrapbook/page30/ Possibly a good use for old but not collectable toy trains though I suspect any self respecting cat would always prefer to pounce on several thousand pounds worth of Fulgurex !!

Thanks for that; we have friends who are cat enthusiasts (and the chap built from scratch a live steam Britannia, I believe in 5" scale); they'll love this one.

[Satan's Goldfish]

Got the LGB of a quick lay down to 'play trains'! It normally appears at least at Christmas to run around the tree. The trouble is i've mostly got big RhB stuff which looks a bit silly going around 1st radius corners, but 3rd radius is just too wide for in the house. The garden on the other hand......(you can't beat the sound of model trains running through real snow!)

[SM42]

I am now looking at the kitchen worktops in a whole new light. Might have to go N gauge for this play area though. Water (sink) and fire (gas hob) hazards built in and at an ideal play height. Might need to use something cheap though.

 

I will play trains again. I miss it.

 

Now where's that old Hornby HST set?

 

Andy

[andyram]

I did something similar before I built a more permanent layout. Mine "temporary" train set was set up in the lid of a large cardboard box which came from a piece of furniture for my first house. Since I was single and child free at the time I left that layout constructed for several weeks whilst I was "doing up" the house and ran the train in breaks from decorating. The set was the Hornby Breakdown train set, complete with N2 tank, large crane, box van and ex LNER brake coach. I still have all of those models although the N2 is sadly "in the works" at present.

[I.C.L. 11]

Very enjoyable thread. But after all, no mater how big the layout, how expensive the models or how long they took to build, aren’t we all just "Playing trains" to some extent?

[C&WR]

New house has no railway & no space for one while unpacking. We do, however, have a large paved area in the back garden, and I have some old radius two curves (enough for a circle), some track connectors & a she load of flex track.

 

I have a cunning plan...

[faulcon1]

Years ago in the Model Rail magazine (when they had a MAIL section) some 'person' wrote in and told them that he was a modeller and had moved on from just playing trains and how dare they even think of suggesting that modellers should play trains.

I love to play trains and as others have stated whether you're modelling a location at a precise date and time with everything accurate to the last detail (like Pendon) your still just playing trains (like Pendon) even if you run to a timetable.

For me the hobby is a form of therapy where I'm in charge and I set the rules. There is no Occupational Health and Safety regulations in regards to having a model railway.........yet. Besides it's nice to have a hobby. So many people have no hobby at all, all they have is work and family. Families grow up and move away and eventually you have to retire. How nice it is that playing trains can be enjoyed well into old age, and more importantly it keeps your mind active.