Train length?

[MJKERR]

im in the process of designing mine. and i went for the 6" rule for rolling stock

Works fine for most bogie wagons and coaches
However, the OP is also referring to four axle tank wagons, these vary between 3" and 4"
As an example the HAA is actually quite long
A Farish can cope with about 50, although I myself am using rakes of about 35

[bbdave]

Whilst your model motor (Class 37 loco) will cope with all those wagons, in reality a Class 37 would not really cope with so many sealion hoppers
Unloaded that would be fine, but loaded that would be extremely heavy and a pair of Class 37 would be required
A single Class 37 would be able to cope with about 16 sealion wagons at the most

Ok thanks as i said i'm not up on the real life side of rail so info like this is invaluable i have no idea what a sealion would carry i was bought one and i like the look of it.
  Is it ok to mix wagons in a train e.g. tanks and coal? i guess the idea is loads would be left in sidings etc the loco picking up and dropping off?

Dave

[kirky]

Has anyone noticed that a scale length N gauge train looks much longer than the real thing ?

I think that there is possibly some science behind this question, would love to know the answer... 

I think this is a very important and ogften overlooked point. I think there is one simple rule: 'if it looks right, it is right!'

However, I needto qualify that by saying that it is right for the particular model it is on, and comparing other trains that arealso on the model. Effectively then, all should be in relation to one another and the model, but necessarily the same as the real thing. For example, its OK to have an EWS coal train with sixteen wagons, a class 91 as a 7 + 2 and a 4 car voyager, because they are all in proportion to one another. The voyager is run as the real thing, because a three car one would look wrong.

I'm not sure exactly of the science involved, but its something to do with what we teachers understand as 'innate numerosity'; basically something to do with recognising numbers of objects up to seven without counting if I recall correctly.

Cheers
Kirky

[4x2]

I see... I was thinking it may be a type of optical illusion, but I also agree with the 'if it looks right' theory - Not many people for instance can run a full HST set or MGR train, so there has to be a compromise that still looks 'about right'

I've always thought that any less than 4 coaches just doesn't look right on a mainline train, but that said i also feel that an even number (2,4,6 etc) of coaches also looks wrong... Or am I just being too fussy ? 

[kirky]

I've always thought that any less than 4 coaches just doesn't look right on a mainline train, but that said i also feel that an even number (2,4,6 etc) of coaches also looks wrong... Or am I just being too fussy ? 

Nope, that's not being fussy at all, I agree uneven number of coaches look better. I think that is something that photographers know about, odd numbers of people in portraits look better. If they have even number portraits, they usually group them so the 'evenness' or the symmetry doesn't appear obvious. Of course a four coach Voyager, looks right because we know thats what they look like, but I often like to run mine as supervoayagers and therefore include an extra coach.

Cheers
Kirky

[MJKERR]

i have no idea what a sealion would carry i was bought one and i like the look of it.
Is it ok to mix wagons in a train e.g. tanks and coal?
i guess the idea is loads would be left in sidings etc the loco picking up and dropping off?

A sealoin is a ballast wagon (known as departmental)
There are basically two types, the older grey/olive operated under BR and the red operated under EWS

The next issues when mixing wagon types is the different braking systems, operators, and eras
It was very rare to see fuel (tanks) and coal mixed
However there were some HAA wagons on the rear of a weekly speedlink hauled by a Class 87, and this is the only time I have seen coal wagons mixed with other wagon types
Equally, transporting fuel (tanks) is specialist and most such trains only conveyed wagons of the same load type
However other tanks carrying non-flammable loads would easily be mixed with other wagon types

Perhaps you could list the wagon types you currently own, and those that interest you, and the era of interest
We can then advise accordingly
Remember though its your railway, run it as you like, or you can go extreme and make it as realistic as possible

[matt-b]

I've always thought that any less than 4 coaches just doesn't look right on a mainline train, but that said i also feel that an even number (2,4,6 etc) of coaches also looks wrong... Or am I just being too fussy ? 
[/quote]

sorry, but 37425 concrete bob pulling 4 regional railways coaches on the cardiff-hollyhead run  in the 90`s looked very good 

thanks, matt

[bbdave]

I have a farish 37 in BR livery at the moment i have one weathered 100t bogie tank wagon an olive sealion and three EWS 46 tonne vga sliding wall vans, I'm not fussed about the tank wagon i really like the sealion and i plan on getting a class 66 in EWS later so will build on the rolling stock for that.

So i guess i've answered that sell the tank wagon buy sealions as i can afford them. I have noticed on kernow models site they have two sealions listed a hopper bogie wagon and a ballast bogie wagon what's the difference please

Dave

[MJKERR]

I have noticed on kernow models site they have two sealions listed a hopper bogie wagon and a ballast bogie wagon what's the difference please

Hopper bogie wagon 373-000A
Ballast bogie wagon 373-000
Both olive green, probably the only difference is the wagon number and some slightly different details

The others available are Seacow, which are modified from Sealion

I have bought the Seacow as I prefer the Civil Engineers "dutch" livery

[Zaonite]

I've noticed too that I like to have an odd number of coaches on my locos. How weird!

I'm also a fan of; if it looks right, it is right.

I.e.
a small tank loco with 5 coaches = wrong
a large tank loco (5MT) with 5 coaches = just right

[MJKERR]

Equally, look at many photos and the majority have odd numbers of coaches
This is due to the formula between platform lengths, train lengths, and routes, which in most cases results in an even number when you include the loco
Equally, there is a similar correlation in the ratio between First Class and Standard, which is almost the same between seat ratio and coach ratio

[longbridge]

My philosophy on train lengths is simple

Big layouts short or long trains.

Small layouts Small locos and short trains

To me its all about scale long trains on a small layout look out of place but some people seem to be happy with the idea.