Round and round she goes...

[MK]

It's that time of year where people set up (or are thinking about it like me) the traditional oval/circle around the tree.

Being overly anal and over analyzing everything (boy do I fit right in!), for those of you with more time in the hobby than me, do you see any damaging effects of running trains round and round, say for a few hours a day for a month, in one direction?

Any long term detrimental effects like uneven wear, motor burn out, parts replacement, parts loosening too much, etc.?  I'm talking prototypical speed around the tree.  I guess I can run CW on even days and CCW on odd days. 

[Dave V]

I haven't...

[thomasjmdavis]

This does not directly address your question, although I do think that if a train runs continuously in one direction you are likely to see uneven wear in any plastic wheels and more especially the "bearings" of your freight trucks.  I have not arrived at that via any scientific observation, merely that it seems logical enough to me. 

I have never gotten to the point of wearing out any wheels, because the operation is usually interrupted by....

CATS!  Cats may be ok with you owning a layout in some part of the basement that they generally stay out of because the food is in the kitchen and the fluffy pillows are on the couch, so they leave the less desirable areas like basements for human habitation.  But once trains come into their domain, they consider them as gifts for their amusement.  If you don't have cats, neighbor cats will find their way into your house to play with your electric mice.

Dogs, children, neighbors "hey, Tom, (grabs $200 steam loco) what do you call all these metal rods and things?  Is this actually making the wheels move?  Oops, hey, this one came out of the valve thingee and I think I bent it a little.  These things aren't as well made as the Lionel I had as a kid..." 

So, my resolution has always been to keep a circle of old code 80 track (code 100 in my HO days), an old loco and some various freight and passenger cars I never got around to upgrading (which could all be painted to be Christmas-y) as a Christmas train.  Or get a Thomas, and put the whole thing under glass 3/4 inch Lexan.  You can always run a Super Chief or something for a couple hours when the boss comes over for dinner, or your Shay powered lumber train when you are hosting model railroad friends.

[Xmtrman]

The biggest problem I've found is accumulation of the normal fuzz & dust that live at floor level in the gears & trucks.

Just buy an old non-collectible-grade Lionel (or even Marx) train for tree duty. A thorough cleaning before you put it away after the holidays will make sure it outlasts you.

[Rossford Yard]

We built a stand and put a Lionel Polar Express on it.  Grandkids love the sound (bell, whistle and Tom Hanks as conductor).  We considered N and HO but with dogs, figured it would be a problem.  Two years in, we like our choice, works well.

As to worn wheels, I did set it up to run the opposite direction this year from last based on evening out wear.  That said, I doubt there will be enough wear to need replacement in my lifetime.  Now, I only run it minutes a day, not hours, but if I did wear the wheels out to the point of needing replacement, I think I would count the replacement cost in dollars per hour of enjoyment gained, and pay it happily.

Short version, yes change direction periodically, but don't worry too much about it.  Have fun.

[wm3798]

A figure 8 will even out whatever wear there might be.  Put the tree in one eye of it, and a village of those lighted ceramic buildings in the other.
Lee

[MK]

Looks like I might have to forgo my idea of using my recently acquired Kato Operation North Pole with 5 lit coaches.  I don't have any pets nor small children around.  Neighbors don't come into my house.    And we usually don't throw parties.  If we do, I can put the trains away temporarily.

But I love that ONP set.  Maybe I'll do it for a few minutes instead of hours.  Changing directions every year sounds like a nice idea.

Lee, my first thought was a figure 8 but my space setup doesn't allow that.  I'm going to try one more time with XTrackCAD and see if I can come up with something that has similar amounts of lefts and rights.

[Englewood]

I wonder if using larger a larger radius would help minimize wear?

[mightypurdue22]

One of two things would happen under our tree.  Either our cat would attack the train and break something, or the train would attack the cat and break the cat.  Sounds expensive either way.  Trains under trees are awesome.  Cats not so much.

Dave

[u18b]

The expert on this matter is Victor Miranda.  I don't think he posts here anymore.

He ran a loco continuously (except for occassional lubing) until the motor burned up (something like 2,000 hours).

He was testing the motor life, and reported on the pick-up wear.

But I don't remember him reporting on the wheel wear.

[mmagliaro]

It depends on what you mean by "a few hours" per day.
Based on how old some Kato and Atlas motors are that I have, they seem to be able to run up to around 500 hours before they start showing issues with worn brushes and commutators.

I would not expect an problems or noticeable wear from this.  But if you do this year after year, yes, sooner or later you are going to see engine problems from wear.
Wheel wear on the rolling stock should be nil.  If will add up on the engine, but again, after 5 or more years of this, you may have to replace the engine anyway, especially if you are running this thing for more like 8 hrs / day and not just, say, 3.

All this is to say that I doubt the direction around the loop matters.  It's the hours on the motor that are going to do the engine in.

[sirenwerks]

A figure 8 will even out whatever wear there might be.  Put the tree in one eye of it, and a village of those lighted ceramic buildings in the other.
Lee

You need a three-looped figure eight, so you can add a LL Styrofoam mountain/tunnel and some snow fabric. The tunnel makes a perfect hiding place for the cat, just before it pounces on the train. Of course, my cat needs the XXL mountain. I think by next year I will have talked my Muslim wife into letting a 'winter' tree in the house, when the remodeling is done, and we can use (most of) the three boxes of ornaments I inherited from Mom and Pop.

[DKS]

I've helped a number of folks with their Christmas train projects, and the first thing I recommend is going with an old Lionel (or equivalent) train set. For one thing, a smaller train gets kind of lost under the tree and amidst gifts and other decorations. Large scale trains are far more durable, and they're especially forgiving when confronted with curious pets and kids. Just a thought.

[MK]

It depends on what you mean by "a few hours" per day.
Based on how old some Kato and Atlas motors are that I have, they seem to be able to run up to around 500 hours before they start showing issues with worn brushes and commutators.

I would not expect an problems or noticeable wear from this.  But if you do this year after year, yes, sooner or later you are going to see engine problems from wear.
Wheel wear on the rolling stock should be nil.  If will add up on the engine, but again, after 5 or more years of this, you may have to replace the engine anyway, especially if you are running this thing for more like 8 hrs / day and not just, say, 3.

All this is to say that I doubt the direction around the loop matters.  It's the hours on the motor that are going to do the engine in.

That's interesting on the 500 hours info Max.  My intention was something like 2 hour/day, not every day so maybe about 10 hours a week.  Figure 4 weeks for the holiday "season" so 40-50 hours total per year.

You thinking seems logical with the weak point being the motor run time.  After all the weight of the loco is not that heavy so the friction/wear is minimal.

[mmagliaro]

That's interesting on the 500 hours info Max.  My intention was something like 2 hour/day, not every day so maybe about 10 hours a week.  Figure 4 weeks for the holiday "season" so 40-50 hours total per year.

You thinking seems logical with the weak point being the motor run time.  After all the weight of the loco is not that heavy so the friction/wear is minimal.

That's my thinking.
One caveat.  I think a good Kato motor will hold up for 500 hours, but not without some maintenance.
It will need oil on the bearings and the commutator slots will have to be cleaned out a number of times over its lifetime.
But for 50 hours, I'd be shocked if you saw any ill effects.  You can probably go 5 years without a hitch, except for perhaps a drop of oil on the bearings once in a while.