Scale speeds

I am running mine at what I believe is 35 mph to 65 mph depending on the terrain (open or somewhat congested) which I believe is approximately 4 to 7 seconds per 3 feet. Highly congested is much lower yet. Some I see in videos seem to be going 35 to 40 in open country. Please let me know about the speeds being run and how best to measure. Thanks, Jim

 

You just need to measure the distance traveled and the time elapsed. The rest is just simple math.

 

Let's make the math a little simpler: Assuming N scale is 1:160, each ten mph is just over one inch per second. Specifically, 1.1 in/sec.

 

My line has a max speed of 25 mph (per the prototype). I keep my speed by eye, although I may install a Boulder Engineering speedometer before too long. High speeds kills the illusion for me, I like it low and slow.

 

Figuring the speed was just a sideline. What I'm really asking is what scale speeds in what terrains are other people running?

 

Maybe. And maybe it pays to retrain your lying eyes. Your 7-4 seconds for three feet translates into about 48-90 mph.

My eyes were similarly dishonest to me, before I measured and timed and learned what's really what. And after you adjust your speeds, you begin to realize that you're making your trains look more realistic.

In response to your actual question, I model the Santa Fe in 1952, when its main line speed limits were 50 for drag freights, 70 for manifest freights and 90 for passenger trains. I try to restrain myself a bit, though, as I'm not sure the Tulsa line was maintained to their full main line standards. Since then, I don't think the fastest trains have gotten faster, but the slowest trains have. There is less speed differential than there used to be.

 

I agree that low and slow is fun to watch, but is it really realistic? I'm sure in highly congested area (towns, yards, sidings, etc.) I can see that slow is real, but in open terrain I believe freight trains would get to at least 65 mph and passenger trains faster like 80 mph. I realize that true realistic speed may actually not fit a model train layout since overall size of a railroad is impossible to replicate.

 

http://www.stonysmith.com/railroad/speedcalc.asp

Simple to use. I measure seconds per 12" and use the calculator.

I run freight and normally run slower then the 1:1. It takes longer for the model to go around the complete layout and just seems to make it bigger... LOL

 

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I have been running freights a bit over scale 50 mph (I misspoke on the 7 to 4, it was more like 8 to 6) in open terrain and now I will drop back to nothing faster than 40 mph and see how that looks. I believe that should be approximately 8 seconds in 3 feet.

 

41 mph

 

40ish is about what I run and looks pretty good on my layout.

 

Well I have a different way to do that using DCC. I program the max speed to mimic the max speed of the prototype locomotive. So for a GE P42 to run the top speed of 110 SMPH(Scale Miles Per Hour) which is what I was told by an AMTRAK Engineer that they run on the flats across the desert. Similarly I run SD70's there typical top speed, SD80's and GEVO's etc all so that 100% of the throttle is the max scale speed. All the locomotives are speed matched within their respective classes so I can run all sorts of lashups. And even the mid train helpers and rear train pushers can run especially since all the cars have body mounted couplers.

With that done it is easy to drop the speed for inclines or for slow track areas as needed. I never have to worry about trains running too fast. And yes a Kato locomotive running at full speed is clocked on my track going 260 SMPH (Using the ACCUTrak speedometer) before I tone it down to the right value.

And yes, when they run at proper scale speeds, they look a little more majestic than the super speeds that I have seen some people run

 

Prototype speeds depended on a lot of factors, including rolling equipment and track parameters. Mountain railroading is inherently slower than desert railroading. Most tight curves and most switches had speed restrictions, even for express trains. And, considering that practically every curve on a model railroad would scale-up to "tight" on a 1:1, there is plenty of excuse for running slow.

 

Since I run a batch of geared locomotives my speeds are slow anyhow and the diesels are 44 ton and 70 tonners, and Bachmann managed to gear these little critters to run slow also. The only thing fast on my layout are the mini RDCs which run at the blazing speed of 40 smph.

 

Slow speeds are very prototypical. I have all of the timetables and the service bulletins for the line I model. The highest speed on the line is 25 mph. Most of the line is 10 mph.

Even class 1 main lines will have slower areas. Yard speeds will also be limited, as will work zones. Many railroads timetables are available, do a little research and you’ll find how slow most modeled areas really run.

 

I model Barstow CA to Winslow AZ where there is a long run over the desert and then up the Arizona Divide and the down into Flagstaff and then on to Winslow.

The mountain grades are pretty steep and long and so the trains move appropriately slow up the grades and through the towns along the way. I have the ATSF time table and operations guide to set the speeds appropriately.

 

This link that the quoted poster has so thoughtfully provided is similar to what I have used in the past. I simply forget which on-line speed calculators I have used in the past. I do seem to recall Googling them, in the past, but, I have followed more than one on this and other sites. I use a close-enough rule. I have marked off two four foot lengths on two sections of my pike. Freight trains are restricted to twenty-five MPH, which I approximate as seventeen seconds for four feet (actual speed is just under twenty-six SMPH, but that is close enough for me). Passenger trains on the Short Creek and Nopedale are restricted to forty MPH, which I approximate at ten seconds for four feet (actually it is just over forty-three SMPH, but, again, close enough). On the fictitious "Capitals Sub" of the B&O, freight is, again, restricted to twenty-five MPH. Passenger is restricted to fifty-five MPH, which I approximate at eight seconds for four feet (actually it is just over fifty-four SMPH, but, once more, close enough). It is simply easier to time whole seconds on my wall clock. I suppose that I could buy a stop watch, but, to what end?

How did you do those? I had one for the SC&N that I bashed by cutting down a C-C RDC-3. I chose the -3 because the high volume of mail traffic on the SC&N justifies the passenger trains, thus RPO facilities are a must. I simply cut out a portion of the passenger compartment, left the mail and baggage compartments as they were and put the front back onto the shortened body. I then transplanted it onto a Kato RDC-4 chassis. It fits nicely. Sadly, I had off the shell and dropped it. The front piece popped off of it, so, if I want to put it back, I must strip some of the paint, re-do the p utty, sand, and paint again. As the presence of the car had one of two back stories (it was bought from CRI&P as a wreck and SC&N shops re-built it into a shortened version/It was ordered from Budd on an RDC-4 chassis with smaller baggage and mail compartments and a larger passenger compartment), I could get away with the result if I use the first back story, but, as I decided that I could do a better job than what I had done in the first place, I have another C-C RDC-3 shell and am going to try it, again. Another possibility, for which I do have the parts, is to cut two windows from the MP shorty corrugated side coach, cut an opening in the Kato RDC-4 shell and glue and putty the piece from the MP into the opening then paint. In addition, I do have steps to replace the stirrups on what would become the passenger end.

I am interested, though, in learning how you did your "mini-RDCs".

 

Agreed. I sometimes go out and watch the local switch crew here in Champaign, IL. Their train, which serves industries on the west end of town, runs no more than 10 mph, sometimes (particularly crossing busy streets) slower. Switching moves alone are done very slowly, and tasks that we generally do not model (connecting brake lines; pumping air; etc.) take a lot of time in the real world. The local train here typically has less than a dozen cars headed for 2-3 industries, and it takes the local crew an entire day to deliver those and make pickups.

John C.

 

I don't calculate scale speeds on my N Scale road, but I always keep speeds throttled down. Nothing spoils my enjoyment of a model railroad like seeing trains zooming through at crazily fast toy train speeds. It looks plain silly and instantly erases any link with the prototype. And besides, what's the hurry to get around the layout?