O Scale Time

Operating in real (1:1) time is the most correct and realistic solution in my opinion. No matter what you do, the length scale will always be 1:48. Therefore the speed scale should also be 1:48 and the time scale falls out at 1:1. Some HO operators use fast clocks but, to me, this would seem to work only over relatively larger time intervals (say 15 minutes or more - the time to run between two towns), but not shorter ones. I think the basic principle is that the train speed should look realistic in accordance with the layout scale and scenery (1:48) during short intervals but could be "faster" only during longer intervals with a fast clock. Does that make sense?

MELGAR

I'll need to hop into my TARDIS to figure this one out, but before I do I would agree that time is a function of scale so 1:48 would be my mostly uneducated guess as well. 

And don’t forget to take into consideration the proximity of any black holes to the layout and their slowing effect on time  

Sorry... couldn’t resist.

If Speed = Distance / Time, then Time = Distance / Speed

Most often, O scale layouts do not begin to represent real distance.  For example, Chicago to St. Louis is 312 miles.  If I had a true scale version of the route, it would be 6.5 real miles (312 scales miles).  In theory, you could run an O scale train at 60 scale MPH and it would take about 5 real hours for the O gauge train to make that trip of 6.5 real miles.

On our layouts, we don't have room or time for these kinds of scenarios.  Let's say I have St. Louis on one end of the layout, and 25 feet away I have Chicago.  The O scale train at 60 O scale MPH would be there in under a minute in real time.  With the distance shortened significantly, you would need a fast clock to get it to 5 hours worth of "fast time".

So the speed of the fast clock would be determined by the distance of the points of interest on the layout.  A small layout's clock would be faster than a larger layout's clock, when representing the same real life distances.  You might even have different clock speeds for different points on one layout.  

My personal view is that scale time is too complicated and is not useful in 99.9% of operations.  I would rather measure time in real time and say it takes my O scale train 15 seconds to travel from CHI to STL at 60 scale mph. 

We use fast clocks so time moves more in keeping with our short distance travel.     If a train is going run 50 feet between two points, do  you want it to get there in 1 minute or 4-5.     Many modelers use a 4:1 fast clock and some 6:1.     And if you are using Train Order & Time Table operations, you need time.    The 4:1 gives you 12 hours or operations in a 3 hour real time period.     With that you can put a time table together that looks realistic to read.     And your operators can use a schedule if you want to operate that way.

There is a major drawback to fast clocks however.     Model switching while not as slow as real time, is much closer than running our short distances.     So the main moves on a fast clock can be hard for a yard to keep up with on the same fast clock.     The yard work is much closer to real time.

"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so" ---Ford Prefect:  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Time on a model railroad is whatever you want it to be.  Some folks use fast clocks, some use real time, some don't bother worrying about it.

Rusty

An O scale mile is 110 feet (5280/48). At 30 scale miles per hour, that distance would be covered in two minutes, which is why we don't encourage going faster than 30 SMPH at the club. In terms of scale mileage, even larger layouts tend to have relatively short mainlines (our mains are around three as I recall). When I was contemplating a backyard layout build, I had seriously considered trying to pull off a full 5,280-foot mainline and quickly realized I didn't have enough back yard to pull it off and still have a usable back yard. Best practice is to scenic well and slow down. If you want realistic arrivals/departures set up a fast clock.

Rusty Traque posted:

"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so" ---Ford Prefect:  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Time on a model railroad is whatever you want it to be.  Some folks use fast clocks, some use real time, some don't bother worrying about it.

Rusty

I love it when Douglas Adams gets quoted in a train related forum.  Perhaps the sounds system should recite Vogon poetry so it feels like our trains take forever to get to their destination. 

I don't worry about it at personally.  I like running my trains relatively slow.  It is funny watching a local freight blow past my premier passenger train at the club though.  Proof that time is truly relative.

I'm a Douglas Adams fan, too. I appreciate all of the input. We're heading towards digital control of random lighting inside buildings and the insights on the perception of time are very helpful!

You guys do know that the ultimate answer is 42! 

Simon (in Deep Thought) LOL

Personally, I believe that time does not change in regards to scale. For example, I have a vintage Farmall Cub tractor. This tractor is essentially 2/3 the size of the similar Farmall A. When operating either tractor, an hour takes the same amount of time when driving the Cub as it does the A. This applies to our models as well, even though the size difference is much greater.  

IMHO this can't really be measured.  While our trains are 1:48, the sizes of our layouts are not, unless you are specifically modeling something short.  My train layout is 1 scale mile around.  If I set the train at 60 SMPH, it takes 60 seconds to make the loop.   1 Scale mile makes for quite a short 1:1 railroad.

A couple of years ago at the PA railroad museum in Strasburg, a fella had an HO layout of the Strasburg RR.  The details were amazing, but even in HO, his tables were very long and he still could not model every foot of the entire 4.5 mile route.

Have Fun!  No matter how you measure it, time is short.

Ron