Preferred Speed of Your Trains, How Fast is Too Fast?

Every now and then I'll jack my passenger trains up to scale 80MPH or so and put my head down near track level to get the sensation of speed an size.  Call it goofy, call it a 'fix', whatever   Most of the time, however, I'll run the passenger trains at around 35-45 SMPH and the freights anywhere between 10-20 SMPH.  I do enjoy a good crawl   I don't really enjoy just letting the fly by; I want to admire them as they pass.  If i wanted speed, I'd break out the RC cars with the kids and bash them at 60 actual MPH!

To me some Ho guys run theit trains so slow it gets boring, but I don't like to run my trains to fast, you know a speed that looks right.

Some older O gauge dosen't run good though at a speed I like and you have to run them a little to fast.

I prefer to run my trains at the scale equivalent of steam era prototypical speeds, which is to say 35-45 smph for ordinary freights, 50-60 for a reefer block, and anywhere between 60 and 100 for a passenger train (maybe 110-120 for the Hiawatha, which did actually go that fast on occasion). This is on our large museum layout; I run slower than that at home because my layout is small. I run mostly MTH so I've gotten a pretty good idea what a given scale speed looks like when I'm running an engine that doesn't have DCS. I also have one of those Lionel pedestrian overpasses with a speed trap on my layout, although it isn't hooked up at the moment. 

Interesting!  Just tonight I came from a group get together and that very subject of speed came up.  Our host was running a passenger train at a scale 15 MPH, according to his MTH speed indicator.  In other words, pretty darn slow.  So, to address the "complainers" that were present, he turned the speed up to some 45 MPH.  Yes it did look better but on his smallish, 12' X 20' layout the train was whipping around the 72" curves so fast that it only took a couple of seconds to make the circuit and go around again.  Finally decided that about 20 MPH or a bit faster was about correct for passenger trains.

 

Yes, I do like to see trains running at prototypical speeds, but maybe not at the 100 MPH + speeds of the early 40's, mid 50's.  On my own layout, I will run passenger trains at a scale 20 to 25 MPH and they look pretty good.  Freights, especially peddler freights, or patrols as they called them on the Milwaukee Road,  seem pretty content to plod along at a scale 20 MPH or so.   Perhaps a main line freight might be just a bit faster.

 

Paul Fischer

I pretty much run at prototypical speeds but every now and then I let a passenger train run wild.

-Greg

Depending on traffic, usually 25-30 SMPH because there are other trains on the layout that may have difficulties at low speed. Prefer to run freights at 15-20 SMPH. When I get the switching layout done, it will probably be around 5-15 SMPH.

 

When I run passenger, it's usually around 35 SMPH.

Half to two-thirds of full throttle. 

Visitors always want to run my trains at full speed. . . maybe because they're not the ones left with pieces. 

 

Nathan

Long before Odyssey and PS2 I rebuilt a couple of '80s Weaver diesels that had the fragile chain drive.  I spent quite a few nights experimenting around with motors and different-sized sprockets. Ultimately I decided 45 mph was fast enough.  Later on, a test with railscope-like video camera taught me that even this is pretty fast for sharp 3-rail curves.  

 

There's a direct trade-off between top speed and slow-speed performance.  I'm convinced most locos are geared too high, in other words, some low-speed performance was given up in the design to achieve toylike top speeds.

 

For best performance, the largest possible motor should be used.  In a steam loco, this means a large motor located in the firebox area.  The worm wheel (or "bull" gear) should be as large as possible given the size of the driving wheels--the gearbox should be practically dragging on the center rail.  And with the usual can motors, a typical steam loco geared at 25:1 would have a top speed of 60-70 scale mph.  If I had my own train company, that's how I would build them.

 

I've come to realize that the top speed of the prototype is kind of irrelevant.  If you're fortunate enough to have a layout with mile-long straightaways and eased, wide-radius curves, then IMO you can probably afford to pay a custom builder to gear your loco "up" for 100+ mph.  Or you can just buy one of the fast locos already out there.  The rest of us are better served by locos with low gearing from the factory, that don't require some type of  cruise control to perform realistically at switching speeds.  

 

Don't get me wrong--I love Legacy/PS2 sounds and the convenience of wireless command control.  But a loco with a well-sorted drive train is very rewarding to operate and doesn't NEED speed control for realistic operation.  If it's not done carefully, closed-loop control can impart a robotic feel with no regard for the physics of the prototype.  Real trains DO slow down on grades, and DO exhibit resistance when they couple up to a standing cut of cars.  Cruise control shouldn't be used as a band-aid solution to a poorly geared drive.

 

I know there are a couple of top-notch modelers on this board that share my thoughts on loco performance.  As time goes on and the number of enlightened operators grows, hopefully the manufacturers will support this sentiment by continuing to evolve their products along these lines.  My $.02.  -Ted

 

 

Thoughts? Keep them on the table, I like a slow moving freight train. and......

I like around 20 - 45 scale mph - about 3/4 to 1 1/2 feet per second, sometimes even slower.  That is why I prize low speed smoothness - which many locos, particularly older ones, don't have.  Here, all four are doing about 20-35 scale mph.

I am now reduced to a small, narrow round-the-wall attic operation and run short trains slowly.

Freights 10-25.

Passenger 20-35

 

6x16 layout.....I like for the trains to disappear and reappear.

 

Peter

I keep mine below 45smph, usually around 30smph.  They stay on the track and the noise is lower at that speed.  I can see all the detail better and watch for potential problems at these slow speeds, wide open all I see is a blur.

 

When I'm watching real trains fly thru at 90smph, while cool looking at first, I wonder about all the carnage/damage a wreck would cause at those speeds.

I like to run trains at about 25-30 mph. Especially steam engines! With synchronous chuffing and sound, I think it's more interesting to run slow. I love to simulate a steam engine straining to get up the big hill at my club. I sometimes run a little faster to break it up a little but I mostly run slow.

Ditto. My layout is 9 x 16 and it takes a minute or so for a freight running a 10smph to make the trip around.

With the Legacy 200 step and CAB2 set at 75 = 25.5 scale MPH.  Sometimes a little faster but like this setting.

I don't know what the scale speed is for my BB, but I keep the max at speed step 96 and usually let it loaf around my 6' X 7' temp living room layout at speed step 92; slow enough to see stack and whistle smoke and the detail of the engine.

RickM46

And now it starts.

While I don't mind seeing scale HO trains run slow, when it comes to O gauge three-rail toy trains I'm old school all the way.  Tube track, conventional operation, and too fast is not fast enough.  I run my trains fast, faster and Warp 9.9.

 

Pete

This is a good thread.  When you were a kid, SPEED meant everything.  All trains ran as fast as they could without the wheels leaving the rails.  Thank goodness for magnetraction!

Bob S.

Slow freights, faster passenger...

faster mister, faster!!!!!!!!!!

had a derailment at a show, dumped four trains and crashed

them together. nothing got hurt, but a kid standing there

said

"do it again"!!

run em fast and furious!!!

One word, MODERATE. I run them at a speed that makes sense to me and gives maximum eye appeal. It makes no sense to have a beautiful passenger train just fly by and be gone (may be prototypical, but not on our layout).

 

I love to bring them into one of the train stations on the layout, and then bring them out.

I enjoy running mine at slower speeds but In contrast when I am running multiple trains on different lines on my layout, I will run the conventional ones faster and the legacy ones  alot slower.  Just looks better to me, having multiple locos running at varying speeds.

 

-Pete

I run postwar and poastwar style and I never had space for anything larger than O42 curves, so not fast enough to fly off the curves, but nothing like seeing a postwar steamer or a streamlined aluminum passenger train barreling down the tracks!

Mike,

   Good question!

I am a slow speed kind of guy with my trains, I like to see the details of the engines and rolling stock, I like the slow speed control for siding work also.  I also think it's kind of foolish to invest so much money in a train and have it going fast enough to run off the 2nd or 3rd level of  any of my multi level layouts.  Fast Cars, Faster ladies and slow O Gauge Trains.

PCRR/Dave

I'm with the Speed appropriate to the layout group.

On my old basement layout 11 ft x 23 ft I would open up the Big Boy pulling a bunch of freight to 45 or more, max of 60.

On the den layout (6 x 8 ft) Max is 35 and I'm running smaller power, Do have the New Challenger on there to get it broke in.

I study train speeds when I see freight trains passing through my town. I guess that they are going between 30-40 MPH. Now if we move to the passenger trains on the Northeast corridor speeds of 70-125 MPH are common. I do not believe that we can apply set scale speeds to trains on a layout. IMO, it all depends on size and how the eye views the movement.    

I love running steam locomotives pulling passenger trains fast - not sure what the scale mph was, had my Polar Express Berk pulling 6 scale PE cars > 150 speed increments on the CabII, and that was going on 104" diameter track. When I went faster it didn't look "right" transitioning from tangent to curve.

I run mine between 25 and 50 smph.  I could go faster, but the thought of my Big Boy taking a dive off the edge of the platform and hitting the concrete floor 45" below is enough to keep them running slower. 

When we're operating on the club layout, Children frequently urge FASTER FASTER. I like running at a leisurely pace. We have run up to 3 trains on the same track. The slower speed makes keeping track of the consists much easier.

 

I usually try to set maximum prototypical speed on the DCS remote. For my 3rd Rail N&W K3 "[They] rode hard, and they raised havoc with the track at speeds over 35 mph." I set the max speed @35 smph.

 

N&W J's "The Class Js could achieve speeds that exceeded the steam locomotives rule of driver diameter plus 10 and could cruise at speeds well into the 90 mile an hour range.". The J max speed is set @90 smph.

 

N&W Y6b is the max speed is set @55 smph.

 

Gilly.

I usually run between 15 and 30 scale mph. I will get a passenger train up to 40 from time to time.

As others do, I run my passenger trains between 25 and 35 smph, and freight between 15 and 25 smph. Usually towards the higher speeds, 35 and 25 smph.

 

Alex

Well, I'm normally a slow and steady guy... but the freight ran a little faster this morning after a little oiling.

 

 

I favor slow speeds on my small 7'x 9' layout.  Cruise control is a must on my engines for maximum entertainment value, however some of my conventional engines are geared perfectly for slow, steady operation.  I like to see the smoke and especially the smoke rings from the stacks of steamers.  Max speed for a passenger train would be about 25 SMPH.

 

Rich

I didn't read all the replys to this thread but if your train flys off the rails...that's too fast.

 

I watched a video on youtube the other day on a G scale garden railway.  This guy had the train going sooooo fast I got butterflys in my stomach just watching it.

 

Rick

The kids like to see my trains run fast but I like to keep it down to add to the longevity of the locos. They only have so many miles in them before they start to break down.

 

Mine is 8x16 and that's about the same speed I run my passengers and freights.  

Nothing like slow train passing over the switches.

I reached the speed of 1 SMPH, unreal, was a test only, but average 15 SMPH  to 30SMPH.

as train collectors said have to be eye appeal.

At Low speed you can enjoy watching rod moving, wheel hitting frogs, and some brass cars create vibration that sound like a real one. so I have no reason for high speed in my case.

Andre.

"Warp speed Mr. Sulu."...Capt. James T. Kirk

"All power to warp engines, ENGAGE!"...Capt. Jean Luc Picard

 

Jerry