Train Speed Videos - SMPH

I like the 20 mph & 30 mph speeds for freight.  The 60 mph looks about right for a passenger train.  The 80 mph was almost toy like.  I was waiting for the locomotive to fall over on one of the curves.

Thanks for posting this demonstration.

Tom

Oh, I dunno.  I think timing it with a stopwatch over a 32.141' length of track is pretty darned accurate.  I'll bet every bit as much as DCS or Legacy.

I have a pretty good eye for scale train speeds, no matter what scale.  And after looking at your videos, your stated speeds look about right to me. 

(I even timed a lap on your 80 smph video with my wristwatch, and came up with 13 seconds ).

Same here 35 to 40 SMPH for freigth. 60 SMPH for the passenger.  My layout has O-108 cruves on the mainlines. I had my 20th Century limited & ESE Hudsons up to 100 SMPH.

The stop watch times were well within one-half second of the calculated times, so the average speed even at 80 miles per hour is accurate to within about plus or minus 2 miles per hour. At lower speeds, the accuracy is better than that. Remember, the quoted speeds are average, because there is some speed variation with a PS1 (non cruise-control) locomotive as it goes around the layout. I could have done this with a newer engine but I like the MTH PRR G5s and often run it at high speed.

MELGAR

MELGAR;

20 MPH seemed a bit slow to me. Similarly, 60 & 80 MPH seemed too fast, but that may be due to the short distance the train is traveling - they may seem a bit more pleasing on a longer run. 30 MPH seemed just right. 

Now, when I get back home, I’m going to have to figure this out on my loops... I really thought I was done with homework!!!

80 smph may look too fast to most, but that probably has a lot to do with the type of loco and the size of the layout.

Trust me, on my sizable N-scale layout (6' x 23' double-track oval), a large-drivered 4-6-2 Pacific pulling a string of 10 passenger cars at 80 smph does not look at all out of place or too fast.  The same passenger outfit on a large O-scale layout would look just as good too, I'm sure. 

Apples55 posted:

20 MPH seemed a bit slow to me. Similarly, 60 & 80 MPH seemed too fast, but that may be due to the short distance the train is traveling - they may seem a bit more pleasing on a longer run. 30 MPH seemed just right. 

Now, when I get back home, I’m going to have to figure this out on my loops... I really thought I was done with homework!!!

20 mph looks good with a switcher pulling a boxcar and caboose past the town and grade crossing on my other layout. 30 mph is good for observing a slow freight or the rod motion of a steam engine. The G5s passenger engine ran at up to 80 mph on Eastern Long Island and at that speed the sounds on this model nicely contribute to the effect. Sorry but homework is required for model railroading 101.

MELGAR

Mixed Freight posted:

80 smph may look too fast to most, but that probably has a lot to do with the type of loco and the size of the layout.

Trust me, on my sizable N-scale layout (6' x 23' double-track oval), a large-drivered 4-6-2 Pacific pulling a string of 10 passenger cars at 80 smph does not look at all out of place or too fast.  The same passenger outfit on a large O-scale layout would look just as good too, I'm sure. 

I think the G5s passenger engine looks good on my layout even at 80 smph, although it's unrealistic on the curves. In my opinion, the sounds at high speeds convincingly add to the effect on this engine.

MELGAR

MELGAR posted:

Apples55 posted:

20 MPH seemed a bit slow to me. Similarly, 60 & 80 MPH seemed too fast, but that may be due to the short distance the train is traveling - they may seem a bit more pleasing on a longer run. 30 MPH seemed just right. 

Now, when I get back home, I’m going to have to figure this out on my loops... I really thought I was done with homework!!!

20 mph looks good with a switcher pulling a boxcar and caboose past the town and grade crossing on my other layout. 30 mph is good for observing a slow freight or the rod motion of a steam engine. The G5s passenger engine ran at up to 80 mph on Eastern Long Island and at that speed the sounds on this model nicely contribute to the effect. Sorry but homework is required for model railroading 101.

MELGAR

Dear Professor MELGAR;

‘Respectfully;

Apples

Approximately 54 smph on upper loop. 

1 lap = approximately 14ft covered in 8.5seconds

98.8 ft covered in 60 seconds. 

98.8ft x 48 = 4,742.4 scale ft covered per minute 

4,742.4 scale feet / 88 = 53.89 smph

MELGAR posted:

Recently, there has been discussion on the Forum about the speed at which people run their trains, so I have made four videos showing my MTH Premier PRR G5s locomotive 5740 running at average scale speeds of 20, 30, 60 and 80 miles per hour on the outer loop of my 12’-by-8’ layout built between 1999 and 2004. The locomotive is about twenty years old and is running conventionally with PS1. The outer loop has O-72 curves and is 32.141 feet in length, which corresponds to a distance of 1542.78 feet at full scale - or about 0.292 miles. The train speeds were set with the transformer handle in a fixed position to obtain the calculated loop time for each scale speed. The actual loop times were measured with a stop watch. Perhaps less accurate than doing it with DCS or Legacy, but more fun this way for me.

MELGAR

Very nice. It helps to see the different speeds with the same train on the same layout 👍🏻

Good study in scale speeds Mel. I recall my old larger HO layouts running fast freights and passenger trains and that they looked good. My small O gauge layout requires slower speeds.

Bob

JD2035RR posted:

Postwar usually gets a bad rap for going too fast, but I think it’s more a function of compact distances and tight curves that give the illusion of running too fast. 

My homework submission:

 

 

 

Approximately 54 smph on upper loop. 

1 lap = approximately 14ft covered in 8.5seconds

98.8 ft covered in 60 seconds. 

98.8ft x 48 = 4,742.4 scale ft covered per minute 

4,742.4 scale feet / 88 = 53.89 smph

In my opinion, the speed on the upper loop looks realistic on the straights  - just a train going fast - but too fast only on the curves.

MELGAR

RSJB18 posted:

Good study in scale speeds Mel. I recall my old larger HO layouts running fast freights and passenger trains and that they looked good. My small O gauge layout requires slower speeds.

Bob

I run trains up to about 80 mph on the outer loop of the 12'-by-8' O-72 layout but only about 30 mph on the 10'-by-5' O-54 layout.

MELGAR

To measure speed when I've found a need to do so I typically just measure out a length of the layout 5.5 or 11 feet and time the train over that stretch.  You can get very accurate timing at lower speeds.  at higher speeds I would hold a pen over the track at the end point and hit the stopwatch as I felt the engine hitting the pen.  For what it's worth 5.5 and 11 feet are 1/20th and 1/10th of a scale mile, respectively.  

Interesting, I did it with the MTH Es44ac Gevo pulling 13 cars, at max speed. 4 pretty heavy passenger cars,

the rest freight.

18 volts

I get 99.6 smph.

Odmike

And the website just notified me I hit 100 posts.

OldMike posted:

Interesting, I did it with the MTH Es44ac Gevo pulling 13 cars, at max speed. 4 pretty heavy passenger cars,

the rest freight.

18 volts

I get 99.6 smph.

Odmike

The 80 mph video of my G5s was run at about 15 volts. It can go faster...

MELGAR