Newbie Question: Speed Governor?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am essentially new to model trains (my family had a 4x8 HO scale when I was a kid -- I am 39 now). I have two young boys (3 and 5) and I decided to get them (and myself, I'll be honest) a train set. I have an MTH O-scale starter set coming, along with some extra RealTrax. I have been building a 4x7 table and playing with layout ideas while I wait for the set to arrive -- I haven't been this excited about Christmas in a long time.

Anyway, the set comes with a Z1000 transformer. Is there any kind of built-in speed governor? I will be setting up a continuous loop track (sort of a doubled-over figure 8 with some short sidings) and would like the boys to be able to work the transformer without risk of sending the train off onto the brick floor. I want to keep the speed down.

Since the Z1000 appears to have a knob throttle, I suppose the keep-it-simple solution would be to loop a wire or string around the handle and fasten the other end at an appropriate spot on the table so that the knob can rotated only so far.

Assuming no built-in governor on the transformer, what other techniques can be used? Thank you for any advice.

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[ben10ben]

The set you are getting should have a fairly heavy engine that will stay on the track well, as well as speed control. Speed control, when enabled, will allow the engine to maintain a constant speed through curves, and up and down grades, without any throttle attention. As a result of this, the engine must always keep several volts "in reserve", and thus shouldn't move fast enough to come off the track even at full throttle.

[Jetrock]

I think you can also wire a resistor across the terminals of the power pack to take some of the "juice" out of the powerpack and lower the top speed.

[Anonymous]

OK, I'll wait until the set arrives and see how well the speed control feature works. If it doesn't do the trick, then I'll look at some other techniques.

Thanks,

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[jkeaton]

From experience (my own as a boy and much more recently with a "new to trains" 11 year old running my old Lionel trains), you won't need to worry too much about a "speed governor" or other speed control for your new trains. O tinplate - Lionel, MTH, etc. - because of the tubular track, greater weight and deep flanges can tolerate an amazing amount of speed before leaving the track. One word of caution though - this is only true if the track is carefully put together! The 0-27 tracks I assembled for the 11 year old didn't see derailments, even when he turned up the old Lionel transformer to its maximum - but the tracks he attempted to assemble temporarily (and did so sloppily), did see a derailment. Fortunately this last was with tracks on the floor, so no damage beyond his surprise. Interestingly, he didn't try that again.

One other hint - if you do find the need for a top speed reduction technique, my suggestion would be to avoid pieces of string or 'prone to overheat' resistors, and simply buy a few lighted accessories or cars. I don't knowt he Z1000 directly, but the transformer packed with most starter sets is fairly small, and a few lighted accessories should draw enough current from the transformer to reduce it's top voltage by a useful amount - the higher the load on the transformer, the lower the output voltage.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Jkeaton, thanks for that info. I am glad to hear that the O-scale track is fairly speed tolerant.

The lighted accessories or cars idea is a great hint, although I am amazed at how expensive such things are.

Forget speed control for a second. If I just wanted to hook up a plain light inside a plastic house, for example, is there a recommended light fixture/bulb combination for that purpose? I guess what I am asking is: what kind of light is inside the pre-made lighted accessories and cars? Are they readily available at hardware stores?

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