looking for Bruce

[JeremyB]

hey bruce

you mentioned in my last post that freight trains can cause a speed drop when going into curves,i have this problem,whta causes this?

jeremy

[MAbruce]

Hi Jeremy,

I actually put this answer in the original thread, but am happy to repeat it here.

As a freight car moves through a curve, more of the wheel comes in contact with the rail, which causes more friction (or drag). There's not much you can do about it as you are dealing the law of physics. Real trains have to deal with the same problem.

It's sort of like when a train is going up a grade (incline). The load becomes heavier for the locos, so more power is needed to keep up the same speed. That's why you see several locos in front of a train. When the train is running on flat straight rails, not as much power is needed to keep it going. But as soon as you hit a grade, or a curve, or worse - a curve on a grade, then more power is needed (and the other locos are needed to help out).

I hope this explains it.