What does Scale Speed Say about Quality

[Anonymous]

I have one of Mike's Proto Ones running at 19 scale MPH. It actually runs a bit slower than that, but speeds up just a little on the straight where I measure, I guess because of the drag going around O-31 curves. It covers 60" (Five feet) in just a hair over 8.5 seconds. I really had to troubleshoot the layout connections to get it to run that slow all the way around without stopping, and it slows way down when the cars are on a curve.

How does this compare with what the big guys are doing?

[spankybird]

Doug, I have many PS1 and PS2 engines

The PS2 with speed control can pull a 4% grade with or without cars at 3 smph and not stall anywhere. If I drop of the cars as engine is moving, the engine stays at the same speed.

Many of the forum members that have been over has seen this.

[Anonymous]

Tom is correct!

I don't know about the big guys, but Proto 2 will usually run down to 2 Scale miles per hour in command with no problem at all. TMCC with Odyssey wil usually go down to between four and five scale miles per hour.

If you modified your PS-1 locomotive to PS-2 (not an inexpensive proposition), it would probably perform in a very similar fashion to a factory PS-2..

It is typical for some locomotives without speed control to slow on curves (ususllay the tighter, the slower).

[Anonymous]

My 3rd rail engines with cruise control can run less than 2 scale mph. My 3rd rail K-4
with command and ta cruise control and 80 inch scale drivers takes 7 seconds to make one driver rev.
My 3rd rail allegheny 2-6-6-6 with proto one will run at 1.4 scale mph
My mth greenbrier with proto 1 will run at 8 scale mph.
The mth engine is geared poorly as it can go way over 100 mph with no problem,
and the allegheny will run 80 scale mph at 18 volts.

[Anonymous]

So what you guys are saying is that I ought not be satisfied until I have it taking a minute and a half to run the back straight, and about four minutes to do the complete circle. Wow! Do I have a bunch of work to do. On the other end of the spectrum, it does a hundred scale miles per hour, right before it leaves the O-31 curve. we don't do that much with it on the pool table over a tile floor. In fact, we didn't do it much running on the living room carpet. <grin>

[Anonymous]

In my estimation all mfgs except 3rd rail gear their locos too high. If you want to run scale speeds you either need cruise control or good gear ratios.
Example: my lionel Reading T1 is geared 16 to 1. It has very poor starting and slow speed, but will race over 100 at half throttle. My Penn K4 by 3rd rail has 28 to one and cruise and does very well. Now for real speed my HO tenshodo GN R2 which was limited to 45 miles per hour by the railroad has a 48 to one gear ratio and it will just creep on filtered DC and runs 46 mph at 12 volts. That is scale speed.
Dave.

[Jim Duda]

QUOTE: It covers 60" (Five feet) in just a hair over 8.5 seconds. Wow! Do I have a bunch of work to do- Doug

Roll up your sleeves...time to get to work (wink)! Here is some data for you:

1. I set my DCS remote to 19 SMPH with a PS-2 RS-3 pulling 4 diecast cars - it took 8.5 seconds to cover 60 inches of track.
2. At 2 SMPH (on the remote) it was smoooooth as silk and took 80.5 seconds for the same 60 inches. If I dialed it down to 1 SMPH it would move, but there was a little "jerk" from it. The 60 inches did include one 031 curve.

"Slow and steady wins the race", and for that, the Speed Control in PS-2 (and others) is hard to beat...

[Anonymous]

Jim, out of curiosity, have you ever checked the speed setting on the control against actual scale speed. Set your throttle at 60 mph and then time the time it takes to go 110 real feet. 5280/48. Would be interesting to see how accurate it is and does it vary on locos with different driver diameters.
Dave.

[ChiefEagles]

On my flat carpet layout, my two PS2's will move at 1 smph with cars or without. Will travel all loops but will do better on the 072 curves. Lionels will move real good at very slow speeds [especially after setting the "set" button on CAB1 but seem to be more jerky at high speeds. This is especially true when slowing down using CAB1 or DCS remote. I have the momentium set on high too. Still a lot better than earlier trains.

[TurboOne]

Alright, I am confused. I thought this was the O gauge forum. You sure your guys aren't HO prototype rivit counters in disguise ? [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]

And Doug, I thought O guys always ran over scale speed. That was why the HO guys in the museum come by and tell the O guys they aren't prototypical speeds. [:)] [:)] [:)] [:)]

My favorite speed story is when I went to the HO club, and asked how long it takes a engine and cars to go from 1 end of layout to the other. They said 1.5 hours. I asked what if I put my trolley system on and ran it full speed how long. Their answer, that will get you kicked out of the club.

I just like trains that go round and round. [:)] [:)] [:)]

Tim

[3railguy]

Skyray, are you using an older transformer from the postwar years? Many start at 6 volts. This could explain your mininum spedd of 19 mph. Many of today's transformers start at 0 volts

[palallin]

Tiom, I agree with you. Scale speeds say NOTHING about quality and everything about what kind of railroader the operator is. Engines with cruise control can have just as much quality as ones without it. It's just a matter of which features the owner prefers.


In a way, cruise control is VERY UNrealistic: no prototype locomotive runs at a constant speed. They all need constant attention to the throttle. The engineer has to open the throttle to climb a grade and back off to go down. So, if you want to run just like the prototype, turn off the cruise and control the train. If you want to just sit back a play with your toys (not a thing wrong with that!!), turn on the cruise and be an engineer's bench potato [:D]