BRAKIE wrote: Before "retiring" from commercial slot car racing my 1/24th NASCAR #00 car would turn a 2.7 seconds lap around a 110 foot tri oval..My 43 car was a tad slower-2.9..I doubt if the Hustler could match 'em down the front straight away.That would be a interesting race.
Before "retiring" from commercial slot car racing my 1/24th NASCAR #00 car would turn a 2.7 seconds lap around a 110 foot tri oval..My 43 car was a tad slower-2.9..I doubt if the Hustler could match 'em down the front straight away.
That would be a interesting race.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
aloco wrote:Locos with dual flywheels and powered trucks are not meant for running full throttle. I don't even run 'em half blast.Pancake motored locos (Botchmann, Death-Like, etc.) on the other hand, are meant for racing. I thoroughly enjoyed cranking those pancake motored junkers full out and running them into the ground.
Locos with dual flywheels and powered trucks are not meant for running full throttle. I don't even run 'em half blast.
Pancake motored locos (Botchmann, Death-Like, etc.) on the other hand, are meant for racing. I thoroughly enjoyed cranking those pancake motored junkers full out and running them into the ground.
Forget the pancakes -- have you ever seen a Tyco MU-2 truck's top end? They may have had 5 poles, but they could give a Hustler a run for it's money. Then there was the later version of the old AHM C-Liners, which were not only fast, but top-heavy. Not a good combo, but the statute of limitations has expired on whatever I may have done back then.
Model trains should run at scale speeds, more or less. Toy trains are built with toy-like gearing, and are made for excessive speed. They're different animals, but I've enjoyed both.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
marknewton wrote: shayfan84325 wrote:How about "most steam trains were typically operated at speeds lower than 60"?Better, but again, it still needs qualification. I suspect that the original statement is actually true...And I'm reasonably certain that it isn't. But it isn't worth arguing over...All the best,Mark.
shayfan84325 wrote:How about "most steam trains were typically operated at speeds lower than 60"?
I suspect that the original statement is actually true...
Overall, average freight speeds were probably slower in the steam age. IIRC part of the reason that the law set 100 miles of travel as equalling one day's work for a train crew was that it took a typical freight about 8 hours to go 100 miles (i.e. running about 12 MPH).
Then again, the steam powered CNW "400" between the Twin Cities and Chicago in 1938 made the run about two hours faster than Amtrak's Empire Builder does in 2008.
This thread sure seems familiar for some reason...
Tracklayer
Trains on my railroad tend to have a maximum speed that is inversly proportional to the cost of the loco. The plastic atlas locos run around 80 while the brass imports max out at 30.
Unfortunately my wife has caught on to this formula and can tell when I have spento too much.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
Tracklayer wrote:I keep having to remind these folks that these are trains not slot cars.
I keep having to remind these folks that these are trains not slot cars.
Remember how a Hot Wheel zooms through the loop just before it accelerates into the wall?
(...tongue in cheek...)
The "speed spectator" could sign a release whereby they will take all responsibility for "falling to the floor" motive power injury by exceeding curve prototype speed, or; you could give the observer a fishing net while they stand guard at the curves to catch the derailing engines & rolling stock before they hit the floor.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
shayfan84325 wrote: marknewton wrote: shayfan84325 wrote:Visitors usually comment that they are slow. I point out that my layout is roughly a scale mile long, and if the train was going 60 mph (like a modern freight train) it would still take a minute to reach the other end. I also explain that most steam trains were only capable of speeds lower than thatReally? You might want to re-think that statement! :-)Cheers,Mark.How about "most steam trains were typically operated at speeds lower than 60"? I suspect that the original statement is actually true, but I'm not going to take the time to add up all of the steam locomotives in history that were unable to do 60 mph and calculate the percentage of the total number of steam locomotives they represent. I invite you to do it.
marknewton wrote: shayfan84325 wrote:Visitors usually comment that they are slow. I point out that my layout is roughly a scale mile long, and if the train was going 60 mph (like a modern freight train) it would still take a minute to reach the other end. I also explain that most steam trains were only capable of speeds lower than thatReally? You might want to re-think that statement! :-)Cheers,Mark.
shayfan84325 wrote:Visitors usually comment that they are slow. I point out that my layout is roughly a scale mile long, and if the train was going 60 mph (like a modern freight train) it would still take a minute to reach the other end. I also explain that most steam trains were only capable of speeds lower than that
How about "most steam trains were typically operated at speeds lower than 60"?
I suspect that the original statement is actually true, but I'm not going to take the time to add up all of the steam locomotives in history that were unable to do 60 mph and calculate the percentage of the total number of steam locomotives they represent. I invite you to do it.
While yer at it, you can add up the speeds of all Diseasals to get an average too.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
hcc25rl wrote:I have a shelf type urban switching layout; 10 mph is the rule. I have complicated trackwork as used to exist in the midway area of Mpls./St. Paul (MN Transfer Railway/ now MN Commercial) with 3 grade crossings and numerous industries to be serviced. I enjoy the switching "puzzles" and watching switching locos do their work!Jimmy
I have a shelf type urban switching layout; 10 mph is the rule. I have complicated trackwork as used to exist in the midway area of Mpls./St. Paul (MN Transfer Railway/ now MN Commercial) with 3 grade crossings and numerous industries to be serviced. I enjoy the switching "puzzles" and watching switching locos do their work!
Jimmy
Hey -
I once seriously considered modelling parts of the MTRY/Minnesota Commercial. Got any pictures (or track plans) of your layout anywhere where I can see the pictures ?
Smile, Stein in Norway, also a fan of shelf switching layouts set in the Twin Cities
ROUTE ROCK!
I followed John Allen's example and geared my locos for a proper scale top speed. My shays will do a blistering 15 scale mph and rod driven locos and my Heisler are good for about 25. With gearing this low and coreless motors, most of the shays will run at a scale .06 scale mph (2 seconds from tie to tie) - it's like watching the minute hand on a clock. It makes for very realistic starts and stops.
Visitors usually comment that they are slow. I point out that my layout is roughly a scale mile long, and if the train was going 60 mph (like a modern freight train) it would still take a minute to reach the other end. I also explain that most steam trains were only capable of speeds lower than that, and that shays were slow moving heavy haulers that could only go about 15. Some of my tunnels are long enough that they do comment that "it's been in there a while."
They also get bored and leave within a few minutes. I'm OK with that, too.
Even with oily rails, my Live Steam Mikes are so sure footed that it is hard to spin the drivers when reversing direction unless I get up to "SPEED!!!" first!
I have the occasional neighborhood kids that stop by if the garage is open and I'm running trains. Because of the topography of the Yuba River Sub, I usually run as close to scale speeds (35-40smph tops) as I can.
One of the kids asked me if I could make the trains run faster. His older brother whacked him up-side the head and said, "You DORK!! You see the size of those CANYONS?" I wanted to give the older brother a Medal of some sort, LOL!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Sometimes we have problems...
Haven't figured out how to make malt spill out the top of the covered hoppers yet...
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
During our HO scale club's open houses, younger boys frequently say something to the effect, "Is that the fastest the trains can go? I wanna see a train wreck!"
We sometimes have problems with them changing switches when we're not watching and causing head-on collisions, but because we're not running fast no serious damage has occurred yet (knock on wood).
Take a look at this month's Walthers flyer. It's got pages of non-train toys. OK, Christmas is coming up, and Walthers probably got this stuff as part of the Life-Like acquisition, but this is a flyer that is pretty much confined to us model railroad types.
I mean, what's with all the fancy tops?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Tracklayer wrote: Hi gang.I've had more than one friend or family member over to see my layout that insisted that I was running my trains "way too slow". The fact is I run my trains at scale speed (as best I can guess) between 35 to 50 mph depending on whether it's a steam loco or diesel. Anyways, I keep having to remind these folks that these are trains not slot cars. I do admit however that once in a great while I might goose them up to a much higher speed just for fun but only let them run that way for just a few seconds.Tracklayer
Hi gang.
I've had more than one friend or family member over to see my layout that insisted that I was running my trains "way too slow". The fact is I run my trains at scale speed (as best I can guess) between 35 to 50 mph depending on whether it's a steam loco or diesel. Anyways, I keep having to remind these folks that these are trains not slot cars. I do admit however that once in a great while I might goose them up to a much higher speed just for fun but only let them run that way for just a few seconds.
Since our mainlines are so short compared to the real thing, a lot of people find it works well to run at less than prototype speed, to make the distances between cities etc. seem longer. In my case my passenger trains top out at around 35 scale MPH, with ore drags going as slow as 12-15 MPH.
IRONHORSE77 wrote: I don't think a Athearn Hustler would stay on the track if it was banked anything less than 90 degrees.Chuck
I don't think a Athearn Hustler would stay on the track if it was banked anything less than 90 degrees.
Chuck
Ashamed to admit this ... but in my youth I would set up mom's laundry basket at exactly the right spot a few feet from the layout, crank up the Athearn Hustler, and send it flying into air at the end of a straightaway, and (with luck) it would make a soft landing directly into the laundry basket.
Dave Nelson
Packer wrote: the kids in the neigbor hood say I run them really slow. I tell then it's about as fast as they could go. (I guesstimate 25-45 mph)I'll drop the hammer usually to break them in.As for slot cars, my father had a slot car track that he built on the layout. It's gone now, since the layout grew, and the slot car track got beat up. I have considered putting a dragstrip on the layout at one point, since I have quite a few muscle cars.
the kids in the neigbor hood say I run them really slow. I tell then it's about as fast as they could go. (I guesstimate 25-45 mph)
I'll drop the hammer usually to break them in.
As for slot cars, my father had a slot car track that he built on the layout. It's gone now, since the layout grew, and the slot car track got beat up.
I have considered putting a dragstrip on the layout at one point, since I have quite a few muscle cars.
I've seen some nostalgia front engine dragsters with trailer for sale from Walthers.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
loathar wrote: You mean this?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YngIuQoBRIsWith Dare Devil Jump! I love the fact that it has a slot car controller instead of a power pack!
You mean this?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YngIuQoBRIs
With Dare Devil Jump! I love the fact that it has a slot car controller instead of a power pack!
LOL!!!! I remember that commercial. The funny thing is, that someone would actually put it on Youtube. ROFL!!
I feel the need for "SPEED!"
"just how fast can they go" asked the kid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_speed_record_for_railed_vehicles
Johnnny_reb Once a word is spoken it can not be unspoken!
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