How fast would a HO scale speed of 50mph be if converted from 1:87th which is HO to human scale.
In something measurable in practical terms, I think it’s twenty-five feet every thirty seconds…
http://home.cogeco.ca/~trains/rroperat.htm
There are loads of useful links at the site also. HO scale is 1/87 of full scale.
Rich
Or, to put it another way: How fast would 50 sMPH be in HO-scale?
[sMPH] ÷ [HO scale] x [miles] ÷ [seconds] = [feet/second] x [inches] = [inches/second]
So…
[50] ÷ [87.1] x [5,280] ÷ [3,600] = 0.841944 feet/second x [12] = 10.1 inches/second
Tom, Thanks for the expression & the example, I will use it
Rich thanks for the link.
I still like creeping mine along, but now I will know how to test it, Thanks!
I use a three foot long stretch of track and stop watch.
Rich
I do, too, Rich, and have a conversion chart taped to the wall for quick calculation of sMPH.
Tom
Mmm -
About 10" in one second is 50 sMPH. Then 36" (3.6 times the distance) should take about 3 1/2 seconds (3.6 times the time).
25 sMPH is 1/2 of 50 sMPH. Then 36" should take about 2 x 3.5 secs - about 7 seconds
10 sMPH is 1/5 of 50 sMPH. Then 36" should take about 5 x 3.5 = about 17.5 seconds
5 sMPH is half that again - 35 seconds.
So a good switching speed is about 25-30 seconds per 3 feet, while a mainline train at moderate speeds would take 5-7 seconds to cover 3 feet. Seems reasonable.
Smile,
Stein
All of my trains are 300’ long. (NYCT trains are 500’ and 600’ long) So my six car IRT trains are the same length as 5 cars on a 10 car BMT/IND train. I have sat in the station and timed these things coming and going. It takes 18 seconds for a BMT train from the time it enters the station at one end and stops on the mark at the other. Exit times are also about 18 seconds.
I figured a bit of a “timetable” based on 300’, which is one of my trains, half of a BMT train or six cars on the coal trains that run outside of my train room window.
If I time one of my trains at operating speed with a stop watch, I get about 4 seconds for the train to pass or about 38 mph, which is a little fast for a real NYCT train (these days–they used to run faster) 30 mph is closer to the mark, but I thought that seemed to look a little slow on my layout. Actually, as this video shows it is running far to fast and I need to slow it down.
In HO, the number of inches travelled in 5 seconds is equal to the scale mph true to a 1% variation as per the earlier positing that 50mph is 10.1 inches in 1 second. On my layout, I use specially painted spikes 5 inches apart for a space of 80 inches which is as fast as I ever want my trains running. 10 of these would be 50mph.
On the club layout I put a series of markers on the track that most will not pick up… in fact we use it for the would be “slot car racer” in the group…
I do have a fuller explanation on my website and application to other scales
Regards from Australia
Trevor www.xdford.digitalzones.com