They might de-wind the motor like we did with slot cars. They won’t last very long, but they’ll
scream down the track.
If we assume frictionless operation both the O scale train and the full scale (1:1) train would be going the same velocity at the bottom of a grade. The energy gained from gravity is mgh where m is the mass g is the acceleration of gravity and h is the height. At the bottom of the grade the kinetic energy is 1/2 mv^2. Since the gravitational energy lost is the kinetic energy gained these two equal each other
mgh = 1/2mv^2
m cancels and the velocity of each is squareroot(2gh). g is 32 ft/sec^2 so the velocity (in feet/second) is 8 *squareroot(h) where h is the height in feet. The one kicker here is the rotational kinetic energy of the spinning wheels, proportional to the moment of inertia and the square of the rotational speed. The O gauge wheels have a large radius compared to scale and so some of the kinetic energy of the O gauge train is stored in rotation of the wheels. That would slow the O gauge relative to the real train.
Depending on this and the air friction of the train (negligible at speeds below about 40 mph) the O gauge train would probably lose the race.
In a frictionless vacuum with wheels to scale, they would reach the bottom of the grade simultaneously at the same speed. All of this assumes no power applied on the way down hill.
I heard it said that a large C-clamp clamped tightly over a railhead can derail a train. Any truth to this?
That would be a good one for Jamie and Adam.
Well, there are these things called “derails”, that clamp over a track, and lock into place… [swg]
A C-clamp could probably work for this as well!
No myth to bust there though… The average person can’t buy one at the local hardware store either.[;)]