Is there a book that gives the speed a locomtive could achieve. I would like to be able to run some of my engines at a more correct speeds for operation but am unsure of they should be. I am running small steam mostly. I am also using DCC so I can set the top end limit.
Thanks for the help in advance
Kurt
It depends on the locomotive.
The PRR K-4’s (and many other passenger locomotives) could reach 80+ MPH (sometimes over 100 on level ground), although they were (in general) designed to maintain a constant speed of 60-80; though the drag/heavy freight engines would rarely go over 30-40, because they had a lot more tractive effort at the lower speeds.
I would reccommend looking around the 'net. I’ve seen some people who’ve made tables showing the top speeds of locos, though I can’t seem to find those sites at the moment…
You might wish to research a specific railroad to see what speeds their Timetable allowed.Here in flat Indiana PRR and NYC did run 100 mph with 4-6-2’s and 4-6-4’s.I read in the late 1940’s the Federal government set speed limits on train track based on the track’s signal system.Top speed with ATS might be 79 mph.A rough estimate of a steam locomotive is the driver diameter in inches equals the top speed in mph. Just my opinions though. Joe
Keep in mind that running at the prototype speed might not be the best thing on a model railroad. Unless you have a very large layout, with a lot of wide open spaces between towns, you’re probably better off running at slower than prototype to help create the illusion of greater distances being covered. On my last layout, I ran at roughly half-speed - express passenger trains ran at about 35 MPH, local passenger around 30 MPH, general freights around 20 MPH, down to ore trains running basically “slow as possible”, maybe 12-15 MPH. It made the layout seem larger, plus (IMHO) helps negate the problem that all model railroads (unless you’re in Z scale and using 72" radius curves!) has sharper curves than the real thing.
Don’t get hung up on how fast a prototype locomotive can run…You see by the time you add normal allowable track speeds,speed restrictions,water stops, up and down the grades,meets that brings the speed way down to a average of-let’s say 35mph…A passenger train average 45 mph.
In all truth very few modelers knows how to run their model trains…They whiz up and down hills,around curves,fly through crossovers,makes sudden stops and starts yet they worry about incorrect details,noisy locomotives,wonder why they have derailment etc.
Once they learn to operate in a prototypical manner their operations will smooth out,noisy locos will quiet down and derailments will be far and few between.
And that my friends should be everybody’s goal-smoother operations.
Quick rule of thumb for prototype steam locomotive MAXIMUM speed:
One mile per hour for inch of driving wheel diameter.
But, like most such quick and dirty rules, there were glaring exceptions!
Another huge consideration was the railroad itself. Typical model railroade curvatures would have had speed restrictions down to 10 or 15 mph! Grades, even slight inclines not even noticeable to an SUV pilot, would drag speed down. Add in stops at stations, signals and water spouts, yard speed limits and restrictions laid on by municipalities - over the road speed didn’t even come within hailing distance of the locomotive’s theoretical maximum. (The main reason that N&W J 611 survived was that it had been heavily damaged in a rollover accident in 1956, then rebuilt to like-new standards - the best of the class when it was time to pick one for preservation. The accident was caused by excessive speed at a curve with a 15mph speed limit!)
The best way to get an idea of actual passenger train speed is to find a copy of the public timetable and note the distance between stations and the time allowed to cover that distance. Granted that finding steam-era data isn’t easy, but the answers may astound you. They should also slow y
I know that alot of the engine run way faster than proto type and need to be slowed down. I just had no idea as to what speed to start at on each engine. But plan on running a little slower just wanted to keep the correct engine on the express so to speak. Thanks for the help now to start measuring wheels.
Kurt
Hum where did i put that scale ruler again?