I have measured a half mile stretch on my RR (30’4" in HO) to measure speed in Scale mph. I had a chart that I copied from a RR employees’ timetable giving the elapsed time to travel a mile and the corresponding but it has gone AWOL and I no longer have access to a replacement. I tried a search on the MRR and came up w/ zero. Does anyone out there have an idea were I can get this info.
Baseline datum: 1/2 mile in 30 seconds = 60 mph
Additional points: 1/2 mile in 60 seconds = 30 mph
1/2 mile in 120 seconds = 15 mph
1/2 mile in 15 seconds = 120 mph
Plot on graph paper, draw curve.
OR - quick and dirty - in HO, FPM = MPH, close enough for most purposes.
Chuck (who actually measures scale speed in KPH)
Maybe this will help.[:D]
Exactly what I use. Works for me.
Is that a scale HOUR or 1:1 !!!
I marked out scale miles on the layout with 1/4 mile posts, for operations each quarter represents four miles with fast clock, but actual scale distance for speed trials, and train length.
Check my website, www.xdford.digitalzones.com and check out the on scale speed page. Has most of the above information. You can contact off list if you want further ideas!
Cheers from Down Under
Trevor
What a great site. Thanks for the link
After awhile you will find you can estimate the speeds fairly accurately. When I started operating my layout I too was wanting to operate at prototypical speeds. I found out after I did the math, that I was actually going slower than I thought (scale speed that is). I always thought I was going faster than I actually was…does that make sense?
After doing quite abit of railfanning, I found that most of the trains in my neck of the woods very rarely went over 40mph for very long. The BNSF subdivision is limited to 59mph. Route 66 parallels the main for quite a distance (the speed limit is 65mph) so I can pace the trains rather easily.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub