Hi guys…
What’s a normal variation in speed of new N guage locomotives?
One is an Atlas; another is a Bachman. Without doin’ actual lap times, I’m guessin’ that the Bachman is runnin’ about .65X the speed of the Atlas, give or take a few points…
What’s your experience?[?]
Hi. I am not in N scale, but I know that locos vary more because of motoring and gearing. I have an IHC Mike with a Tsunami in it (a gift) that runs at about 30 scale mph at a DT400 throttle setting of 14, while my QSI-equipped BLI locos crawl along at about 15 mph at the same setting.
Thanks, selector!
Sounds like performance variations are no indication.
Are locos geared differently???[?][?][?]
Yes, and motored differently. That means a given voltage draw in DC (analog) will yield different speeds between models and makes.
This is why some locos can’t be doubleheaded. Of course, the prototype had (and still has) the same situation. On the N&W, if the Class A 2-6-6-4 slowed to about 25mph, they added a Y-6 helper. If the Y-6 by itself was running at 25mph, that was where it developed its maximum horsepower. Attempting to run a Y-6 at the A’s normal 60-70mph would have damaged the loco and wreaked havoc on the track.
When passenger service faded away, the railroads with high speed diesels for their name trains had to re-gear them to provide the proper speed - power characteristics to haul freight.
Now that I think on that, the Bachman is AT BEST .65X the speed of the Atlas.
Can I assume that nothing is wrong with the new Bachman, and it is just geared differently, and will pull a bigger load?
Thanks again…
Maybe yes, maybe no. It may run differently because of gearing, all right, but if it has a smaller, weaker motor, and is a light puller due to its weight, it may not pull as much as you’d think. Also, remember that driver diameters on steamers run between 50"ish and 80", depending on the design and performance specifications imposed by the buyers at the time.
With DCC you can program the speed steps and make each loco run exactly the same speed. That is really nice for running consists and even for running them next to each other on different tracks. Other than that, the factory variations are most likely the brand and quality of gearing, power pickup, and motor. You can pretty much guarantee that the Bachmann is also about .65x the quality of the Atlas. That goes for about any scale though, Atlas and Kato are the nearly undisputed best when it comes to loco power.
Greg