Have been surfing the internet videos of operating layouts and see that the trains are shown running at various speeds. I run my consists at or near scale speed. Qustion: What speed do you most often run your trains? As always, many thanks.
If my locomotives can handle it, I enjoy operating them at what I would guess is about 5 to 10 scale mph. Otherwise I run them at whatever speed is necessary to keep them moving without major issues. Generally speaking itās the oldest equipment in my stable that needs to operate this way. Especially locos like my standard gauge #8 which has had a rough past and likes to wobble. It requires a certain balance of voltage and weight on the drawbar to keep it rolling without constant derailments.
Welllllā¦
Iām kind of a traditionalist, I run 'em at two speeds, fast and faster! [;)]
But I DO have to be a bit conservative with some of the engines, my MTH 4-4-0ās for example. I was doing a āI wonder how fastā¦ā experiment with one on a temporary dining room table layout and the thing went airborne! Luckily it landed on a chair and not through the front of a china cabinet. I wouldnāt be here typing these words if that was the case! [:$]
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Iām in the same camp as becky- I tend to mostly run my trains as slow as theyāre willing to run without having a lot of speed fluctuations or stalling out. Sometimes Iāll run them a little quicker. But generally I donāt like to send them running too fast, it makes me nervous!
That said, I run all-conventional, and most of my stuff is old pre and postwar Lionel which generally is not known for its good low-speed control. Ultimately whatever makes the trains most fun for me to watch in the moment, is the speed Iāll run things at.
-Ellie
I normally run mine at a speed it can go around the whole layout without stalling, ( I need more drops, only have one on my 10ā x 16ā loop.) Once I get it more desireable and put carpet down I will add more drops.
The speed limits for the branch I model was 40mph for passenger trains and 25mph for freight. I limit my train speeds to these numbers or less. The MTH DCS controller actually indicates scale mph, so itās pretty easy.
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Generally, for switching, I run āem pretty slow. At a display or when Iām just messing around or whatever Iāll throttle my locos to Notch 8. And my obstinate older ones usually need high speed to keep rollinā on down the line.
Within the limitations of the locomotives and rail cars that I operate, I try to run as close to scale speeds as I can. I look for old Employee Timetables on the internet and have found a few for the area I model. Typically for me, passenger trains run at 40 mph and freights around 25, but there are exceptions, the Budd RDCs generally operated at higher speeds due to their light weight. The interesting thing, at least in the late 1950ās through the 1970ās is how much speeds varied based on track conditions. In some of the less-used branch lines and subs, track speeds of 10 mph are common for long segments of track.
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