Speed Operating speeds of miniature trains can be a topic of hot discussion as well as being subjective. What one person considers to be fast may not be what someone else considers to be fast as well as watching an engine run seems like it is running faster than when you are the one running it. Safe operating speeds depend on a lot of things. Many of the 1:8 scale cars weigh around 80-150 lbs with some weighing up to 300 lbs. When they are empty, they have a low center of gravity. Once people start sitting in the car, not only does the car get heavier but the center of gravity moves higher which heightens the risk of having a car roll over, especially when running through a curve too fast. The cars and engines that are being run can also have an effect on what the maximum safe speed is. Super-elevation on curves also effects how fast one can safely run through it. The tighter the curve, the more super-elevation it should have. If the outside rail is too low, the curve won’t feel quite right. That coupled with the centrifugal force acting on the riders heightens the risk of a car rolling over. Dips in the rails can also cause the cars to rock back and forth and create a bumpy ride. It is possible that the dips might not be specially felt when running/riding, but when the track is leveled, it feels a lot better. Soft spots in the road bed/track that can sag easily can also cause the rails to drop and potentially derail a car or engine. The better the track condition, the better the ride and one can operate at a higher speed. My roadbed is quite solid and I have around 1/8”-3/16” super-elevation on the 52’ radius curves. With an empty train I am comfortable running around 6-8 mph max, depending on the engine. With people on the train 5-6 mph max is comfortable. (If I were to let them loose, they could probably do 10+ mph up the 3% grade with an empty train.) I have also run on other track where 3-4 mph is too fast as the track dips, heaves and has kinks. The 2-8-2 derailed on a stretch of straight track when the track dipped 1.5” and the engine got hung up on the lead and trailing trucks. In March 2011 a miniature park train derailed at Cleveland Park and a 6 year old boy was killed. A passenger on the train tapped the train passing through a shed. It was calculated from that video that the train was traveling more than 20 mph. At a tight curve (speed limit was around 8-10 mph I believe for the curve) the train left the track and rolled down an embankment. The boy was killed and many people were hurt. The engineer admitted that he was going too fast. It was just recently decided to remove the train and track from the park. rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37148&sid=0fe4e00942630953b83e64d32bc7fbec
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:15:52 +0000
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