# Why do people run trains real fast??



## eagle9 (Jul 8, 2013)

ok, im new to this hobby. i have been looking at youtube videos to get a ideas for layouts, trains, etc. i notice that a number of people like to run their trains super fast. is this the normal speed or can the trains be slowed down?? i KNOW it sounds like a dumb question, but like i said, im new, lol.........


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

It's not a dumb question by the way,I'd rather call it a justified observation.The answer is yes,trains can be slowed down to crawl speed if you want,so the speeds you have noticed are purely a matter of taste.
I run them quite slow as I feel they look more prototypical this way,specially freight trains.It also makes the layout look somewhat larger as they take somewhat longer to complete a lap.
Unless you're modelling a fast moving passenger train,I don't see any reason to have trains "racing" around...but that's only my opinion.


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

Then there is the matter of physics...Running a train fast with out banking the curves a bit does tend to encourage derailments and crashes.

I run mine slow to medium. When some one asks me to run them fast, I ask them to pay replacement costs up front for their viewing pleasure.


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## eagle9 (Jul 8, 2013)

Brakeman Jake said:


> It's not a dumb question by the way,I'd rather call it a justified observation.The answer is yes,trains can be slowed down to crawl speed if you want,so the speeds you have noticed are purely a matter of taste.
> *I run them quite slow as I feel they look more prototypical this way,specially freight trains.It also makes the layout look somewhat larger as they take somewhat longer to complete a lap*.
> Unless you're modelling a fast moving passenger train,I don't see any reason to have trains "racing" around...but that's only my opinion.


exactly my thoughts. it doesnt look realistic when they fly around like that. waay out of scale. like you said, unless its a fast moving passenger train, you dont see freight trains running with that kind of speed. thanx for the post.


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## eagle9 (Jul 8, 2013)

rrgrassi said:


> Then there is the matter of physics...Running a train fast with out banking the curves a bit does tend to encourage derailments and crashes.
> 
> I run mine slow to medium. When some one asks me to run them fast, I ask them to pay replacement costs up front for their viewing pleasure.


lol. i will never run mine too fast, hopefully, lol. anyway, like i said in another reply, its not realistic to run at the speeds i see some guys do. but thats their preference....


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Eagle9 the speed is controlled by the transformer or powerpack that you use to make them go. The transformer will give more speed the more you turn it's control knob. If the layout isn't too big then going slow is good so you don't get where your going too fast. However when you see a really big layout, slow trains seem to take forever to get to their destination. It drives me nuts to see a nice long freight or a passenger train going a scale 25 MPH way out in the layout country when in actuality the train would be going at least 50 MPH. It's all in what you like. Pete


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## wsorfan4003 (Jan 14, 2013)

norgale said:


> Eagle9 the speed is controlled by the transformer or powerpack that you use to make them go. The transformer will give more speed the more you turn it's control knob. If the layout isn't too big then going slow is good so you don't get where your going too fast. However when you see a really big layout, slow trains seem to take forever to get to their destination. It drives me nuts to see a nice long freight or a passenger train going a scale 25 MPH way out in the layout country when in actuality the train would be going at least 50 MPH. It's all in what you like. Pete


I agree with Pete.
If you have a small layout with a few cars, slow is better. Or if you are modeling a switch yard. But if you are modelling a huge layout with more frieght cars on a long stretch of track speed is good.

Ben

Sent from my LG-LS840 using Tapatalk 2


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Wasn't there a post on here some time back with the
same speed question? Seems that one response was that
kids watching train show displays are bored with
slow trains.

I agree with all who say run 'em slow...not too long ago
I saw a video of a fantastically detailed streetcar layout
where the instreet tracks went around city blocks. The
cars were running so fast they rocked around the corners.
Imagine the passengers in those cars. They'd be
rolling in the aisles. 

Don


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

I prefer running mine sub-sonic...just before they run into each other on the bridge...










...any other time, I run them like this...


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

I think the only time mine ever went fast was the first time it was tested on my track to see how stable it is noise and breaking in which is brief.


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## spoil9 (Dec 24, 2008)

I ran them faster when I was younger, but then I was a kid and realism didn't really come into play and my trains didn't run very well at very slow speeds. I'll one day do some math and come up with a max speed limit for my trains that is approx a max scale speed but that depends on my layout, the trains, my controller, etc. One day I'll have the room for a layout. One day...


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Because everyone needs the need for speed. 

My Dad took my Lionel's away from me and told me I would never see them again!
I needed the need for speed. 

I got them back 35 years later, minus a lot of items that he traded for other trains!

I used to run them around as fast as they could go. :smilie_daumenpos:

And believe it or not they still run great, they have a few battle scars and needed a new wheel or two but they still run great. 

It is The need for speed. :smokin:


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Gomez ADDAMS!!!*

Everyone wants to be Gomez Addams..."Way to go Shay!!" My son 's first loco was a Bachmann Santa Fe EMD Diesel that "Kissed the Concrete" on several occasions because of his heavy hand on the throttle....he eventually got tired of picking it up and having me fix it...so he slowed down. It happens to us all..The Need For Speed!!


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## RT_Coker (Dec 6, 2012)

I keep a box call the “crash-train” for the grandkids to play with. When they get over the crash (speed) urge, they can come play on the layout.

Sidelight:
I have a young grandson who suddenly became interested in my layout. He wanted to see me (not him) run my train around a loop that goes through the mountain. This sudden interest (in something beyond what I call the “Crass Trains” stage) was hopeful. I thought of questioning his sudden interest. But being my grandson, I obliged him. I was surprised that the train never made it back out. He was more surprised than I was and obviously disappointed. I believe he was expecting a crass that didn’t occur. The inside of the mountain contains two hidden sidings. The train had gone onto a siding which surprised me. (I always try to leave the turnouts in a known position with the controls all set in the same position, which I remembering doing prior to this incident.) Apparently, my grandson had figured out that he could manually change the turnout, so that he could get a crass that he “obviously” was not responsible for. The only thing that saved him was that I didn’t have enough evidence for a “conviction”.
I use one of these sidings to back a passenger train into to de-power the lights, so all but the first part of this siding was not powered. When I was laying the track in the finished tunnel, I realized I needed to put a short not-powered section at the end of the other siding to protect my trains from “myself”.
Bob


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I got a 10.98 Marx Commodore Vanderbuilt powered freight train
for Christmas 1941...set up a nice layout on the ping pong table
in the basement...

Marx apparently knew that kids will crash and bang the trains around
and they built them to take it...don't know how many times that
engine ended up on the concrete floor  because it was 
going too fast for the curves. Even so, other than
paint scratches and dings it kept on running. 
The familie's '41 Chevrolet didn't fare as well or last as long
with the teen age me at the wheel 

Don


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