track voltages and train speed

[tw001_tw]

Alright! This evening was the first time we had a track,
train and power .. trains were a moving! (It was just a figure
8 on the living room floor for now). I tried both of our
trains, but did my experimenting on my good train - (not the
'sacrificed' train that the boy can handle).

I have a question regarding train speeds.

0 volts = 0 speed
4 volts = trying to move but not quite doing it
6-7 volts = just getting going
12 volts = pretty fast
full 18/20 volts = real fast (but not 2x fast as 12V?)

I am guessing train weight has an effect (I have 1 engine,
1 flat car, 2 hoppers - comparatively light, right?). So, is
most of the action between 6 & 12 volts - this about normal?

[tw001_tw]

http://www.fmoaudio.com/tw/images/conrail-01.jpg

[Boston&Maine]

Yes, a trains length and weight will affect the speed a little bit... Now model trains can go a heck of a lot faster than they should, so you probably do not want to get up in that range as you are guaranteed to flip the engine off when going around a corner... I would assume that the voltage numbers you gave are correct, at least they sound it...

Anyways, I just had an idea... What if someone set up a parallel set of really long straight sections of track and "dragged" locomotives? :eek: :D

[tw001_tw]

Yes, I did notice that full power was ridiculously fast.
The voltage readings are the ones that I took - the trouble is
I didn't write them down as I did it, I just made mental notes
so I on a few of them I only have a range or best guestimate.

Another thing I was wondering about.. would better engines
(better engine motors) have less of a .... "off/on jump"... I just
don't know the word.. I can tell when the engine starts to get
power, but it doesn't have the torque to move then train. Then
as I increase the 'throttle' and it does have the torque it kind
of 'jumps' into action. My transformer does have a momentum
switch that does help this, but the 'jump' is still there.... would
better motors not have this? (If ANYone has a clue on what
I'm trying to say)

[Boston&Maine]

I perfectly understand what you are trying to say, although I can not help you really since you are in HO scale... In O scale though with my MTH Protosound 2.0 engines I can make "super slow starts and super slow stops" (as some guy said on one of their product videos)... MTH does make HO scale engines now, but I assume that "better" locomotives from most companies would have this feature nowadays :dunno:

[fsm1000]

One of the main reason that the model train does not start at a lower voltage is because the lights use up juice first. That takes away from the little motor. Hope that helps :D