Car speed limits

[MarcusR2]

I seem to be able to go full out with the Cooke 2-8-0 and the cars behind me don't just jump off the track. (RROX says i am going 25 units)
is it just me or have they increased the car speed limit?

[boris.glevrk]

yes it's slightly faster.

[STRATOCH1EF]

has anyone else confirmed this?

I'm still scared to go full beans on the Cooke 2-8-0... I'd love to be able to actually use the speed.

[Dat Zorro]

Originally posted by STRATOCH1EF:

has anyone else confirmed this?

I'm still scared to go full beans on the Cooke 2-8-0... I'd love to be able to actually use the speed.

Lost cars downhill with the Heisler going 25 mp/h.

[hanszeppelin1]

Originally posted by UAZ-469:

Originally posted by STRATOCH1EF:

has anyone else confirmed this?

I'm still scared to go full beans on the Cooke 2-8-0... I'd love to be able to actually use the speed.

Lost cars downhill with the Heisler going 25 mp/h.

Was this on straight track or curved track? just curious

[bluegrasslumberjack]

I havent totally binned a train yet, I have sent several locomotives off the side of some steep cliffs. I had the new consolidation full throttle and reverser full forwards, top speed is supposedly 25 mph and nothing violently exploded. I would have to do some more testing to know for sure. The climax and the cooke mogul have been the primary culprits of the yeeting off the cliff faces.

[bluegrasslumberjack]

Originally posted by hanszeppelin1:

Originally posted by UAZ-469:

Lost cars downhill with the Heisler going 25 mp/h.

Was this on straight track or curved track? just curious

I was on a slight curve, maybe a 400 meter radius at the tightest.

[Dat Zorro]

Originally posted by hanszeppelin1:

Originally posted by UAZ-469:

Lost cars downhill with the Heisler going 25 mp/h.

Was this on straight track or curved track? just curious

Curved, but the first car to jump was in the middle, so I doubt that it was too sharp.

[bluegrasslumberjack]

I am still hesitant to go full speed very much. I'm afraid I'll peeve the physics if I do it too much, I definitely agree that it would be awesome to be able to give it the beans! maybe get a run up some of those pesky hills that barely need a double header to clear.

[Bruder Tac]

Haven't tested it.
But if the Cooke can now go full speed without exploding the cars of the track would be heaven.
I run the Cooke on the long coal mine to iron works track around the whole map.
Every single mph helps.

[Ghost666]

Originally posted by UAZ-469:

Originally posted by hanszeppelin1:

Was this on straight track or curved track? just curious

Curved, but the first car to jump was in the middle, so I doubt that it was too sharp.

it string lined which is why it popped off

[Aberd]

It may have, I haven't tried to exceed 22 mph. However, the one time I did, it was on a nice straight track, then as I come off the regulator entering a 200m radius turn (maybe the turn slowed me some too) they piled up on top of each other.

[Kitsune Dawn]

Cars have a speed limit. I don't remember that speed off the top of my head, but yes, there's a maximum speed which you can safely pull cars at without risking derailing them.

To explain why a car would derail on straight flat track, it's down to the flange/tread/rail interaction. Cars don't really run perfectly straight behind the locomotive, but rather they 'hunt' some. It's called 'hunting oscillation" in case you were curious. This goes into some detail about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_oscillation

Whatever the case, the faster you go with the cars, the worse the hunting becomes, and the more forces that are put on the flange of the car. Since that flange is only about 1 inch (sometimes less) tall, there only so much force it can take before the car's wheel rides over the flange, and drops the car into the dirt.

It may interest you to note that wooden cars, when compared with later all metal cars, were more likely to suffer this oscillation and derailment problem. It's down to overall weight. When unloaded, the cars didn't have the weight needed to keep the flange from riding up on the rail.

Ironically, by the same token, when loaded, they suffered from the other end of the spectrum. Their weight was such that any hunting oscillation could be enough to shatter the cast wheels, specifically breaking off the flange, and causing a derailment.

It wasn't until casting developments produced far stronger steel wheels, and heavier overall car weights due to metal frameworks and construction, made hunting oscillation less of an issue, and allowed for faster train speeds.

[Bruder Tac]

I have tested it today.
The cars still pop off straight track with 22 mph. And the Cooke can still run 25mph. It's still uncomfortable.
But it seems to be a bit of tolerance. Like reach 22 and 3, 2, 1 pop off.
Before it was more like, 21.8, 21.9, 22 boom.

But it still would be great to raise the cars speedlimit to 30mph.

[boris.glevrk]

I believe most locos can do 25mph and I have been full-speeding Class 48 and Heisler without incidents. I even do overspeed (according to chugging) on the Class 48 and still nothing.

[boris.glevrk]

Originally posted by TLHeart:

Originally posted by boris.glevrk:

I believe most locos can do 25mph and I have been full-speeding Class 48 and Heisler without incidents. I even do overspeed (according to chugging) on the Class 48 and still nothing.

only two locomotives can go faster than the cars, and that is the glenbrook, and the cooke 2-8-0 at 25 mph. every other loco is capped at 22 or less.

uh, what is the Heisler cap?
I remember long ago there was a universal speed cap and Heisler's real world top speed was exactly that...

Maybe I mistook 15mph/25kmh as 25mph?