JonMyrlennBailey
Active member
I found out it is not practical to set a 50 MPH zone using a speed limit sign through one or more turnouts in the mainline.
I have a situation on my latest model layout development where a JR signal will reveal a limited approach light setting (something like a yellow over green) if there are two turnouts spaced 1,300 feet apart in the mainline ahead whether the line ahead is perfectly clear and both main switches are set to green. It certainly will not allow AI to run at 50 mph on this approach. The signal immediately following the yellow over green will be something like a red/yellow light combination. I am now beginning to understand that part of the purpose of RR signals is to regulate train speed and not just warn drivers of danger ahead. The fixed speed limit signs alone are not adequate for safe train procedure as they are for cars on the highway.
Would 25 mph be a more realistic speed limit for approaching this pair of close turnouts? Any one of these switches could be suddenly thrown by another train at any time.
I want to set my mainline speeds based upon how far a human driver could actually see a signal ahead in perfectly clear weather conditions and not how far AI or the HUD display can see ahead.
I have a number of turnouts all around my figure 8 mainline (about 3.50 miles in the loop) where I don't feel there could be any 50 mph zone as I don't have any long-enough stretch anywhere on the line to make this prototypical.
Since this mainline is full of sidings and curve radii as tight as 250 feet in some parts, it will probably be a line for slow trains only.
I don't want to run a model layout like some hobbyists who have turns too tight and run trains at stupid high speed through them. I am designing my layout with real-world physics in mind.
It now seems reasonable to me that real American roads, by its speed-rules convention, would not permit 50-mph train speeds except in long stretches of mainline with no turnouts anywhere close ahead.
I have a situation on my latest model layout development where a JR signal will reveal a limited approach light setting (something like a yellow over green) if there are two turnouts spaced 1,300 feet apart in the mainline ahead whether the line ahead is perfectly clear and both main switches are set to green. It certainly will not allow AI to run at 50 mph on this approach. The signal immediately following the yellow over green will be something like a red/yellow light combination. I am now beginning to understand that part of the purpose of RR signals is to regulate train speed and not just warn drivers of danger ahead. The fixed speed limit signs alone are not adequate for safe train procedure as they are for cars on the highway.
Would 25 mph be a more realistic speed limit for approaching this pair of close turnouts? Any one of these switches could be suddenly thrown by another train at any time.
I want to set my mainline speeds based upon how far a human driver could actually see a signal ahead in perfectly clear weather conditions and not how far AI or the HUD display can see ahead.
I have a number of turnouts all around my figure 8 mainline (about 3.50 miles in the loop) where I don't feel there could be any 50 mph zone as I don't have any long-enough stretch anywhere on the line to make this prototypical.
Since this mainline is full of sidings and curve radii as tight as 250 feet in some parts, it will probably be a line for slow trains only.
I don't want to run a model layout like some hobbyists who have turns too tight and run trains at stupid high speed through them. I am designing my layout with real-world physics in mind.
It now seems reasonable to me that real American roads, by its speed-rules convention, would not permit 50-mph train speeds except in long stretches of mainline with no turnouts anywhere close ahead.