slow trains dcc

[ggreens]

My dads trains still seem to be running slow!  I have tried to shorten the track, tried a new power supply, I am wondering how fast should a locomotive go.  I am looking for someone to measure how far a locomotive will go in 20 seconds with no cars behind it.  Run at top speed on a dcc track and let me know how many feet it travels   thanks

[ABC]

Real life trains did not go 200mph so why should a scale model go 200 scale mph. I'm not home right now, and even if I were I wouldn't run my locos at top speed with nothing behind, maybe with a 200 car (NMRA weighted) train behind it, but not alone.

[Jhanecker2]

ABC is right . How fast were you expecting the locos to run ? Though I run DC , speed of DCC operation is controlled by the setting of values in the registries of your decoder. you would need to have equipment that allows you to read the values in these registers. I certainly hope you inherited your dads trains & layout . Any child of mine who messed with my toys would be wondering how to outrun a grey goose shaft . To err  is human , to forgive is not company policy .  J2.

[ggreens]

I have no need for speed, I am just trying to troubleshoot.  I am trying to get a perspective on what should be able to do.  As a kid I remember having to be careful not to go to fast around curves or it would run it off the track.  These loco's are not moving even close to a speed that they would derail around a corner.  My track voltage using a special dcc meter is 17.2 volts

[rich1998]

a reality check is to use the below link. As an example, my 44 ton starts moving at 1 mph on speed step 1 of my power Cab dcc controller. the 70 ton starts moving at 1.2 mph at speed step 1. i made other speed calculations to get an idea of about what speed my trains are going at when using a certain speed step. the speed steps have do not tell me what the actual speed is. I just know a certain number is so many miles per hour.

the calculations were easy to do with a measured straight track and stop watch.
You can do this with a DC controller also.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~trains/rroperat.htm

Lex