Who thinks I can do this?

[panniertankboy8751]

Me and a Friend of mine are trying to break the record of the lonest distance covered by model train. The record is 10 miles. Who here thinks I'm crazy to do this. 

Say Yes or No before you comment.

[jward]

i don't think you are crazy to attempt this, but i can tell you than the record is alot more than 10 miles. the museum of science and industry in chicago has a bnsf themed layout, and a person who works there and hangs out on the atlas forum claims they have locomotives which have run the equivalent of a round trip from chicago to seattle. that's about 4000 actual miles......

[NarrowMinded]

This must be 10 miles of track? by my rough estimates my porter has done 13+ 1:1 miles running around my Christmas tree this year a mile is only 5280 feet not hard to rack up the miles running continuously around the tree.

I do think your crazy if your going to layout ten linear miles of track
But please post some pictures I want to see this.

NM

PS how many feeder wires are you going to need for this? better get a solar powered loco.

[ChrisS]

At train mountain railroad museum a group of my friends ran continuously for 24 hours. But that's 1 1/2" scale and it's on 2500 acres. So alittle different.

[Joe323]

I suppose the way to do this is to layout say a 10 (Linear) foot circle or oval of track and count the number of times the train circles the track.  Since one mile is 5280 ft the train would have to circle the track 528 times X 4000 miles  = 2112000 trips around the track.  Somehow this would have to verify this (Personally I'd fall asleep lol) So I suppose this would have to be automated. 

Additionally I'm guessing that to break the record the train would have to run continuously No stopping, no derailments etc.  I have good equipment  but domehow I think that's pushing the limits of how long it could run without wearing out or overheating from lack of lubrication.

[Jim Banner]

The trains on our group's layout in our local museum have run over half a million scale miles.  At 50 smph, that is well over a year's running.  Much as I like trains, I can think of nothing more boring than sitting there, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 60 or 70 weeks watching one go around in circles.  The trains on our layout run a set sequence which is initiated by the public pressing a button.  A counter automatically records how many times the sequence is run.  Without the help of the public and the automatic counter, we would all be crazy by now, even if we had been sane when we hatched such a plan.

Without punctuation, I was not sure if I should say "Yes" or say "No" before I commented or if I should say "Yes or No."  Just to be on the safe side, I said it aloud both ways.  Then started typing.

Jim

[mf5117]

It was 16km 10 miles of hand laid track in the U.k. , The engine to a dive about the last 3 miles before the end of the run . It was for some T.V show in England . vandals hampered the next effort by stealing sections of the track . So the track was actually 10 miles . sounds to me like alot of work . If you got the time and resources go for it . The train at the zoo in Fort Worth is 5 miles, so it would seem possible . Although the pass threw the Botanical Gardens is nice . Other than that's it's boring rusty and old , but still runs...

[terry2foot]

I've said Yes and No and now type;-

Accoridng to a US based member of Yahoo! Special Interest group you can go to the following links and see the UK TV program on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9AESJtWj4
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9AESJtWj4&NR=1> &NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obk2gHNO-Ig
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obk2gHNO-Ig&NR=1> &NR=1

Note that this attempt was for the longest model railway, not the furthest run by a model train.

Interesting program, especially the logistics behind it,

Enjoy it if you view,


Terry2foot

[panniertankboy8751]

Oh Crap  I'm gonna need a Helluva lot more track. I guess I forgot people run their trains like all day. I was going by what Hornby Magazine said.

[tac]

It was a great pity that James May, whose idea the programme had been, did not take the trouble to use either Maerklin or Trix locomotives in his 'test attempt'.  If he had, then neither of them would have even noticed a measly ten miles.  Back in the 1950's there was a little pay-to-see H0 layout in cologne Hauptbahnhof, where you put a 10 pfg  coin in to see the trains go around for a couple of minutes.  I went back there in the 70's, 80' and early 90's, and it was still there, still running, with the same locos.  They were easily identified by marks on the boiler that never changed in all those years.

And slightly OT, but one of my USA Trains GP9 locos ran unattended for at least 26 days on our little outdoor layout when our neighbour accidentally switched it on.  Wall switches here in UK operate in a different mode than Canada and USA...

When we got out of the car after coming back from London Heathrow, my wife, first out, found it running with a short train of four cars and a caboose, all covered in bird cr*p and sundry mung.  The circuit was 76 feet around, and it took just over 50 secs to complete it  That's just over 0.4 of a scale mile, BTW.

Total mileage covered = 425.45 actual miles.

The skates were worn through, as was the drive axle with the traction tyre.  All the metal wheels on the cars had the flanges nigh-on worn away, but all had stayed coupled up, and although they were pretty squeaky, they all ran just fine after a light oiling.  The loco seemed totally unharmed by the escapade, and still runs like a watch.  

I was just too tired after flying back from Vancouver via Tronna to pay it the attention this feat so richly deserved.

tac
www.ovgrs.org

[Joe Satnik]

Dear All,

I got a chuckle when I first noticed "NO POWER BUS OR FEEDER WIRES".   Yeah,  that'll go about 5 sections of track and stop....

Some layout builders run a feeder from the power bus to every 3' section of flex track. 

I can't believe that at least one person in the bunch didn't know enough about electricity, track resistance, and track joiner resistance to warn them.  I'm surprised that the camera men (camera batteries, lighting power, etc.) didn't say something.. 

Who paid for the track?  At a buck a foot that would be about 10 X 5280 = $52,800

Did they try to sell pieces afterwards as souvenirs?

I think that James May was lucky to have his prized old loco stop early on.   

It would have probably worn out from dirt and lack of lube.

Good on them for trying, though. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[panniertankboy8751]

Well, I shouldn't have to worry about all that wiring for a few reasons:

1: The setup will be a temporary layout, set up inside my school's gym. (That probably gives me a better success rate than James May)

2: I'm going to use E-Z Track.

I also don't have to worry about what I'll do with 4 extra DCC Models:

1: My Finace adviser and Friend is taking The LNER A4 Model when were finished

2: I'm taking the GWR Hall Class.

3: We're auctioning off the last Three Locomotives (A Black 5, A Drummand "T9" Greyhound, and a BR Standard 4) to make more money for the school, which I'm kinda P Oed about, seeing how I could really use that money.

[az2rail]

I think you can do it if you want to, but you do realize that these records are set on distance in a straight line, not how many times it goes around in a circle. Anyone can run circles. I've probably run my trains that far, on a good operating weekend at the club.

You don't actually need 10 miles of track. All you do is pick up the track you've already run, and put in front again.

Bruce

[ABC]

I was going to say the same thing about it having to be a straight line.

[Joe Satnik]

az2rail said:

"pick up the track you've already run, and put in front again."

Think "tank tread".   (As seen in some old cartoon, me thinks.)

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/                         \
\____loco________/

Joe