Maximum voltage

[OLDBANDIT]

Hello Gentlemen !

What's the maximum voltage required for Bachmann
LARGE SCALE locomotives (18, 20, 22 or 24 volts) ?
16 volts is absolutely not enough ...
Thanks for your help.

[Kevin Strong]

From a technical specification standpoint, 24 volts. That's the de facto "standard" maximum voltage for large scale.

Having said that, one thing to consider is the "typical" speeds locomotives ran. Bachmann's models are of narrow gauge locomotives, which ran over steep grades and tight curves. As such, rarely did they break 20 miles per hour in typical operation.

Of course, that's the prototype world. What constitutes "slow" or "fast" to the viewer in the garden is largely subjective. I run battery power, and find that 14.8 volt battery packs are more than adequate for my locomotives, giving them a maximum speed around 30 - 40 miles per hour at full throttle. Even with that, I seldom run more than 15 - 20 scale miles per hour on my railroad. For me, a train running slow-ish through the garden makes the railroad feel larger than it really is because it takes longer for the train to get from one point to the next.

If you're running mainline (standard gauge) trains from other manufacturers, their speeds were typically much higher than narrow gauge, thus you may find you'll need all of the 24 volts to get to express train speeds.

Later,

K

[OLDBANDIT]

Thanks Kevin !
It's a great answer.

[The Old Bandit]

I tried 20 volts and now my little Davenport 0-4-0 runs like a TGV ! And I like it !