I made this video running down the tracks at 18 scale MPH which seems appropriate for the tracks and terrain. I try to keep the guys at or below this speed during our Operations Nights every Wednesday. This speed was determined by timing the train over a 36" segment on my HO scale layout. John
LOL, Boxcab...you eagle eyes, you! I'll let the shop boys know.....thanks! It was done using the "green screen" method. John
I suspect several of us would like to have a mask like that for making our own cab-level view videos. Is the mask home-made or is it available commercially? Are there similar types of masks available for cabs of different types of locos?
Okay...I know the "green screen" method is used in movies. Does a modeler need to have a special set of video, computer, and/or graphic skills to use the method for videos of his own layout? Or is there an app available that lets us computer numbties quickly and easily overlay the mask on a cab-level view video?
My branch has top speeds of about 20-25 mph. I use an iPhone app called Model Speed to find out the scale speed of my train. I note the throttle setting on my NCE cab for the corresponding speed.
There are a lot of ideas about model railroading that seem to gather a lot of adherents, Scale Speed, Realistic Track Plans, Prototype Whatever. Everyone seems to agree that there are special rules for model railroading. My inner rebellious nature always balks at the idea of rules for anything. if I had to have a rule it would be the Proper Speed rule. When I ran long freight trains I really enjoyed slow speed. My trains looked great snaking through crossovers at slow speed. It was awesome. When I had a small HO switching layout, with a nice steam loco with sound on it, I would run at the speed that felt best for sound and piston motion. Too fast and the pistons were blurry. Too slow and I felt like I was watching paint dry. Same for the sound, too slow and it was sort of boring, too fast and it became obnoxious. I opted for the proper speed. Now that i run lots of electric passenger trains, I really like something between speed of light and scale speed. Passenger trains just look better going really fast, even if it is faster than scale speed. Sometimes you have to run at proper speed. Proper speed is the speed that the train looks best at.
Anyone who runs model trains will eventually establish a range within which they believe their train is running at the "proper" speed. I think the wisdom in Geeky's rivet counting motto can be easily extended into our discussion of "proper" speed: what is "proper" speed on one person's layout, may not be "proper" speed on another. Our definition of "proper" speed is certainly influenced by internal/personal factors such as feelings of awe/impatience/boredom, satisfaction of watching slowly snaking freight trains or speeding passenger trains, hearing a nice loco with sound, or the visual annoyance of blurry pistons. I suspect our definition of "proper" speed is also influenced by external/social factors, such as feedback (approval/disapproval) from other operators. A group of us near Peoria Illinois frequently operate on each others' layouts, and it is apparent that each of us has established a personal "proper" speed for running trains on our own or others' layouts. Even though "proper" speeds vary from one of us to the next, within our Peoria operating group, our "proper" speeds are relatively similar. When we travel around Illinois to operate on others' layouts, we've noticed that operators who run frequently on each others' layouts, tend to develop similar ideas on what is a "proper" speed for their trains. But, even though the guys in any local operators group may all tend to run about the same speed, it is not uncommon for the average "proper" speed within any local group to be considerably faster (or considerably slower) than what is "proper" in the next local group. Besides feedback from fellow operators, other external factors influencing what we consider to be "proper" speed include, comparisons of model vs prototype videos, forum posts, magazine articles, suggested speeds in 1:1 RR operating manuals or calculated speeds from time tables, and speedometers and scale speed tables. If we establish the bottom line as "getting the most enjoyment out of our hobby", I suppose that means that "proper" speed is the speed that is personally most satisfying, whether that is making trains run at light speed, snail speed, or scale speed.
