Test Track

The club created a test track many years ago. It was recently described in Rob D's Blog.

Rob Dove's Blog 30 July 2017

A while back I was asked about our test track that we use to test rolling stock.

This is the uphill side of the test track. Cars are considered good if they roll nearly the full length of the track. I choose to have them roll so fast that I need to catch them before they hit the stop and sustain damage.

Slope is not severe and the track is about 5 feet long.

In addition to rolling resistance we also have sections that are too wide and too narrow but still a model in standards will get through with out problems. Webmaster comment — Too Wide.

We also have some ranges for rolling as can be seen below. Webmaster comment — Too Narrow.

I tune mine to roll much better than what is expected. Webmaster comment — Stop Zone.

I have to catch mine before they slam into the coupler gauge at the low end. Webmaster comment — Extra Smooth Will Roll.

Here you have an overall shot of the test track. Webmaster comment — Approximately 64 inches long, with coupler gauges at both ends. Having cars that roll very freely allows for very reliable rolling stock, it also helps if they are a bit heavier than the recommended practice. I have found this to be very helpful when backing trains of more than 50 cars.

I hope you enjoyed my photos of the clubs test track and the description. More to come later on other topics.

Rob in Texas

Additional Webmaster comment — The gray board with track is a test track connected to a DCC system connected to a computer running JMRI for programming locomotives. (editor comment — a nice run-on sentence.)