ABB125
Established Member
Apologies if this isn't the correct section to post this!
I need to know a few things about 10 1/4 inch gauge trains for a university project, and was hoping that people on here might know some of the answers! By 10 1/4 inch, I mean the track width, like they have at the Stapleford Miniature Railway. I'm using guidance from the iMechE's Railway Challenge for various aspects of the project (we're not actually doing that challenge though), which I'm assuming is fairly representative.
I need to know a few things about 10 1/4 inch gauge trains for a university project, and was hoping that people on here might know some of the answers! By 10 1/4 inch, I mean the track width, like they have at the Stapleford Miniature Railway. I'm using guidance from the iMechE's Railway Challenge for various aspects of the project (we're not actually doing that challenge though), which I'm assuming is fairly representative.
- What are typical carriage dimensions? iMechE says a maximum width of 710mm, but nothing about length; is something like 4m long realistic?
- Is it possible to fit two seated people across (probably on a bench seat)? At 710mm, this would be... cosy
, but if it's done in real life then there shouldn't be any issues in the project. Would two people across need a bit extra width? - What sort of gradients are typical? We were going to assume a maximum of 1 in 80 (1.25%), but that's unlikely to be steep enough for the (theoretical) route we have. My rough calculations indicate that as steep as 1 in 20 or even less should be achievable, as long as sufficient power is installed
- Linked to the above, what's a typical coefficient of friction for the wheel/rail interface, in various conditions?
- What's a typical wheel diameter for this size of train? iMechE says minimum 200mm
- What's a typical maximum speed? We've assumed 10mph (16km/h; 4.5m/s); iMechE says 15km/h
- What sort of acceleration rates are typical? Is 0.5m/s^2 feasible?
- What sort of weight would a typical carriage be?
