Hi Scalers,

This is one of those things I like to ponder.  I might be wrong, but I believe 
there are two things we can not scale correctly.

Gravity, can not be scaled and therefore, a scale weight for a given piece of 
rolling stock can not be determined.  Perhaps there is a way though.  If you 
could design a chamber where you could control the force of gravity and set it 
for 1/64th the gravitational pull of our "normal" gravity, then you could make 
the car weight its 1/64th scale weight.  Then return the car to "normal" 
gravity and weight it...

Actually, I'm sure there is a way to do it with numbers.  The moon has less 
gravitational pull than the earth and I know there is a way to calculate the 
weight of what something would weigh on the moon.  We should be able to 
calculate the weights of objects on a moon with 1/64th the gravity of earth.

Time is the other factor that can not be scaled.  Hence, we can not scale the 
speed of our trains, we can only go by what looks right to the eye.  

If we assume a scale ratio of 1/60th rather than 1/64th for the purpose of 
illustration, a minute becomes a second.  30 miles per hour is 1 mile every 2 
minutes.  Your train would have to traverse a scale mile (82.5 ft) in 2 seconds 
to be running at a "scale" 30 MPH.  Using this logic, toy train speeds are mind 
numbingly slow!

As I said, I might be wrong, but I find it fun to think about.

Tom Stoltz

Tom's Turnouts and Trackwork
Maine S Gaugers
NASG


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