The pulling power of Maerklin.

11252 Views 48 Replies 13 Participants Last post by goedel, May 19, 2007

neil_s_wood

Discussion Starter · Feb 27, 2007

This item appeared on the Maerklin website. They have managed to get 200 Maerklin locos to pull a full sized DB coach. That would be 1 to 1 scale.

On the area of railways system engineering in Munich took place on 21 February 2007 a sensational experiment. Märklin locomotives of the size H0 on a scale of 1:87 should pull an original-size IC region car of the German course AG over a distance of 10 meters. The car had nevertheless an unloaded weight of approx. 48 tons and measured scarcely 27 meters. 200 Märklin locomotives of the BR 143 with the article number 37433 were available. On 50 tracks, to 4 locomotives each arranged, they were supplied by 50 transformers with energy. To set 3,000 VA necessarily around the IC region car in motion. The experiment succeeded and the 200 Märklin locomotives pulled the 1. Class car evenly, strong over of the Guiness book of the records editorship given distance. The Märklin specialist of the 1. Märklin model course team shifted altogether 625 meters of the Märklin of C-track, pulled 1.5 km cables and set over 3.000 soldered connections. The pool of broadcasting corporations transmission "W wie Wissen" sends the pictures of the preparation and the world record travel on coming Sunday, 25 February 2007 in the 1. Program at 17.03 o'clock.

So if the coach weighed 48 tons and there were 200 coaches, does this mean that each loco was pulling a quarter of a ton?

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Doug

· #4 · Feb 27, 2007 (Edited by Moderator)

Interesting.

There is a big video camera on the crane overhead, but I haven't found (yet) any other photos or video of the event.

Update: I've just seen that it was shown on the German ARD TV channel on the 25th. See here (more photos.

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Doug

· #38 · Mar 3, 2007

Traction test.

Remember that Andy York devised a test platform to test pulling power. It was noted that there wasn't much point in testing it on a gradient as the gradient only vectored in the weight of the loco to the equation.

A flat test set-up, dead straight, where the loco can pull a metered force would be ideal.

Putting weight in wagons is tricky as the friction of the wagons always comes into play. Coaches is a common method, but as we all know there are good coaches with extremely smooth running and there are horrid ones that bind their bogies on every bend.

Remember those Newton meter things from school - sort of thing you use to weight fish caught on the rod...?

Where is there a supply of those things that we could rig up a system to accurately test the pulling power of a HO/00/N scale loco?

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