@Ted S posted:Speed control came along in 2001, introducing a new set of possibilities (and headaches!) Like a giant band-aid, it greatly masks what I perceive as a tragic design error. To me, 30:1, even 36:1 with a 10,000-12,000 RPM motor would be ideal. With a balanced drivetrain in a die-cast metal body, that shouldn't pose insurmountable problems with NVH. This combo would maintain a wide range of realistic speeds without cruise control, and run phenomenally with it.
I don't get the animus toward speed control. Truthfully, even when I have had the Williams with the 44:1 gearbox, it still needed speed control for consistent speeds on grades and curves. I also am not enamored with the idea of 12,000 RPM motors, it has to be a pretty high quality motor to keep the screaming noise down at those speeds. I have absolutely no issue at all running any number of my Legacy locomotives at 3-4 scale MPH all day, so your idea that can't be achieved with current models flies in the face of reality.
