Operations via Fast Clock

[RobertInOntario]

I've never been a fan of the 'fast clock' myself.

I understand how it can 'compress' a sequence of trains on a timetable, but when carrying out shunting for example, at scale speeds, it takes pretty much as long as in the 'real world'. A 'fast clock' makes it impossible for the switching crew to keep up.

For that reason I prefer to run to a sequence, allowing (just) enough time for switching etc, between trains.

Be interested to hear your experiences though. What region/era are you modelling?

Cheers,

Kev

Hi Kev,

I was basically experimenting with it the other night. My main region/era is southwest England in the late-1950s, although I have enough rolling stock to model other parts of Britain anywhere from the early-1900s through to the 1960s, as well as some North American stock! In any case, the layout is based on a railway line in SW England in 1959. I wouldn't use this Fast Clock for shunting though because, as you say, it takes basically the same amount of time as real time. However, I think it's kind of cool to copy or duplicate a (say) 2- to 5-hour WTT in less than half an hour, and gives you an idea of what it's like to meet an actual schedule.