In today's video, it's Toby and Emily in The Great Race!
I set up a little race track on my back patio so I could have two of my fastest locomotives race side by side.
And this layout has a very special (and DANGEROUS) feature...
The tracks cross over each other right here.
So, if after making a lap around the layout the two trains reach that spot at the exact same time...
There's going to be a crash... Like this!
Now you may remember a previous video of mine called The Great Model Train Race...
Which featured the 19 G-scale locomotives that I owned at that time.
I did time trials, and determined once and for all that Toby is the fastest locomotive in my collection...
And coming in at a close second in that race was Emily.
Now in watching that video back after I posted it to YouTube...
I realized that I did something that put Emily at a slight disadvantage in that race.
I had her do that race with her tender attached.
And I started wondering if the race might have turned out differently...
If I had let Emily run it without having to pull the extra weight of that tender.
So today, it's a rematch: Toby versus Emily.
And this time, I'll run it a couple of times...
Giving Emily a chance to do the layout with her tender attached, and then again without it.
We'll see if that makes any difference.
It's mid-February as I'm shooting this, and a pretty nice day here in my neighborhood.
From the drone, you can see the Columbia River in the background of this shot.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we can have some of our most brutal weather in February...
But on this particular day, it's not bad at all here in my south-facing back yard.
47 degrees at race time.
Before I get started, I want to show you the special layout I've put together for today's race.
Basically, there are two loops of track side-by-side on my patio...
An inner loop, and an outer loop.
Now the thing about a layout like that is that the inner loop is always going to be shorter than the outer loop.
So, to keep the train on the inner loop from having an unfair advantage over the train on the outer loop...
I've created a spot where the two loops cross over...
So that the race isn't over after the first loop.
Both trains have to do both loops in order to get back where they started, and complete the race.
That way, even though the inner loop is shorter than the outer loop...
Both trains do both loops and each one ends up going the exact same distance after they come back around to where the race started.
Of course, the other thing that's great about having that crossover section of track is the danger!
If both trains happen to reach that crossover spot at the exact same time...
There's going to be a crash!
And, as I already showed you a little while ago, yeah, there was a crash.
In fact, there were a couple of crashes. You'll see!
Let's get our first race underway!
I've got Toby and Emily lined up and ready to go here at this spot that we'll use as both our starting point and finish line.
If you're wondering about that black device attached to Toby's roof...
That is a digital audio recorder that I'm using to record the live sound of the races.
And we're off and running!
As you can see, the two locomotives are pretty evenly matched.
But keep in mind that Emily is on the inner loop, which is shorter than the outer loop...
So, she has the advantage for this first part of the race.
And now she does start to pull ahead.
Mainly the advantage comes on the curved sections of track.
So, on the straightaways not much will change, but you'll see...
Whoever is on the inner loop make some big moves on the curves.
And at the end of the first loop, she's ahead by quite a few train lengths.
But, it's not over, because... Now Toby's on the inner loop and he's got the advantage...
Because he's got less track to travel on for this second half of the race...
And you can see that he has pulled to almost even with Emily.
It's almost neck and neck at this point, but...
Toby's now got a big advantage because...
Coming in to the curves he's got less distance to travel.
And Toby pulls WAY ahead...
And Toby ends up winning by quite a wide margin.
Now, I'm going to keep the camera rolling here, even though the race has officially ended.
I want to just see what happens if they do a bonus loop.
Sorry about the bad camera work, as I have trouble catching up with them.
What I'm curious about, as they do another loop...
Is whether Emily can catch up now that she's on the inner loop and has less distance to travel.
Oh my gosh, look at that! She is catching up...
And they may get to the crossover at the same time!
BOOM! Ha ha ha!
There is our first crash!
OK, let's do another race, and...
Just out of curiosity, let's see if we get the same results this time.
Everybody ready?
And GO!
Good start. They're looking good.
They're pretty much neck and neck here...
But Emily's on the inside track... so she has less distance to travel.
It looks to me like she'll end up at the crossover before Toby.
I hope that they don't get to the crossover at the same time, because if they do...
There's going to be a nasty crash again!
She's coming in to a short curve here...
So, I'm pretty sure that she's got enough of a lead over Toby that there won't be a crash at the crossover...
Though, WOW!
THAT WAS CLOSE!
That really was close!
Way closer than after one lap last time.
That surprises me a little bit.
Well, let's just see how they finish up, but...
Look, Toby's already pulled ahead and he's got several curves ahead where he will have a big advantage, so...
He's definitely going to win this, by quite a wide margin.
Yep, no surprise there.
Toby is definitely faster than Emily.
But let's go back and look at that near-collision at the crossover.
I've got a closeup from what I call "the crossover cam".
You can see how close they were to colliding!
It was just inches!
Well, that was fun! Let's have them race again.
A little hesitation there at the start, but we're off and running.
Toby’s keeping neck and neck with Emily, even though he's on the longer outside loop.
The more I watch these two race, the easier it is to see how much faster Toby is.
Yeah, they're still neck and neck at this point, which I wouldn't really expect.
Uh oh! They're coming up to the crossover and they're pretty close.
DANGEROUSLY CLOSE!
OH!!!!!
Another crash. Oh!
Let's look at it again from the crossover cam.
Maybe I'm going to have to rename it the crunch cam!
Well, now I have to have them go again, just to see if they crash again!
Those crashes are a lot of fun!
But before we start the next race, we're going to take this short break.
Toby doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.
No damage that I can see.
That was another weird start.
That happened last time, too.
And once again, Toby is keeping up with Emily very well, even though she's on the shorter inside track.
I think they could potentially end up at that crossover at the same time again this time!
Because they are neck and neck.
We might have another crash!
Oh yeah, this is going to end badly!
Boom! Again!
Two crashes in a row!
Let's see it again, thanks to the crunch cam!
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that everybody's going to leave comments about how the crashes are the best part of this video!
Now I'm really curious if we'll get the same results if we do the same thing again!
It pretty much looks like a repeat of the last two races.
I swear I'm not just using the same video clip over and over!
If you're hoping for a crash again this time...
At this point I'd say they seem to be on that pace.
Yeah, this seems to be just like the last race. Right?
Weren't they neck and neck right at that same point last time?
Toby's falling behind a little bit. It's going to be close!
Oh! (laughing)
Oh! Three in a row!
Oh, man, it's a good thing I set up that crunch cam so we could watch all these crashes in slow motion!
OK, let's change it up just a little bit now.
I removed Emily's tender.
So, my theory is, since she'll be pulling less weight...
She should be a little faster.
Let's see what happens.
Does she look any faster here at this point?
Well, yeah, I guess...
A little faster I think, than the previous few races.
So, I think removing the tender does seem to have made a bit of a difference.
I like our chances of avoiding a crash at the crossover this time.
Yeah, after the first lap there, it's clear she is just a little faster without the tender.
Which makes sense.
But it's only just a little.
It's not going to be enough to beat Toby, I don't think, because...
He's already caught up to her, and now he's got the advantage going in to these curves...
Because he's on the inside track, so...
Yeah, she's not going to win this race, but...
She was a little bit faster without the tender.
Well, this has been fun!
And it sure has been a nice day for a train race here in my back yard.
Give the video a thumbs-up if you liked it, and...
Hey, while I've got you here... Let me just show you that I've been busy completing my rock project.
I've pretty much got all the bare dirt in my back yard covered up now with river rocks.
And those holes you see... That's where I'll be planting a bunch of maple trees as soon as Spring arrives.
Spring is still a long way off, though!
I sure did enjoy not having to wear a jacket today...
But the weather forecast says things are about to get very cold here in the Pacific Northwest for the next week or so.
In fact, looks like we'll have some snow, so...
I'm just going to leave the tracks set up on my back patio...
And hopefully a few days from now they'll be covered with snow...
And I can shoot some video of one of my White Pass locomotives plowing snow off the tracks.
I've been wanting to do that ever since I moved here!
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!