tooter goes big time...


bnsf971 said:
Have you given any thought to a 12 volt battery, 12 volt DC motor, and a chain to drive the "cart"? The battery could go under your seat, the motor could drive the front axle. If you wanted to get elaborate (not that I would want to), you could probably cobble together a regenerative braking system, kind of like you'd find on a diesel electric locomotive.
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Get a position switch and hook resistors to it then hook it to the motor and battery. Instant notched throttle.
 
tooter said:
For now I'm starting out with just a simple human powered vehicle... ;)
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I remember back in the 1970's, a company built multi-speed bicycles with the "freewheeling" part of the chain drive on the pedal assembly. You could do that, have rotating pedal-power, and not worry about tearing your legs off if you stop pedaling.
 
bnsf971 said:
I remember back in the 1970's, a company built multi-speed bicycles with the "freewheeling" part of the chain drive on the pedal assembly. You could do that, have rotating pedal-power, and not worry about tearing your legs off if you stop pedaling.
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I remember, too... because I had a small bicycle shop in the 70's. A friend and I have been collaborating on a pedal powered railbike design to build into a prototype. ;)

Tooter got TRACK... :)

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Spent yesterday hauling 744 pounds of steel rail and 1,200 pounds of railroad ties. That's just a small portion of the ties. There's another 1,000 pounds still in boxes. As the layout progresses I'll be sure to post pics...
 
What... you got track already??
Man I am being left in the dust here! LOL
I'm hoping next year is the year for laying track.
Right now I'm looking to grab an old Rascal for the drive and maybe other parts...
 
Rico said:
What... you got track already??
Man I am being left in the dust here! LOL
I'm hoping next year is the year for laying track.
Right now I'm looking to grab an old Rascal for the drive and maybe other parts...
Click to expand...

Hey Rico, :)

Better get your ass in gear...:p
Your railroad may take longer, but it will be way bigger than my little oval track. By the way, what's a rascal? Is it gasoline powered or electric?

I've been working and saving up the extra money to build the railroad for a few years. It was a strange coincidence that when I decided to order the rail and ties, coincidentally the factory that used to be 200 miles away was in the process of moving only 40 miles away from my home. So I took it as a good omen and made the leap. :)

Greg
 
I'll be taking a whole bunch of pictures at the Live Steam meet in Parrish this coming weekend. This train layout is 7&1/2" rail, 7&1/4" rail, G scale & O scale. These guys have thousands of dollars in the live steam loco's & a bunch in the Electric Cab sets. there's one guy w/a pancake tecumseah in an SW1500 that pulls 35 coal cars on the 7&1/2 rail.
Anyway, as soon as I put the photo's on my Photobucket acct. & the video's on my YouTube acct. I'll let you know.
This oversize outdoor layout covers about 20 acres.
 
Hey Larry, :)

Yes, let me know. I love watching train videos on YouTube. We don't even have a TV connection.;)

Put the push car on the rails just to see how it fits. It's not railworthy yet, as it's still waiting on the auto valve springs to arrive to be used as suspension.

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All the railroad ties are unloaded now.
 
God, that's hilarious!!!!:D

You got me watching YouTube Seinfeld scenes for over an hour.:)
 
No, wait, I've got it. Tooter needs to dig a big hole in his yard. He brings in tons and tons of coal to fill the pit. Then, in his spare time, he builds a live steam locomotive. Nothing big, just a Challenger. He operates a mining operation with directional mainlines. Hmm, but he'll need water so he will have to dig a canal across the neighbor's yard. Oooo, I'm just getting started. Next...
 
The engine valve springs came in today, so I installed them...

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The chassis now has a nice sturdy solid suspension that will allow the wheels to follow the irregularities in the rails. :)
 
Yes... they're a really strong composite designed to carry the full weight of large heavy steam engines. I wanted them so that I don't need to deal with rotting wood ties. I also got all stainless steel track joining hardware so that nothing gets rusted except the steel rails which will look realistic with only the tops shiny from wheels.Part of the track system includes combination rail plates rail gauge and tie spacer which attach to each tie. After the rails are screwed down the center section is removed leaving just the realistic tie plates. The tie plates have a direction and slightly cant the rails inward just like the real ones do.

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Roll Models Inc.: http://rmirailworks.com/

makes a complete track system including switches and crossovers, that any novice can assemble... like me. :)
 
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I filed the holes square in the frame so that the carriage bolt heads would go down flush and tight. That really firmed up the wheel assemblies...

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Cut a wood deck for the MOW track car, and started assembling the first track section...

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It's slow going because I've never done it before, but it will go faster as I learn better methods. The True Track gauges are really nice and make it easy to line everything up...

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The car has NO rolling resistance and even on a gentle grade it accelerates very rapidly.:eek:

I think this is going to be a rollercoaster as much as it will be a railroad. ;)
 
That portion between the tie plates that gauges the track: is that cut out after it's spiked down? And is it reusable on the next section?
 
Yes it is... and only the tie plates remain. So I have one for each tie. I'm starting to work on hunting up drive mechanism parts for the car...

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