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  • #16
    I have been tossing ideas around on how I'm going to go about building this railtruck.

    I picked the motor to work on first. As I had said this unit didn't work very well. So I preceded to disassemble the motor truck. I discovered several things. First, all four wheels must have had traction tires on them, yup, had. Notice in the picture the set of wheels without the gears. It had a square groove where a rubber tire would be mounted. Second, he armature is loose on the shaft and third, the commutator is also loose on the shaft.

    I did turn down the wheels with the gears on them. worked pretty good. Next will be the set without the gears.

    As far as the armature of the motor is concerned, it looks like it'll get scrapped. I have an idea that will still allow me to use the clockwork gearing in the motor. First I need to order some gears.



    To give this project some weight I'm going to use a piece of 3/16" thick brass for the floor of the boxcar. I just haven't gotten that far yet to show a picture.

    More will be posted as I progress with this project.

    Bernd
    New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

    Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

    New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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    • #17
      Bernd',

      Looks like you have your work cut out for you...

      I can not wait to see the finished product......

      That web site with the HO trucks is great.

      I think one of those Mack 2 ton tractors would be really cool as a rail truck.. to pull heavy duty MOW equipment. instead of the RY using a loco....


      Ted

      Comment

      • #18
        Having taken the clock work motor apart and discovering the loose armature and commutator I don't think I'll be using it. I looked at utilizing the motor but no go. The narrowness of a N scale drive system rules out any easy fix. So with that in mind I've decided that I'm going to need to scratch build a whole new chassis and drive system. Also do to the narrowness of the trucks I'm opting for an outside frame drive such as used by the Maine two footers and add cranks and side rods for the drive truck.

        So once I get back from the camp I'll start looking into how I'm going to go about building the drive system. This may take a while.

        Bernd
        New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

        Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

        New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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        • #19
          Wow, it's almost been a month since I did anything with this project.

          I did a lot of contemplating on how I wanted to go about getting this rail truck on the tracks and functioning. It's been a bit of an up hill battle, loss of interest, timing with 1:1 projects, but I think I've finally got the motor started and running.

          I decided I was going to go with a standard N scale freight truck as the front truck of the rail truck. The cab size just makes the truck look like a better fit.

          Anyway, I started by removing some of the plastic front axle detail, of which there wasn't much. Next I made a template out of thin card board to use for tracing on to a piece of .020" brass shim stock. I cut out the brass and filed for a nice fit between the frame of the truck. Now all I need to do is make up a bolster to mount the truck on.





          Next will be fabricating the front bolster. It's going to be and all brass construction for weight.

          Bernd
          New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

          Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

          New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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          • #20
            After much contemplation of how I was going to proceed I got a bit disgusted with the project and let it stew for a while. Every power mechanism I thought of just made me more frustrated. What to do. Well, what else but scratch build one. So with a new and better direction I've made some changes from the original thought on page one of this thread. Also came up with alternative trailer.

            While re-arranging a cabinet with railroad items I came across these two tracker trailer trailers.



            I can not only make a unit the fits right behind the truck but an extra to tow behind the first. I'm looking at installing a brass floor for weight.

            So on to the railtruck. As this project goes together a better idea will be gained as to how I'm going to use the parts in the next picture. First I cut off the rear end axle of the truck. There will be a brass frame added to hold the motor and drive wheel. I've decided on one drive wheel on this do to complications of adding a swiveling power truck. The front truck will be an N scale truck, the drive truck will be bashed drive unit and the truck under the trailer will be an N scale truck.



            Now here comes the funky part. A belt drive to a single wheel axle. The drive unit will be one of the same motors I'm using to drive the Athearn crane boom and hook which is being written up in the HO section on this forum.



            That's it for now. Need to do a bit of design work on the drive axle of the truck.

            Bernd
            New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

            Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

            New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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            • #21
              I like the looks of this Bernd. Should be cool when you finish it up.....


              Ted

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              • #22
                While the paint is drying on the branch line station I'm building and have posted in the HO section of the forum, I've worked on the railtruck.

                I've finally come up with a drive train I think will work.

                As seen in the previous picture, I'm going to try and use a rubber band drive to the axle. In order to overcome the friction I'm using miniature bearings. They are 5mm outside diameter with a 2mm bore. I made up an axle to hold the wheels on. I also had to make a bushing to take the 1.5mm diameter shaft where the wheel press fits on so the axle could carry the bearing. That's the brass part next to the bearing.



                All the parts needed per side. From left to right: plastic hub turned down from plastic truck wheel, brass bushing, 2 x 5 mm bearing, bearing case, truck side frame.



                I made a jig to hold the three parts together for soldering. It's at an angle so I can have a press fit to hold it all together when I hit it with the iron.



                Tack soldered a piece of brass the width of the wheels and temporally glued to the truck bed. I've just placed the front truck under the truck to get a perspective of height.



                Now that I have an idea that this setup may work I need to go back and make some final parts for permanent assembly.

                Bernd
                New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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                • #23
                  Bernd, simply ingenues. Looking fantastic...


                  Ted

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                  • #24
                    Ok after much teeth gnashing, procrastination and sleeping on it I think I've finally come up with a frame under the truck I like and will work with what I want to do. So I'm scrapping the plastic frame that came with the truck as in the previous picture and substituted a brass frame/floor.



                    The back end is still to high even though it looks like it's leaning backwards. I need to mill out the slots deeper by about .032". If this works out the motor will be added next and it'll be close for a test ride.

                    Looks like a "rat rod" low rider right now.

                    Bernd
                    New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                    Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                    New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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                    • #25
                      More done. I finally have the motor and drive train installed.

                      The motor is the same that I used on my crane project for moving the boom & hook.



                      Rubber band drive. I need to figure out a wiper system so I can test it on some track. Just holding the truck and powering it looks like it might work.



                      More soon.

                      Bernd
                      New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                      Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                      New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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                      • #26
                        I made a video of the railtruck running on two 1.5volt NiCad batteries. The motor is a 6 volt gear reduction drive powering a rubber band drive. It's running about half speed at 3 volts. Much more to do yet.

                        https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=xxtDPLUHMhs

                        Bernd
                        New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                        Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                        New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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                        • #27
                          That looks pretty cool. Nice rat rod. It may run faster if the battery was on the truck instead of being pulled, But,for a rubber band drive train,

                          That is pretty friggen good............

                          How is the station kit build coming along....[:-pumpkin]


                          Ted

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                          • #28
                            Thanks Ted.

                            I had the battery on the back. To heavy. Works better pulling it on a trailer. One of the main purpose of using a rubber band drive is to show modelers who remember the Athearn rubber band drives that they can be made to drive a model at less than 400mph, al la their rubber band drive Huistler. All you need is to gear the motor down and then use a rubber band to drive the final part of the vehicle.

                            I've started to assemble the station. I'll post a picture of it's when completed. No sense doing a separate step by step since there are more proficient modelers showing they way.

                            Bernd
                            New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                            Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                            New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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                            • #29
                              Bernd,

                              You bring back some memories of rubber band drives from my past. Only yours runs slower.
                              Bruce

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                              • #30
                                quote:

                                Originally posted by Dutchman

                                Bernd,

                                You bring back some memories of rubber band drives from my past. Only yours runs slower.

                                That was one of my goals, to show that a rubber band drive can be slowed down. The British have used a belt drive that I can't seem to source over here in the states. Here's a link to the CLAG web site showing belt drives. I believe what's shown is O scale drives, but the concept is there. http://www.clag.org.uk/axle-hung.html

                                There is a source where you can buy these belts in England. LINK: http://www.nigellawton009.com/DriveComponents.html

                                The rubber bands I'm using I found at Michael's craft store. They are to springy, just like you would expect a rubber band to be. The belts that Nigel Lawton sells don't stretch. I may wind up buying from him.

                                I had an epiphany last night that I might try a worm drive on this little critter. Don't know yet. The jury is still out.

                                I'll post progress as I attain it on this project.

                                Bernd
                                New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds

                                Main thread to all that's happening on the NY,V & N Rwy. The New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy. - Railroad Line Forums (railroad-line.com)

                                New York, Vermont -and- Northern Rwy HOn30 Quarry Line https://railroad-line.com/node/31167

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