Welcome to part 3 of my ongoing quest to build trains to run on the roller coaster track system.
This time we're building a suspended train.
The track can be suspended in any way, as long as it is clear on one side.
For the bogies, I'm just using some pretty common wheel hubs.
They roll smoothly, and the center groove is just big enough to keep it on the track.
Time to build a simple prototype car.
It rolls smoothly, with little friction, which is critical for performance.
The wheels are mounted on pins, so they can rotate around the corners.
Now we need an engine.
First, we need a set of wheels with friction, so it can push the train along the track.
For that, we're using standard train wheels, which have a rubber band for friction.
We're connecting them with a rubber band so we just need to send power to one of the wheels, and they well both rotate.
Testing the friction.
Now we need some power, and a motor.
I'm using the Bluetooth Battery and Cubit Motor from Circuit Cubes.
They are very compact and light, which helps performance a lot.
In addition to bluetooth control, you can just turn it on manually, which is nice.
The entire engine is only 4x6 studs.
Success!
We can also connect via bluetooth to control the speed.
Time to build a housing around it, to make it look nice.
As usual, I'm making it red, white and light gray. I guess these are my train colours. :)
No to build some nice looking cars, with people.
I'm connecting the cars using thin liftarms along the top.
The force needs to be transferred to the base of each wheel for optimal performance.
Push and pull test.
I had 'advertising' bricks printed by millionprints.com.
Obviously JK Brickworks is the main advertiser. :)
Old school engineer to control the train.
I love these curved windscreens from the Speed Champions sets.
All aboard!
I duplicated the cars in the front and back,
and built a large test track for it.
It handles the inside curves quite nicely as well.
ParLUGment is the name of my local LEGO group.
Thanks for watching!