I'm tihnking of doing a cemetery/holiday train for next year...how to power it...

773 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Mastercrafter, Nov 4, 2014

bostonmacosx

Discussion Starter · Nov 3, 2014

Hello there all.

I have a front lawn which includes:

Monster in a box...makes the teenagers yelp every year.
Axworthy ghosts...needs a motor upgrade and guide wheels
Skeleton on a rotisserie....awesome goodness...

I was thinking as I was packing things away that for next year I want to do a "funteral/ghoul" train around the front yard.

It would also double as a christmas holiday train in a few weeks.

I'm thinking that I would use small gauge PVC/electrical conduit for the tracks..

The drive is what I'm looking for suggestions on.

1. I want the power to be external to the train..meaning no batteries on board except for maybe the lights.
2. no "drive" wheels because in the bad weather they may slip..

I was thinking that maybe a third rail in between the other two which guides a rope with knots in it. The train itself has prongs down to latch onto the knots in the rope and then a motor will drive the rope around the track..

This is just preliminary ideas...any other suggestions are welcome.

thanks
Rob

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cmerli

· #2 · Nov 3, 2014

For simplicity sake I might suggest a roller coaster type set up. Just a short run up then a fairly gentle slope back to the start. This would minimize the size of the drive unit you would need to build.

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Mastercrafter

· #3 · Nov 4, 2014

A garage door opener would be sufficient for getting it up the rise. Take a link of the chain and extend the core(metal pin) through on both sides for the grabber to the front cart/train . Good luck, but do remember to have fun with it.

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