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N Scale
Radio Control
* Original model is not powered
* No beam is available
* 1/2 the size of Disney's HO model
* So, how do we make it run?
Disney makes a small model monorail spring pull-back toy, the idea is you pull it back to wind it up and it then runs forward, off the table and onto the floor. The model is close to N scale and looks about right with N scale accessories. The problem is the model is not electrically powered and has no beamway. It is also tiny and there is no drivetrain that will easily fit in the shell.
The basis for this project was a lack of space. I used to have plenty of room for a HO monorail layout but moved into a house where my wife wanted to use the dining room for ...dining! The answer was more space or less monorail and I didn't need to read the whole book to see how that story ended! Less monorail...hmm...
Could this little monorail be converted to run on a beam?
Walt Disney himself said "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." and "It's kind of fun to do the impossible.", so in the spirit of Walt I started this project. It was not impossible, just very, very difficult.
Motor mount block for the N scale project, approximately 1" long.
Indoor flight is very big in Europe and Japan and has a growing market in the US. The development of tiny radio control gear, motors, and batteries for indoor flight just might make it possible to fit a full RC setup in the N scale monorail shell.
The first model (Mk I) used the smallest 75 MHz gear available and it just barely fit. There was no room for the 30" antenna and shortening it caused erratic operation. On top of that the motor was too large and geared too high, making the monorail much too fast and too difficult to build. Mark II was an attempt to correct the speed, Mark III would have been easier to build, but neither had it all and they never went beyond the design phase.
Plantraco's 900 MHz RC gear is certainly small, and it was no trouble to fit this into the monorail. This setup also only required one battery, again reducing the size. Finally, the antenna for 900 MHZ is only about 3" long and allows very good control of the monorail. The transmitter power is limited but the distance is only a few feet so it works well. Mark IV uses this radio gear and a heavily modified servo for the drive system to provide scale speed and ease of assembly (I hope).
Update January 2009 - Mark IV was also very difficult to build, modifying the servo took much too long. Amazingly, a new product came along, a tiny motor with an equally tiny gear drive. This greatly simplifies the monorail drive system but if this keeps up I will be into Mark VIII before Disney is!
Yes, those are 1" squares!
Underside, showing drive wheels and beam rollers.
Mark I, it runs well but is too difficult to build. The Mark IV will correct that!
This is the Mark IV chassis, greatly improved and made from one piece of ABS.
...and so it has, that is corrected many of the issues with Mk I! The Mk IV is much easier to build, maintain, and operate, and costs less too. The speed is correct and this will be the end of N scale development (for now). Here are some photos of the finished monorail:
The radio is a Plantronics 900 MHz and the antenna (the thin wire in the first photo) is short enough to fit in the monorail shell. The receiver has two more outputs, one will be used for lights!
Infrared Control
The other control system used for indoor flight is infrared. Similar to televison remote controls, this technology is well suited to indoor environment and the short distances involved. The monorail would need a receiver and motor control but all this was easily small enough to fit.
Didel and others have some IR transmitters and tiny IR receivers. The key is to make sure the receiver is always aimed at the transmitter, difficult when the monorail goes through a building. Repeater stations for the transmitter may be necessary. Still, this technology looks promising and may be more resistant to interference than radio control.