 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion Groups General ModelsRailroadsRocketsRadio Controlled Air ModelsHelicoptersLand ModelsWater ModelsModelGeeks.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Model Forum / General / Railroads / November 2009Traverser
I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and possible some kitchen-drawer-type runners. Does anyone have experience building traversers, and do you think this will be possible? >I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic >area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and >possible some kitchen-drawer-type runners. Does anyone have experience >building traversers, and do you think this will be possible? Too complicated. Unless you need to enter and exit at both ends, a sector plate is much simpler. It only needs a single pivot point and can be aliged simply enough by hand. Use a bathroom door bolt to lock it into position and power one rail through that, Power the other rail with piece of attached lamp flex. >>I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic >>area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and >>possible some kitchen-drawer-type runners. Does anyone have experience >>building traversers, and do you think this will be possible? > Too complicated. Not really. OK, motorising it and getting it to stop in the right place is probably non-trivial, but for a hand-powered one a properly constructed traverser is a delight to use. > Unless you need to enter and exit at both ends, a sector plate is much > simpler. It only needs a single pivot point and can be aliged simply > enough by hand. There is a lot to be said for sector plates, but it seems that for ones over a certain number a lot of thought and possibly maths needs to go into getting the curves right. > Use a bathroom door bolt to lock it into position and power one rail > through that, Power the other rail with piece of attached lamp flex. I've seen quite a few fiddle yards that do that, even ones that have traversers instead of sector plates, and it does seem to be a very reliable system.  SignatureJades' First Encounters Site - http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm The best Frontier: First Encounters site on the Web. nospam@jades.org is currently broken, please reply on group! >>>I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic >>>area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >ones over a certain number a lot of thought and possibly maths needs >to go into getting the curves right. Not really. Just a pencil on the end of a long piece of string with a panel pin on the other end. Just lay the tracks so they line up with the incoming track and curve them so they finish up parallel. >> Use a bathroom door bolt to lock it into position and power one rail >> through that, Power the other rail with piece of attached lamp flex. > >I've seen quite a few fiddle yards that do that, even ones that have >traversers instead of sector plates, and it does seem to be a very >reliable system. If you do that you don't need an indexing system which you do if it's mechanised. Many years ago Mike Sharman had an exhibition layout called Bogsworth Junction, that was railway archaeology, with standard and broad gauge locomotives from the 1840s and 1840s, When he operated the turntable he used the train controller. lining it up by eye. But this isn't an option with the drive from a scanner. > Not really. OK, motorising it and getting it to stop in the right > place is probably non-trivial, Trivialish with a stepper motor. Electronic controllers tend to have Run and Jog modes to get them SBO. > On Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:23:56 +0000 (UTC), James Goode > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Too complicated. Rubbish! Gordon Hopkins of MERG did exactly that on one of his layouts. He used to have a website for his RPC kits but I can't find it now. MBQ > I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic > area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and > possible some kitchen-drawer-type runners. Does anyone have experience > building traversers, and do you think this will be possible? Not only possible, someone has already done it. Take a look at this thread on RMWeb http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/1207-cramdin-yard/page__st__25 Alan : > I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic : > area. I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] : Not only possible, someone has already done it. Take a look at this : thread on RMWeb http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/1207-cramdin-yard/page__st__25 Of course, if you have the money to throw at it (and assuming that this is going to be part of the modelled area and not just the 'fiddle yard'... :~) http://www.gaugemaster.com/item_details.asp?code=HN89021&style=&strType=&Mcode=H eljan%2089021 My first post was unclear; I want the traverser to act as part of a small fiddle yard. It will probably have two or three tracks, long enough for a locomotive and a few wagons or a two-car DMU. And I'm trying to keep costs down, to leave money for the locomotives. : My first post was unclear; I want the traverser to act as part of a small : fiddle yard. It will probably have two or three tracks, long enough for : a locomotive and a few wagons or a two-car DMU. And I'm trying to keep : costs down, to leave money for the locomotives. If you are using a baseboard width of 12 inches or more I would also think in terms of the selector plate suggested by Chris, far simpler and if there is clearance (diameter of the selector table) allows whole trains to be turned. I took the scanner apart today, and set up a wood & metal framework for the 'table' to move along. I think I'll need to buy an IC to convert low- power signals from a microcontroller to high-power signals for the stepper motor. I found a guide here: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ StepperUnipolar which uses the same IC as the one on the scanner's controller PCB. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.