I am a gluton for punishment, I know, but I have a burning itch to build an N scale roller coaster for club layout. I built one 20 years ago and had it on an N scale NTRAK module that worked well. I know Doug Gary and his excellent "Cyclone" coaster on his Disneyland module. Great work by Doug. He is a very talented individual. So now I am thinking about a more modern style of coaster. My other one was totally scratched including the cars. I used N scale flex track and it worked well. I am thinking this time maybe using Z scale flex and reduce the overall size of the coasters footprint. Any thoughts / suggestions or do you know of any examples, other than Doug's, currently operating? Know of any commercially available coasters? Thanks for reading and as always have fun, Carl
When you say 'modern coasters' I'm thinking of ones with an overhead track rather than the classical coasters. Is that what you mean?
Inkaneer, Thanks for asking, yes sir, that is what I am thinking about. The other one I made 20 years ago i made cars that ran on the top side of the rails and they had a tendency to derail fairly easy. I used MT passenger car trucks and added a little weight to help the cars stay on rail. I think that I will have to use some N or Z flex track and the appropriate truck on the rail but the passenger seats would hang below the rail and possibly that would lower the center of gravity and help with more reliable running. At this point I am just thinking about it, don't you smell the sawdust burning? If I decide to do it, I'll start a new thread covering the project. Carl
WOW, thanks George. I think I am about to cross your "fine line" into "Mental Illness". Perhaps I crossed that line years ago and there is really no doubt.
Carl..... Some in our hobby are able to cross that fine line and jump back. Others....well... And they're coming to take me away ha-haaa They're coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa To the funny farm Where life is beautiful all the time And I'll be happy to see those nice young men In their clean white coats And they're coming to take me away ha-haaa
Yeah, concentrate on making the coaster cars as heavy as you can from the outset, like molding them in lead. I sort of model a roller coaster - a kick-back track on an old-style dumper. Gravity works out way smoother in HO than in N due to the square cube law; Z might be unworkable.
Have you thought about using T scale, with its magnetic attraction between wheels and rails? Not clear to me if you will be motorizing the "train" or relying on gravity to move your cars along the "coaster" path, but, the smaller you get, the more likely friction is likely to beat mass/momentum to keep the "train" moving.
Thanks to all for the inputs. I truly appreciate it and it will help me decide yay or nay. I plan on doing this one basically the same way my 1st one was done and that is gravity run. On my other one I had a chain drive incline that took the little cars up approx. 6 inches, kicked them loose and away they would go. I built little bodies to encapsulate a Micro Trains 3 axle passenger truck and added as much weight as possible. I think about it now and realize the bulk was above center line making the car easy to jump the rails. So I think I will use the same trucks but attach the car or whatever underneath the truck assembly. Carl
I found a picture of my 1st attempt. You can see the yellow,red,white, and blue incline behind the warehouse building and the shiny track behind the rocket ride. I used wooden dowels to make the upright supports. If I hang cars from above this time I will need to change the support ideas. This build actually worked well with an occasional car falling to the ground. Some of you may have seen my amusement park module called "Skull Peak" as it was around the Southwest shows for several years as well as the large Chantilly,VA show.
It's unfortunate that really no rollercoaster models exist in our scale, or amusement park rides in general. Some basic popular rides have been made but are hard to find now. I hope you decide to do this project! I'd love to see how it turns out.
I remember in the eighties there was one of the european companies that made operational carnival rides, but no roller coaster. And they were weak on quality as well.Haven't seen them lately.
You are right Bill, no roller coasters. Brawa and Faller have made n scale carnival stuff through the years. I had a Brawa overhead cable car set on an N Track module for 4 or 5 years and it is now on club layout. It requires tweaking occasionally but has been operating for about 6 years. I just completed a Faller Ferris wheel kit that was one of the best kits, of any kind, that I have ever assembled in my model RR career. I am 79 years old. The problem is these and other companies are not re-releasing stuff, as if they got burned the first time around. Carl
I’ve always wanted a model of scream or tatsu from magic mountain. I’ve never seen one even similar though. You could scientifically make one though.
Carl, I could be wrong, but I would bet that the demand for goofy stuff has slacked off as older modelers retire or die off and the stuff sells secondhand. I had some of that, and I thought it was very very poor running. Too fast, too herky jerky, totally unlike the real thing, too much Lionel.
Bill, I certainly agree with your thoughts but some what disagree with the "Lionelish" comment. Yes some of them were or are too fast but that can be controlled. Check this short video of the Faller Ferris wheel that I just completed. I bought the kit 20 years ago and just built it. The slight pause you can see in the video has been fixed. If anything the speed may be a bit too slow but for me it is "right on". Thanks for your input, Carl