I am curious, having seen many posts in different scales, about having sections of track or more specifically turnouts that are difficult to reach when in need of cleaning up wrecks or derailments, has anyone or any manufacturer made any type of radio controlled MofW equipment that could roll in and either pick up and remove a derailed car or place the car back on the track? I would love to see anyone's custom built cranes that might give me ideas for building a radio control crane. I have plenty of ideas already, mostly concerning the use of cheap 'disposable' radio control toy cars (can be bought brand new for as little as $20 each) or a particular radio control submarine from walmart that is $29. The reason for choosing the submarine is that it has a forward/reverse control that would operate the forward and reverse of the crane, a left and right steering control that would operate the the rotation of the crane, and a dive/surface control that would operate the winch of the crane. The sub I already have has 1 motor for each function and each motor has a propeller directly on the shaft, or a right angle drive unit with the propeller on that. I see no reason why a little creativity with gearboxes will not allow me to use the original motors out of the sub so that I KNOW they are matched to the control circuits, however I might consider making use of some salvaged printer parts for some nice flatbelt pulleys and torquey motors for the cranes rotation and winch. The other thing I would find a way to add would be a battery car that could easily be disguised as a half-flatbed/half-toolshed car, and a "lipstick" wireless video camera. I believe I would want the camera in the crane control cab so that it would rotate with the cab. Any ideas on hiding wiring between the two cars? [EDIT] I thought of this while waiting for the post to load, what sorts of options are available for two or three axle powered trucks that could be used in this project? I'll do some drawings later and edit the images in to this post when finished. Mike from DieCastoms
Sounds like an interesting project but for derailments in hard to get areas why make it an all day project?
That does sound interesting... and fun! While I don't have examples of anything like that, I'm thinking your MOW equipment would have to be very heavily weighted. That way your crane could lift your cars without toppling over. Here's what I'm thinking... your crane roles in to the derailment with a flatcar in tow. The flat car has some type of re-railing device hanging off the end. All of your rolling stock would have metal plates on the insides of the roofs, perfect for hatching on to a magnet at the end of your crane. Crane lifts it up, swings around and drops your rolling stock on the flatcar. The derailed car rolls down the re-railer on to the track behind, crane moves forward and goes for the next car. You'd probably need a 12 volt source tucked away for an electromagnet to pull that off. But with this setup you could clean up a whole train (minus engine) Hmmm.... -Mike
Hey Mike I LIKE that idea! You could go one step further and use large magnets in the cars in the first place, not strong enough to lift the car on it's own, but strong enough with a small electromagnet, that way you don't need AS MUCH power for the magnet. A motorcycle battery or similar might do well as a counterbalance as well as as magnet power. The more I think about this project, the more I like it, however also the more complicated it becomes. It might even become fun to cause intentional derailments and use a piece of such equipment to clean up the wreck as a challenge. I sure would love to video tape the installment of the through truss using the RC crane Mike, from DieCastoms.
For an inexpensive 6 channel 75Mhz R/C transmitter check out the VEX robotics system. The 'add-on' R/C transmitter is perpetually available on eBay for $20- $30. These used to be availble at Radio Shack but were discontinued a while back. Combined with a $30 channel 75Mhz receiver, and some micro servos you should be able to at least build a fully functional wreck crane in anything larger than HO scale. Whether it will be able to stay on the rails while lifting another car or locomotive will depend on your design and counter weights.
Thanks Jonrail, I appreciate your information and will check that out soon. I need a cheap (discarded?) running hobby motor with the drive shaft extending out both ends for a custom build.. the full length of the shaft should be less than the distance between g scale wheels... I want to put a rubber drive band around the motor shaft and two axles of one truck of a toy boxcar. the whole car weighs close to nothing (and in fact derails alot in a consist) and the wheels are plastic so the motor needn't be very strong, or fast. Anyone have anything? Thanks Mike from DieCastoms
Not exactyl what you are asking for but check this out This was over on the Ho scale section. I thought you might like it. Work in Progress: Fully Functioning Excavator - TrainBoard.com
WOW, he's done some fantastic work there!! I left a post at the end of that thread with some more of my ideas about the crane.. should have posted that here but got carried away Mike, from DieCastoms
