Antimated Car Moving on Road

It can be done with a mechanism below the layout driving a magnet along a track. You need a motor that turns a magnet - a circle is the easiest way to go since you only need to put the magnet on an arm. Then you need a roadway on the layout that is very thin so the magnet can work through it, and a piece of metal in a lightweight car model. It doesn't look good, in my opinion - the car won't turn properly and will probably end up getting dragged sideways down the street. You also have the downside of the thin surface and probably cutting a big slot in your benchwork.

I haven't done it, but I thought a better approach would be to have a wire sticking up through the road surface and mounting the car on that, and hooking the wire to a mechanism below the layout. You have to deal with the fact that there will be a slot for the wire down the street.

My design 'hid' this in plain sight - the car would travel down a main street, then turn a corner and disappear behind the scenery, eventually turning back on to the main street. On the visible street, I had some abandoned tramcar tracks that the wire could run alongside, making the slot visible but a natural part of the scenery.

Now, I have seen other layouts with mov> I recently saw where someone had what looked like a clay road bed and

Hi.

For info about model automobile cars that drive on roads in a model railraod layout, see this:

http://www.m> I recently saw where someone had what looked like a clay road bed and

Has some interesting-looking stuff.

Tejas Pedro

"What, me worry? I voted for Kinky!"

There is (or was) a system made by a German manufacturer(I believe) for animating cars on a layout. Each car had a self-contained battery and motor. A wire was embedded just beneath the surface of the road, and a magnet under the car would cause it to track along the course of the buried wire. Unfortunately I'm not having much luck in finding any web sites on the system, though I have seen them in the past. Probably not using the correct search terms.

Try this site Rick:

Magnet under road with poles aligned parallel to the path so that a magnet in the car oriented in opposite direction holds the car pointed forward? In other words: Magnet in car with North pole at front and under road magnet with South pole in direction of movement. The magnet under the road would have to be mounted so that the back end follows a slightly smaller arc, since that's the way conventional automobiles track through turns.

On the other hand, the car might tend to track pretty well anyway if the steel is mounted in the vicinity of the front wheels.

A route with straights and turns might work if the magnet was attached to a plastic or rubber belt with the appropriate diameter pulleys at the turns. Might even work with brass chain. The trick would be attaching the magnet to the belt in a manner that wouldn't be binding the belt by holding it straight in the bends.

A thin gray styrene road with a sanded surface texture might look good.

As a mere tad, taken to Marshall Field's department store in Chicago by my mother, just prior to Christmas, I remember vividly the Lionel factory layout on display in the toy department. It had a four-lane highway running diagonally across the layout. There was a railroad overpass on one end and a tunnel into a mountain on the other end. Cars, trucks, and busses moved briskly along the road.

The road was comprised of two belts, moving in opposite directions, with vehicles fastened to them. It was crude, but effective, for a child of seven.

The Faller stuff looks a lot better.

Search for Faller, the German building kitset manufacturer.

Yes, that's the one. Thanks.

Yes, that was the one I remember seeing. Now if some of those European cars bodies could be replaced with some Jordan 1920s and 1930s era car bodies...

Hello

You could try looking here

Not sure but th>I recently saw where someone had what looked like a clay road bed and

My Website:

Looks like they do still make 'em. Even in N scale!

This tagline has been certified to contain no political rants.

Re

One of the German model makers makes a highway system. I think it might be Brawa. I saw the stuff in a Wather's catalog in a hobby shop about 12 years ago. There are only certain cars and trucks they make for their highway system, and they need to be recharged at regular intervals. They follow a magnitic route built into the road.

Not sure if this is the same system that you are seeing or not.

The manufacturer is Faller. This year they are bring out a few ordinary cars, a VW Beetle, a Trabbi and (something else) List price is Eu89- These are the first ordinary cars. Previously they have made buses, trucks and the odd delivery van and SUV.

Regards, Greg.P.

It is privately owned.