I’ve been trying to NOT build any more locos as I have run out of storage room.
But I’ve bent my rules again and decided to build a radio controlled (road) traction engine.
Maybe I can drive it around the loungeroom? But it would be nice to see it trundle along Lilyvale’s main street.
If all else fails I can mount it on a flat car.
Making the wheels has always been the impossible sticking point for me, but when ge-rik mentioned he had a simple model he didn’t need, I took it off his hands.
It turned out to be too small for me to put RC in, but I used the wheels and started from scratch to build the body.
I had an old solid vacuum cleaner hose 36mm dia and it looked right for the boiler. I also had a Tamiya motor/gearbox, I’d bought long ago but was too wide for a 45mm gauge loco. It seemed the speed would be slow enough for a traction engine, even with it’s large dia wheels.
So I started the design, based on the parameters of
As usual, the main design problem is how to fit in, and then access the RC and batteries. And where to mount the on/off switch and charging lugs.
The main ‘box’ (what else can I call it?) contains the motor with the boiler above.
The motor is screwed to a base of 1.5mm styrene with aluminium angles to allow it to be screwed up into the main ‘box’, which is hollow. The top of the box is held on by magnets.
The boiler will contain the hobbyking 2.4 GHz receiver and I’ll use my own design Picaxe controller for :
The batteries are four, NiMH AAA 900 mAh cells mounted under the floor of the driver’s standing space.
I don’t think I can find space for a speaker, so there will probably be no sound system.
Here it is roughly put together to check how it looks.
And that’s where I’m up to. I have no idea how to make the cylinders on top of the boiler or how to make them operate. I’d hoped to drive them from the main axle by a belt, but space is a bit tight.
I have a further dream, where the picaxe program will allow it to run a ‘pre-programmed route’ automatically, without the RC control.
To be continued……..
But I’ve bent my rules again and decided to build a radio controlled (road) traction engine.
Maybe I can drive it around the loungeroom? But it would be nice to see it trundle along Lilyvale’s main street.
If all else fails I can mount it on a flat car.
Making the wheels has always been the impossible sticking point for me, but when ge-rik mentioned he had a simple model he didn’t need, I took it off his hands.
It turned out to be too small for me to put RC in, but I used the wheels and started from scratch to build the body.
I had an old solid vacuum cleaner hose 36mm dia and it looked right for the boiler. I also had a Tamiya motor/gearbox, I’d bought long ago but was too wide for a 45mm gauge loco. It seemed the speed would be slow enough for a traction engine, even with it’s large dia wheels.
So I started the design, based on the parameters of
- boiler 36mm dia
- Wheels 90mm dia
- motor dimensions of 75mm long x 30mm high x 35mm wide
- and needing four AAA batteries.
As usual, the main design problem is how to fit in, and then access the RC and batteries. And where to mount the on/off switch and charging lugs.
The main ‘box’ (what else can I call it?) contains the motor with the boiler above.
The motor is screwed to a base of 1.5mm styrene with aluminium angles to allow it to be screwed up into the main ‘box’, which is hollow. The top of the box is held on by magnets.
The boiler will contain the hobbyking 2.4 GHz receiver and I’ll use my own design Picaxe controller for :
- speed (using the Picaxe PWM command and a FET),
- direction (5V relay with DPDT contacts) and
- steering (Servo, using chains to the front axle).
The batteries are four, NiMH AAA 900 mAh cells mounted under the floor of the driver’s standing space.
I don’t think I can find space for a speaker, so there will probably be no sound system.
Here it is roughly put together to check how it looks.
And that’s where I’m up to. I have no idea how to make the cylinders on top of the boiler or how to make them operate. I’d hoped to drive them from the main axle by a belt, but space is a bit tight.
I have a further dream, where the picaxe program will allow it to run a ‘pre-programmed route’ automatically, without the RC control.
To be continued……..
