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Sandy Ward  > Model Trains > Ken's 1st N-Trak module (SugarBowl)
Building an N-Trak module (N-scale model trains) for the 2007 Big Railroad Show...
See websites for the RR show and for N-Trak: http://www.ntrak.org/ and http://www.northeastntrak.org/
The moving buses came from Faller, a German company. English webpage about Faller Car System
See YouTube videos: closeup of moving buses, 2009; Ken with tram, buses, and train, 2011.
gallery pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
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Painting the platform, constructed with folding legs

10/18/06
Installation of the bus-moving system (made by Faller)

[photo by Ken]
Closeup of a bus above a bus-stopping mechanism.
Note green battery inside the bus.  Each bus is self-powered.  

[photo by Ken]
Closeup of wire embedded in road surface to guide the buses.  Each bus has its own motor and battery. The wire merely "steers" the bus.  There is a tiny magnet on an arm attached to the steering mechanism of the bus. The magnet pulls toward the wire, thus turning the bus wheels to follow the wire. 

[photo by Ken]
Router tool used to cut a groove in the surface,  creating a place for the wire to be embedded. 

The Faller trenching tool (which arrived later) worked even better.  [Note: the Faller starter kit assumes you will simply lay the wire on the surface and plaster over it. But that technique requires accuracy in initial placement.]  
Additional grooves were made to re-position the wire after testing with the buses.
Ken holding a batch of trees he has made.

In foreground is the beginning of the bus system for the Sugar Bowl module.   12/24/06
Laying straight track according to N-Trak standards (so it will fit together with adjacent modules at the show).

12/24/06
Ken in his basement workshop.
Figuring out the height and position of the gondola system relative to the train tracks and the bus system. A second bus stop has been installed (first is under the red bus), so two buses can run at once and not hit each other.

January 11, 2007
Painting the platform, constructed with folding legs

10/18/06
Painting the platform, constructed with folding legs

10/18/06
Painting the platform, constructed with folding legs

10/18/06
gallery pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
< 1 of 98 >
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