This is excellent - I've just looked at the cost of the Magnorail systems and even the starter pack price would put people off. I appreciate that it costs a lot of money to create a product like this from all the testing prototyping etc, but it's likely to turn people away just from the initial outlay alone, so this looks like a great way forward!
Absolutely brilliant. Thinking out of the box. May I suggest that you could use plastic bike chain instead of metal ones. I can see this concept becoming a much used system. Magnorail is an amazing product but pretty expensive especially in today's economic climate for most average modellers. Thank you for sharing your great idea.
Due to budget and health I'm using tatty bits of Meccano parts for all sorts of model railway applications. I model, moderately, in 7mm so was looking at more robust chain for 7mm diecast cars. I like what you've done, very inventive thank you for sharing 👍😊✌️💜 Could you tell me the exact name of the idler wheels/gears please, I can only find expensive branded type🤔🤔🤔👍🤞💜
On A Rollercoaster there is a chain that pulls all the riders up the big big big hump that starts the ride, that's a similar system, but it's for fun. but a simple chain in a city could be made with enough motors and hooks, not magnets, the hooks would pull your car around, but the car would need to retract their hook when at the destination, and get off the chain, and using electric motor, get of the chain, and park at home or a store. save tons of electricity. But the system would require paying a fee to use their chain system perhaps. My concern is: how many cars can the chain handle, or how many tons can the chain in a city pull? That's a lot of tons of weight. Just my thoughts. Terry
What you describe is basically the way trolley cars in San Francisco are moved. The conductor of the car pulls a lever to clamp on to a continuously moving cable, hence the name "cable car". I don't mean to detract from your idea, it's a great way to move traffic around using far less energy and eliminating internal combustion engines in cars
That's very revealing! I Thought the cable cars were electrical cars using electric power lines above. I heard the term cable cars, but I thought that was mountain climbing cars, lol. Thanks.
Could you use a roll of wall paper to give a continuous road surface with no joins. One could even "dope" it with a PVA glue water mix to stiffen it up.
Hi Russell, you can get the cogs from a cycle shop as they are to tension the chain on a rear dirraller, racers, mountain bikes and normal bikes have them. One of the companies who make them is shimano. Hope this info helps
You might try asking a local bike shop (or your cyclist friends) for a few old chains, clean them up and link them up (easy with 'quicklinks')- you really could extend quite a bit. Another advantage of old chains is they are more flexible side to side (due to wear and stretching), so may well work over gently rising and falling terrain. Excellent idea, Don.
Very interesting, I was thinking of building a San Francisco cable car layout but not sure about the ability of this system to climb. It's ingenious, very clever. And cheap as you say. We all want to budget in this day and age now. 👍
This is an amazing demonstration. And for the cogs, if you want larger radius turns, you can 3D print larger cogs. In fact you could 3D print the chain itself. Really great idea.
Great idea. The larger wheels could be used in different places to increase the radius of the corners, or 3D print other sizes. If the chain was rotated through 90 degrees inclines could be done like in Chicago. Putting kapton tape (not so cheap though) under the cardboard would reduce the wear.
Fascinating, Don! I can't believe I missed this when you first posted it. This has a lot of potential, not just for model railroad layouts, but for animating other dioramas, as well!
I was contemplating something similar on the river on my layout for boats, but have 6mm MDF and 4mm resin so I will need to get really strong magnets, only issue is the magnet rubbing the road surface, maybe try a small airgap which would sole the join in the card too.
hi Dan, LOVED THIS... i just seen it this morning.... i think if you motorized this idea, just too let people see it working...then people can use cheaper forms of motorising their ones and if you can suggest cheaper ways of doing it..i think your subscribers would be in thousands as this idea is getting more seen on you tube everyday...P.S. you should have shown when you made the V2 rocket scene making the rocket also....just suggestions...keep up the brilliant work...good luck john
Two thoughts. Instead of building up to the chain and gears, use a router to create channels for the chain and gears. Second thought, many die cast vehicles come with true steering mechanism in the front end. Which would create more realistic turns. That’s my 2 cents worth. Thanks for sharing.
Nice work on this demonstration. People use tubing as well for home made systems. I wish more scale vehicles had steerable front wheels though. And drivers.
I think it's great, but if I may give a piece of advice I'm sure you have already done this but a simple way of making your road way visible is once you've laid the sheet over your chain would be once the car was attached one could tape a pencil to the car and it would draw out the roadway as it goes around
Brilliant idea. Magnorail is excessively overpriced, not just overly expensive but blatantly robbing their customers. Anyone who buys Magnorail have far more money than sense in my humble opinion.
oh, you mean for a model, I was thinking on a real live real large scale of real life. Lol. Oh well, that model you showed would work. With motors and maybe magnets or just use some hooks.. Christmas tree hooks perhaps. Smiles! Terry
the chain is working fine , as for weight / mass you could try other types of band or even a rope , but the chain is making sure the magnet stays pointing upwards . super great system and expandable for little more cost
Alot of rv repair centers have chains like this the comes off theor cable slide systems most waranty tells them to just throw away but normally don't and these are longer Tham bike chains
I did this 22 years ago then revised it using a nylon roller chain as you can make holes in it, the steel I used wasn't magnetic so the switch to nylon worked really well. But when Magnorail came out I started again with a product that was made for the job! Sorry Don but 5 years on and my Magnorail still runs great, not like this I know is noisier than you'd like to say! The membrane (road surface) needs to be more than card as the center of the layout has zero support if yo run a sinlge lane road!
Nice ! The durability of a steel chain is so much better than 3d printed plastic, this kind of system can pull mutch heavyer stuff bigger scale vehicles also. In legoland Denmark they have ropes going in the shanels to drive model ships and sutch... outside... this chain system could be used on outdoor railways to...
I constructed a 3 lane motorway diorama in 1:50 scale using this exact principal! The turnarounds at each end were the worst parts to design 😒(each lane moves at a different speed and avoiding them hitting each other at each end was a nightmare) different sized drive sprockets achieved the 3 different lane speeds, and the vehicles just cycle round in an endless loop (up one carriageway then down the other side). I powered it off an old windscreen wiper motor (because it was free) however I'm sure there are better geared motor options available that have a lower amp draw. I toyed with the Idea of making a video on it, but decided against it 😒 Well done for posting this , It's a very sound principle and 5 years later mine still works fine, the downside (when you have a lot of chains and cars/trucks) is that it's very very noisy!! Ps: the one thing to add is a chain tensioner on each run of chain, otherwise they throw the chain 😉. Oh and New subscriber here 👍
i commend your persistence. Until all problems are solved its not worth replacing the top road system, I was forever having to dismantle the system because of chains falling off. Better to share the idea and let others have the headaches.
Just replace the red drive cog, as you can see in the video, with a slow drive electric motor. I make it sound easy but l have not tried it myself it is just an idea for others to elaborate.
Amazing thank you !! I am very new to this and I am barely starting my hobby of a scale models. I haven't been able to find the the bike sprockets yet but I love your video it encouraged me to start my model!!
@@rriissaa05 Each sprocket comes with a bush that is a fraction thicker than the sprocket so in fact you fix the bush to the wood leaving the sprocket to turn freely
Fantastic, Don. Despite the same challenge of transport, no doubt the chain is far more durable than the Magnorail chains, which you have to assemble anyway.
Derailleur jockey wheels come with bushings and these are designed to be low friction and silent running. The larger red jockey wheel is from a low end Shimano derailleur and those can be best obtained by asking nicely at the bike shop - they should have plenty in the bin by the end of a busy week. Maybe just tell the mechanic you will pay a quid for each one and you should get dozens. The spring of a derailleur keeps a chain in tension and this needs to be part of the design. There are chain tensioners that can also be used. This should make it silent running.
Cool system nonetheless, but I think this, and something like Faller has absolutely different target audiences. This woudl also work wike 2 wheelers, so motorcycles or bicycles, but from the nature is a static track with all vehicles moving at the same speed, etc. On the Faller, which I woudln't consider because of the price and just build it myself, each car is a standalone and detached from every other carm, and can therefore do much different things, like taking over, have a crossing, not even mentioning that each car can have hundreds of lights, indicators/hazard lights, etc. But for a small town like the one you showed, where little bicycles would fit perfectly, your system is more than enough, and probably far cheaper than magnorail. Hats off for that! :)
C’est exactement ce que je voulais faire il y a 18ans pour ma ville lego mais par manque de place chez mes parents je n’avais pas pu 😢 et je voulais le motorisé avec un moteur de meccano. Mais c’est top de voir que sa marche vraiment 😂 quand j’avais 11ans j’avais des idées de ouf 😂
I know it's way too soon. But this is a plan for down the future. I'm looking to build a 4x8 train set with moving cars. My granddaughter. As years go by it'll be something that she'll always remember.
I've got no idea why UA-cam threw this into my feed, but replacing the bike chain and sprokets with GT2 belts and pulleys (commonly used in 3D printers) would reduce cost even more and would be quieter. Slightly more advanced would be to use the same sort of stepper motors used in the 3D printers along with an Arduino and stepper driver PCB to power it. If you have access to a 3D printer, GT2 pulleys could be printed in different diameters to give wider or tighter curves.
Absolutely brilliant!I have been trying to figure out. How to make a car system, And it just so happens I live above a bicycle shop. He also has a three d printer that he makes parts with, So i'm going to be giving him a call in a couple of minutes
that's so so impressive Don....well done and proves these things can be cheaply done with the knowledge of how to do it from experts like yourself sir.
I am a simple man. I see a genius at work…. I click like…. I click subscribe. Well done mate!
Us simple men must stick together
There is nothing more satisfying than watching someone making something from scratch without having to pay with an arm and a leg. Job well done 😁😁
Thank you for your comment. I have subscribed to your channel.
Brilliant mate, thanks for sharing your build 👍 it's definitely worth having a go at . Regards uncle Franko 😊
This is so so clever.I love when somebody produces something like this,it's fantastic !!!
This is actually super helpful! I’ve been looking for a solution like this as an alternative to those expensive road methods!
This is excellent - I've just looked at the cost of the Magnorail systems and even the starter pack price would put people off. I appreciate that it costs a lot of money to create a product like this from all the testing prototyping etc, but it's likely to turn people away just from the initial outlay alone, so this looks like a great way forward!
Absolutely brilliant. Thinking out of the box. May I suggest that you could use plastic bike chain instead of metal ones. I can see this concept becoming a much used system. Magnorail is an amazing product but pretty expensive especially in today's economic climate for most average modellers. Thank you for sharing your great idea.
I used Lego to build mine, please feel free to check it out
That is a great suggestion for us frugal N scalers!
Very clever . Excellent idea.
Ingenious! Bicycle chain and derailleur sprockets are very cheap. Also geared electric motors. Thank you for this great idea!
This will work for O scale... I love it
dude, this existed for a while now you know
Due to budget and health I'm using tatty bits of Meccano parts for all sorts of model railway applications. I model, moderately, in 7mm so was looking at more robust chain for 7mm diecast cars.
I like what you've done, very inventive thank you for sharing 👍😊✌️💜
Could you tell me the exact name of the idler wheels/gears please, I can only find expensive branded type🤔🤔🤔👍🤞💜
Thats brilliant. I do wonder whether bigger cogs underneath would be better so the car does turn so sharply.
On A Rollercoaster there is a chain that pulls all the riders up the big big big hump that starts the ride, that's a similar system, but it's for fun. but a simple chain in a city could be made with enough motors and hooks, not magnets, the hooks would pull your car around, but the car would need to retract their hook when at the destination, and get off the chain, and using electric motor, get of the chain, and park at home or a store. save tons of electricity. But the system would require paying a fee to use their chain system perhaps. My concern is: how many cars can the chain handle, or how many tons can the chain in a city pull? That's a lot of tons of weight. Just my thoughts. Terry
What you describe is basically the way trolley cars in San Francisco are moved. The conductor of the car pulls a lever to clamp on to a continuously moving cable, hence the name "cable car".
I don't mean to detract from your idea, it's a great way to move traffic around using far less energy and eliminating internal combustion engines in cars
That's very revealing! I Thought the cable cars were electrical cars using electric power lines above. I heard the term cable cars, but I thought that was mountain climbing cars, lol. Thanks.
I have been playing with that same idea using chain, have a lot of chain.
Use a bearing ball in the car so it rolls on the surface but still attracted.
brilliant!
Nice, but seems expensive. Is a simple string not enough? It could go up and down hills and may be easier to make junctions..
The system works by using magnets so string wouldn't work but by all means try it and let me know.
@@nanplabwern I know, but the chain is not magnetic itself either, although it may enhance the field. Magnets must be hauled around.
Cool.
☮
Amazing 😳👍🏻
Could you use a roll of wall paper to give a continuous road surface with no joins. One could even "dope" it with a PVA glue water mix to stiffen it up.
Yes, l'm sure that would work
Ah , there are my bikeparts .
Thanks Don..
Rotisserie grill motor is slow and available
👍👍👍👍👍
Yes I made my own version also using a well known plastic toy brand. Feel free to check out my version
Hi, I can't those cogs anywhere, what are they called and where did you buy them from please?
Hi Russell, you can get the cogs from a cycle shop as they are to tension the chain on a rear dirraller, racers, mountain bikes and normal bikes have them. One of the companies who make them is shimano.
Hope this info helps
They are bicycle gear parts. I live in Thailand and buy from a local shopping channel from China so l can't advise where you might buy from.
Jockeywheels ebay has loads
Can you your self add the motor
Yes, you would need a slow motor mounted under your layout
Thanks for the help
What are you calling the plastic things that help make the chain more
@@miltonjohnson4345 They are wheel "cogs"
@@nanplabwern thanks
Or you could have no cars and just a parade of Daleks keeping citizens in hiding.
Absolutely ingenious Don. I'm quite sure it's cheaper than the kits that are available. Outstanding idea. Thank for sharing.
You might try asking a local bike shop (or your cyclist friends) for a few old chains, clean them up and link them up (easy with 'quicklinks')- you really could extend quite a bit. Another advantage of old chains is they are more flexible side to side (due to wear and stretching), so may well work over gently rising and falling terrain. Excellent idea, Don.
Very interesting, I was thinking of building a San Francisco cable car layout but not sure about the ability of this system to climb. It's ingenious, very clever. And cheap as you say. We all want to budget in this day and age now. 👍
This is an amazing demonstration. And for the cogs, if you want larger radius turns, you can 3D print larger cogs. In fact you could 3D print the chain itself. Really great idea.
Great idea. The larger wheels could be used in different places to increase the radius of the corners, or 3D print other sizes. If the chain was rotated through 90 degrees inclines could be done like in Chicago. Putting kapton tape (not so cheap though) under the cardboard would reduce the wear.
To make larger radii, just put more cogs closer together.
Try with car window elevator motor. It have a lot of torque, and its smooth. ....Regards
Fascinating, Don! I can't believe I missed this when you first posted it. This has a lot of potential, not just for model railroad layouts, but for animating other dioramas, as well!
Leave it to the British to devise such brilliant miniatures!!!! Absolutely phenomenal work!!!
I love the way the car does a 3-point turn when you put it back on the magnet at 7:03
The magnorail in the intro looks like the eletric logo
I was contemplating something similar on the river on my layout for boats, but have 6mm MDF and 4mm resin so I will need to get really strong magnets, only issue is the magnet rubbing the road surface, maybe try a small airgap which would sole the join in the card too.
hi Dan, LOVED THIS... i just seen it this morning.... i think if you motorized this idea, just too let people see it working...then people can use cheaper forms of motorising their ones and if you can suggest cheaper ways of doing it..i think your subscribers would be in thousands as this idea is getting more seen on you tube everyday...P.S. you should have shown when you made the V2 rocket scene making the rocket also....just suggestions...keep up the brilliant work...good luck john
Two thoughts. Instead of building up to the chain and gears, use a router to create channels for the chain and gears. Second thought, many die cast vehicles come with true steering mechanism in the front end. Which would create more realistic turns. That’s my 2 cents worth. Thanks for sharing.
Two good ideas worth considering thank you
Great...
Inspiring work..! Million thanks for sharing..
Nice work on this demonstration. People use tubing as well for home made systems. I wish more scale vehicles had steerable front wheels though. And drivers.
Thanks for the good idea.
I am building a Swiss winterlandscape,besides moving trains.
I want to buildt moving sleds.
Greetings from Switzerland.
I think it's great, but if I may give a piece of advice I'm sure you have already done this but a simple way of making your road way visible is once you've laid the sheet over your chain would be once the car was attached one could tape a pencil to the car and it would draw out the roadway as it goes around
Very nice idea. I wonder why Chinese manufacturers don't come up with a cheap clone for these expensive vehicle systems.
Brilliant idea. Magnorail is excessively overpriced, not just overly expensive but blatantly robbing their customers. Anyone who buys Magnorail have far more money than sense in my humble opinion.
Clever stuff! Thinking of doing this on my OO layout with a suitable motor to drive the chain.
Fantastic Don. I think this will be of use to me and very many others. Thanks for sharing with us.
Good luck
oh, you mean for a model, I was thinking on a real live real large scale of real life. Lol. Oh well, that model you showed would work. With motors and maybe magnets or just use some hooks.. Christmas tree hooks perhaps. Smiles! Terry
Plenty bicycle gearing options available so the motor speed can be compensated for
the chain is working fine , as for weight / mass you could try other types of band or even a rope , but the chain is making sure the magnet stays pointing upwards . super great system and expandable for little more cost
"Me labor in Chinese factory. Don't wurry. We won't copy your idea." Bahahahaha
That would be very useful for a factory conveyer but when the cars are overloaded they might pop off. The magnet
I think this would be super useful for a backdrop highway. Something that doesn't have to pass over a crossing, nor need to use stoplights/signs
Every 6 year old boy ever. Better later in life than never. Have fun, buy some Lego.
Interesting , when the car goes around the main drive cog it could be a roundabout in the road. Obviously more realistic if you've motorised it.
Alot of rv repair centers have chains like this the comes off theor cable slide systems most waranty tells them to just throw away but normally don't and these are longer Tham bike chains
You might investigate some PTFE sheeting to reduce friction both under and over the chain.
Would use the smaller gear ( cog ) to turn chain. Even with faster motor would run slower. Lol great job.
I did this 22 years ago then revised it using a nylon roller chain as you can make holes in it, the steel I used wasn't magnetic so the switch to nylon worked really well. But when Magnorail came out I started again with a product that was made for the job! Sorry Don but 5 years on and my Magnorail still runs great, not like this I know is noisier than you'd like to say! The membrane (road surface) needs to be more than card as the center of the layout has zero support if yo run a sinlge lane road!
So that's how they did Camberwick Green & Chigley!
Nice ! The durability of a steel chain is so much better than 3d printed plastic, this kind of system can pull mutch heavyer stuff bigger scale vehicles also. In legoland Denmark they have ropes going in the shanels to drive model ships and sutch... outside... this chain system could be used on outdoor railways to...
I have seen cheap plastic chain links online and think l will use this, this mock up is good but hard turns take the edge of of the real thing.
Brilliant idea
Blessedly quiet too (compared to magnorail).
Thanks for the idea. I'll subscribe just because of it
Great idea. I do see one problem. Your car is driving on the wrong side of the road. 😂
Genius idea Don ! Thank you for sharing your idea. Bicycle spur gears and chain. Genius.
You can use the magnets on the chain for switching stoplights and stops
Very good idea, will investigate this, thanks.
I constructed a 3 lane motorway diorama in 1:50 scale using this exact principal! The turnarounds at each end were the worst parts to design 😒(each lane moves at a different speed and avoiding them hitting each other at each end was a nightmare) different sized drive sprockets achieved the 3 different lane speeds, and the vehicles just cycle round in an endless loop (up one carriageway then down the other side).
I powered it off an old windscreen wiper motor (because it was free) however I'm sure there are better geared motor options available that have a lower amp draw. I toyed with the Idea of making a video on it, but decided against it 😒 Well done for posting this , It's a very sound principle and 5 years later mine still works fine, the downside (when you have a lot of chains and cars/trucks) is that it's very very noisy!! Ps: the one thing to add is a chain tensioner on each run of chain, otherwise they throw the chain 😉. Oh and New subscriber here 👍
i commend your persistence. Until all problems are solved its not worth replacing the top road system, I was forever having to dismantle the system because of chains falling off. Better to share the idea and let others have the headaches.
How would you connect the electric motor to your track to make it functional??
Just replace the red drive cog, as you can see in the video, with a slow drive electric motor. I make it sound easy but l have not tried it myself it is just an idea for others to elaborate.
Amazing thank you !! I am very new to this and I am barely starting my hobby of a scale models. I haven't been able to find the the bike sprockets yet but I love your video it encouraged me to start my model!!
By any chance can you explain what parts you used to attach the sprockets to the wood to hold it in place?
@@rriissaa05 Each sprocket comes with a bush that is a fraction thicker than the sprocket so in fact you fix the bush to the wood leaving the sprocket to turn freely
Fantastic, Don. Despite the same challenge of transport, no doubt the chain is far more durable than the Magnorail chains, which you have to assemble anyway.
Thanks Don...
Derailleur jockey wheels come with bushings and these are designed to be low friction and silent running. The larger red jockey wheel is from a low end Shimano derailleur and those can be best obtained by asking nicely at the bike shop - they should have plenty in the bin by the end of a busy week. Maybe just tell the mechanic you will pay a quid for each one and you should get dozens.
The spring of a derailleur keeps a chain in tension and this needs to be part of the design. There are chain tensioners that can also be used. This should make it silent running.
Than you very much.
That's a pretty good idea
Try an old microwave turntable motor to power it
Hope someone will see this. Great job, but doesn't the chain rub on the wood causing drag?
When static, yes but in motion, although a small tolerance it clears the wood.
Magic supported by science...
also have strong slow moving motors,
Great idea. I plan to try it. Thank you.
Nice, very nice what a good idea, I wonder if you can get plastic chain and would that be better or not?
Magnet wouldn't stick to plastic !!
Aku subscrib, like 👍👍👍👍👍👍bos
thank you for teach
thanks sir for the idea. amazing
As far as the magnet, if the chain is metal and not plastic, couldn't you just glue the magnets to the cars?
The magnet has to be level with the bottom of the car wheels ,
But it could be done
Bicycle derailleur jockey wheels
Great idea! Could anyone recommend what motor i would need for this project?
Some have suggested a car window motor or a variable speed motor. I've never taken it to that stage.
This came to my feed and you got yourself a new subscriber! Cheap and functional: that is my Scene! 😁 Cheers!
Cool system nonetheless, but I think this, and something like Faller has absolutely different target audiences. This woudl also work wike 2 wheelers, so motorcycles or bicycles, but from the nature is a static track with all vehicles moving at the same speed, etc. On the Faller, which I woudln't consider because of the price and just build it myself, each car is a standalone and detached from every other carm, and can therefore do much different things, like taking over, have a crossing, not even mentioning that each car can have hundreds of lights, indicators/hazard lights, etc. But for a small town like the one you showed, where little bicycles would fit perfectly, your system is more than enough, and probably far cheaper than magnorail. Hats off for that! :)
C’est exactement ce que je voulais faire il y a 18ans pour ma ville lego mais par manque de place chez mes parents je n’avais pas pu 😢 et je voulais le motorisé avec un moteur de meccano. Mais c’est top de voir que sa marche vraiment 😂 quand j’avais 11ans j’avais des idées de ouf 😂
Noice job mate, cheers Graham
I know it's way too soon. But this is a plan for down the future. I'm looking to build a 4x8 train set with moving cars. My granddaughter. As years go by it'll be something that she'll always remember.
I've got no idea why UA-cam threw this into my feed, but replacing the bike chain and sprokets with GT2 belts and pulleys (commonly used in 3D printers) would reduce cost even more and would be quieter. Slightly more advanced would be to use the same sort of stepper motors used in the 3D printers along with an Arduino and stepper driver PCB to power it. If you have access to a 3D printer, GT2 pulleys could be printed in different diameters to give wider or tighter curves.
I'm sure everything you say would be possible but all I was promoting was an alternative idea to the expensive kits that are commercially available.
@@nanplabwern No worries, your ideas just had me thinking out loud.
Absolutely brilliant!I have been trying to figure out.
How to make a car system, And it just so happens I live above a bicycle shop. He also has a three d printer that he makes parts with, So i'm going to be giving him a call in a couple of minutes
that's so so impressive Don....well done and proves these things can be cheaply done with the knowledge of how to do it from experts like yourself sir.
very very clever - fantastic
I would use larger diameter sprokets, looks more realistic
Larger sprockets are not that easy to use but will add more realism. The good thing ist, one can just use old worn bicycle parts to tinker with.
That is genius 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Really great idea well done