So far, so good. Running two leads to the pickups, I determined that the motors were operational. |
Read all the posts about this project here.
The first step, of course, was to determine if the sky cars were even functional. These were toys designed for the short-term. The plastic car bodies consisted of two halves, glued together. So it will be impossible to service the motors. Either they still work, or they don't, and the project's over.
I used a small H0 transformer as a power source and tested each car with two exposed wires. The cars had an ingenious pickup system. The monorail has two metal rails crimped over a fiber frame. The car has two copper plates to pick up the current from the rails. The bottom one is bent to ensure it presses against the lower rail to maintain contact. The upper has bent panels in the front and back to help guide the place over the gaps between rails so it won't snag.
This diagram from the original instruction sheet shows how the car connects to the track. They weren't kidding about keeping the rails and contacts clean! |
Now that I know the cars work, it's time to do some cleanup.
Ideas from the instruction book. I wonder if I can get them to look that good. |
No comments:
Post a Comment