waskydiver
11-09-2010, 02:12 PM
Hi all,
I was hoping on a little direction.
I would like to start a project, which, when complete, would give me a train, which would navigate along the ceiling of an entire floor of my house: Going through multiple rooms, and closets.
But, this is going to be a huge project. Most of it will involve a simple shelf mounted to the wall. But, in some places, I will have to suspend from the ceiling against a natural stone fireplace, and across certain doorways, etc..
What I wanted to do is to start small, then build upon it. I wanted to simply have a straight track, which went from my living room, into my son's room. The train would go back and forth along the track.
I could then, later, expand on it, eventually getting to the point where the train goes all over the house.
From what I am learning, though, it is not trivial to get the train to go back and forth reliably. And, although the #60 trolly would give me the movement I am looking for, it would be very limiting in the the configuration.
I was thinking maybe I could double the track on the first run, and have a loop at either end for the train to circle back... Kinda like a dog bone.
I guess that's not bad... it might give me some real estate to do some cool stuff in the future. But, I was wondering if anyone would have any better ideas.
At this point, I am open to guage and scale... but would tend to like to go bigger than HO so the train is more visable from the floor. (If it matters).
Thanks much!
I was hoping on a little direction.
I would like to start a project, which, when complete, would give me a train, which would navigate along the ceiling of an entire floor of my house: Going through multiple rooms, and closets.
But, this is going to be a huge project. Most of it will involve a simple shelf mounted to the wall. But, in some places, I will have to suspend from the ceiling against a natural stone fireplace, and across certain doorways, etc..
What I wanted to do is to start small, then build upon it. I wanted to simply have a straight track, which went from my living room, into my son's room. The train would go back and forth along the track.
I could then, later, expand on it, eventually getting to the point where the train goes all over the house.
From what I am learning, though, it is not trivial to get the train to go back and forth reliably. And, although the #60 trolly would give me the movement I am looking for, it would be very limiting in the the configuration.
I was thinking maybe I could double the track on the first run, and have a loop at either end for the train to circle back... Kinda like a dog bone.
I guess that's not bad... it might give me some real estate to do some cool stuff in the future. But, I was wondering if anyone would have any better ideas.
At this point, I am open to guage and scale... but would tend to like to go bigger than HO so the train is more visable from the floor. (If it matters).
Thanks much!