turning a toy into a model

NorthwestGarrattGuy

NorthwestGarrattGuy

Some young foamer from seattle
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i am converting an old toy train into a powerful switching/freight locomotive with aduino cameras and bluetooth/battery control any body know how to put a new drive system indiesel locomotive.jpg
 
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You can find small drive systems, from tamiya, but you said "powerful".... that means a real, rugged drive system, and I would get one from a similar loco. You have a European loco with 3 axles not evenly spaced, you won't find that in US G scale production locos.

If that loco is a clone of an LGB, that is where I would start.

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
You can find small drive systems, from tamiya, but you said "powerful".... that means a real, rugged drive system, and I would get one from a similar loco. You have a European loco with 3 axles not evenly spaced, you won't find that in US G scale production locos.

If that loco is a clone of an LGB, that is where I would start.

Greg
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well i was planning on putting a stepper motor in with a gear set but this is my first locomotive and here is better picture of the insidesScreenshot 2021-10-06 4.10.29 PM.png
 
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OK, right off, a better resolution picture will help a lot in the future.

Yes, it is a toy train mechanism, but knowing the brand would help.

The issue will be axles, gears, and drivetrain and to a lesser extent motor.

Stepper motor? no way, you want a good old DC motor... and you really need to think your R/C system through first... a stepper motor would be a bad choice for a number of reasons, but I'm wondering if that came from a robotics experience...

You run the motor from an H bridge, added to your computer. I assume you want remote control via wi-fi or bluetooth?

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
OK, right off, a better resolution picture will help a lot in the future.

Yes, it is a toy train mechanism, but knowing the brand would help.

The issue will be axles, gears, and drivetrain and to a lesser extent motor.

Stepper motor? no way, you want a good old DC motor... and you really need to think your R/C system through first... a stepper motor would be a bad choice for a number of reasons, but I'm wondering if that came from a robotics experience...

You run the motor from an H bridge, added to your computer. I assume you want remote control via wi-fi or bluetooth?

Greg
Click to expand...
ok somebody told me a stepper motor would be good for something like a switcher and also the original mechanism died years ago when a gear broke and fried the motor so we are putting a brand new mechanism in
 
Paul M said:
Is that the original running gear for that engine? Looks more like a steamers
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Paul,
One of the 'toy' brands.. Oriental in origin..
They use the same chassis, pistons, cylinders, and all, with just a diesel body plonked on top!
I have also seen a 'European' version, with pantograph! :wondering:

I can see where the stepper idea comes from..
Precise, repeatable positioning. - Good for automation, but you could not guarantee a car would be in the exact same place, each time it was uncoupled.
Tamiya do some motor/gearbox combinations, but look for something for a truck, and not a racing car!
Might be worth getting one of the motor and gears 'science' sets? - Whilst it will probably be too big to fit this loco, it will give you a grounding in gears and ratio's etc.
Sorry if you already know this stuff?

PhilP
 
I suppose, as Greg has picked up on, how much power do you want from a powerful loco?

You can have a reasonable tractive effort from a model simply with low gearing, but it does depend on the weight of the trains that you want to haul.

One of the problems that I have repeated faced when trying to scratch build mechanisms, is the difficulty of getting wheels, bearing, gears etc with the appropriate diameter holes to suit available axles / shafts.

I have generally given up with that, and have turned to quality Gauge 1 gearboxes which are available here in the UK at some cost, but which provide the robustness needed for heavier trains.
 
Silk purses from sows ear's comes to mind. Rarely, if ever works in mu experience. Invest in a decent base product and work from there if you must. Max
 
Could you use the Playmobil 0-6-0 diesel motor block? That has RC already built in.
 
PhilP said:
Paul,
One of the 'toy' brands.. Oriental in origin..
They use the same chassis, pistons, cylinders, and all, with just a diesel body plonked on top!
I have also seen a 'European' version, with pantograph! :wondering:

I can see where the stepper idea comes from..
Precise, repeatable positioning. - Good for automation, but you could not guarantee a car would be in the exact same place, each time it was uncoupled.
Tamiya do some motor/gearbox combinations, but look for something for a truck, and not a racing car!
Might be worth getting one of the motor and gears 'science' sets? - Whilst it will probably be too big to fit this loco, it will give you a grounding in gears and ratio's etc.
Sorry if you already know this stuff?

PhilP
Click to expand...
well i have some gears and a 3D printer the problem is that i don't how to put the gears in
 
Rhinochugger said:
I suppose, as Greg has picked up on, how much power do you want from a powerful loco?

You can have a reasonable tractive effort from a model simply with low gearing, but it does depend on the weight of the trains that you want to haul.

One of the problems that I have repeated faced when trying to scratch build mechanisms, is the difficulty of getting wheels, bearing, gears etc with the appropriate diameter holes to suit available axles / shafts.

I have generally given up with that, and have turned to quality Gauge 1 gearboxes which are available here in the UK at some cost, but which provide the robustness needed for heavier trains.
Click to expand...
i really just want something that can manage 5 or 6 cars on a 3% grade
 
NorthwestGarrattGuy said:
i really just want something that can manage 5 or 6 cars on a 3% grade
Click to expand...
5 or 6 cars might not be too bad, but factor in the 3% and I think a simple gearing using plastic or delrin gears could struggle.

The Gauge 1 boys, and manufacturers like Bachmann use multi-stage gearboxes to reduce the strain on the gear train.

I'm not even sure that a Tamiya truck gearbox would cope with that requirement.
 
Rhinochugger said:
5 or 6 cars might not be too bad, but factor in the 3% and I think a simple gearing using plastic or delrin gears could struggle.

The Gauge 1 boys, and manufacturers like Bachmann use multi-stage gearboxes to reduce the strain on the gear train.

I'm not even sure that a Tamiya truck gearbox would cope with that requirement.
Click to expand...
hmmmm well its a deadrail system so can use rubbber traction tires and maybe little sand
 
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