Stubby47's Project #4 - The (Return of the ) PSMT

[Stubby47]

Introduction copied from the original thread, here, and tweaked a bit.

 

The Patiala State Monorail Trainways

The PSMT was a unique rail-guided, partially road-borne railway system running in Patiala (British India) from 1907 to 1927.
It was the only operational locomotive-hauled railway system built using the Ewing System in the world.

https://en.wikipedia...orail_Trainways

This project will consist of :

• The completion of the building of the loco and coach
• The technical requirements to make the train operational
• The completion of the layout construction and scenery

The Ewing System


The Ewing System is a balancing monorail system developed in the late 19th century by British inventor W. J. Ewing .

In the Ewing System the main wheels of the train run on a single steel rail. The system had been proposed in 1868 by William Thorold, a civil engineer from Norwich, Norfolk.

The major benefit of trains is that they run on steel tracks. Steel rail can carry more load with less rolling friction than any other mode of ground transport. However there are several disadvantages of laying conventional railway tracks consisting of two rails: Both rails have to rise and fall and bank together. Laying two rails requires a lot of space and maintenance. The turning radius of the train is restricted by the difference in length or distance traveled between the inside and outside rails due to curve resistance. Curve resistance means that the wheels on the inside rail travel a shorter distance than the wheels on the outside rail to get the vehicle around a curve. The trains can only turn to the limit where its outer wheels can cope with the additional required speed. If the outer wheels fail to maintain or reach the required speed, the train may derail.

W.J. Ewing implemented a monorail system, with only one rail and double flanged rail wheels, that had been proposed by William Thorold in a lecture to the British Association in 1868. This system avoided all those problems, since it was laid out along the side of a road, it took up very little land. Further, the road or balance wheel's main purpose was to balance the train and to keep it upright. The balancing wheel on the road carried only 4% or 5% of the load, it did not subtract much from the steel wheel-steel rail efficiency. As the track was on side of the road, it was no obstacle to vehicles crossing it. Further, since it was a monorail with a supporting wheel on the ground, the issue of curve resistance did not arise in Ewing System, since the wheels were placed on a single track only.

https://en.wikipedia...ki/Ewing_System


The Loco and Coach
The loco will be scratch built, using outrigger wheels very kindly supplied by Stuart Birks.

The track & road bed
The track will form a single circle, with no points, running either on an embankment or in a cutting. There will be no hidden section, but the scenery will help disguise the simple shape.

The layout
Scenery will be representative of an Indian semi-mountainous region, with hopefully room for a couple of traditional Indian-style low buildings a low bridge over a stream and lush, green vegetation.
Various scenic items on the layout have been very kindly supplied by Northroader.

 

The Return

Following the original disaster when  trying to use magnets (the main problem being the magnet in the motor also affecting the polarity-switching reeds), the new method owes more to a long forgotten toy I once had.

 

The Matchbox Motorised Motorway.

 

And so it begins......

 

Again.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Stubby47

[Stubby47]

Ha, ha ha ha ha ha..........

 

Nurse !!!

[dhjgreen]

Do you think it will be fast enough?

[Stubby47]

Do you think it will be fast enough?

 

I'd hope it wouldn't be quite that fast - I'm not expecting the coach to drift that much.

[Stubby47]

Progress of sorts.

 

I've sourced a pair of Matchbox Motorway springs, which I can use instead of the marine-quality cord I was intending to use.  This will mean also sourcing a toothed cog, but I'm hoping the Maplin ones, or alternatively ones from Eileen's will be compatible.

 

The PSMT as yet doesn't have a full lighting contraption - but all that's needed is a pair of side screens from thin ply and a drop-on frame with the lighting attached.

 

If I use the same dimensions for the boards (that I've used for the PSMT) for The Garden (project #2) and The Circle ( project #3), then the same lighting frame can be used on all three layouts.

[Alister_G]

 

If I use the same dimensions for the boards (that I've used for the PSMT) for The Garden (project #2) and The Circle ( project #3), then the same lighting frame can be used on all three layouts.

 

That's a cunning plan, I like that!

 

Al.

[Stubby47]

The two springs have arrived - all 4.25m of them (each). This should be enough for both this layout and The Circle (instead of the String I was intending to use.)

[Northroader]

http://www.voetica.com/voetica.php?collection=3&poet=685&poem=3354

[Northroader]

Whoops, I see that link was already done on the old thread. Intro says: "various scenic items" (plural?, best get busy!) same scale as before?

[Stubby47]

Yep, the board is in the loft, unchanged from the visit to Taunton.

 

Except now I have a static grass machine, a workable propulsion method, a simpler loco chassis arrangement and the sheer dumb perseverance to actually finish it.

[Edwardian]

Glad to see this back on rail.