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Magnorail moving car system


ianmacc
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Mine is actually a long dog bone oval of magnorail which is at the front of the layout providing a single road with two-way traffic. Magnorail is probably better suited to that than the Faller system is.

Edited by colin penfold
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Would love to see if anyone could get a Scammell Scarab working using this system. I've seen it achieved on this site using Faller System and even a RC version, but with my limited modelling skills this looks a much easier option.

Having watched that excellent video, I think motorising any vehicle is doable, you just need to accept the limitilations compared to the faller or RC options. Magnorail looks great for the right layout, sadly mine will always be too small for this or the Faller system.

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Rob is right, any vehicle is possible with magnorail as all the moving parts are below the road surface. You just need any model vehicle with rolling wheels and space to fit a (small) magnet underneath. My bus and taxi are just off the shelf models with the magnet fixed underneath and off they went....

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Whats the minimum radius of the return loop Colin?

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Hi Phil. Strictly off scene you can use a turning cog bought from magnorail which is 7cm diameter. I "surfaced" that area with clear smooth acetate to allow the vehicles to "skid" round very unrealistically. You still get the odd occurrence of vehicles' resistance causing the magnets to sepearte but its no big deal, just mate them up on the next lap. The clear section is also useful in aligning the vehicle magnet with the track magnet.

 

https://www.avtproducts.com/a-53703950/magnorail-uitbreidingen/dubbele-keerlus-blauwe-lijn/

 

HTH

Edited by colin penfold
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Thanks Colin - very tempted for the next version of Abbotswood

 

Phil

All I would say Phil is that you will need to think carefully about baseboard joints on the magnorail plastic chain. There are possibilites but not easy for a portable layout. Could you accommodate a long thin board with just the road on it perhaps?

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You would be right, yes. It is user assembed and can therefore be broken occasionally. Mine crosses a baseboard joint but it's a home layout not for frequent dismantling. That's why I think it would be tricky for a multi board / portable layout. How I would do it if i had to? Make an access point near the chain drive motor. When dismantling open access point, break chain and use the motor to feed the chain out. Assembly reverse of same.

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  • 4 months later...
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Re baseboard joints.

Assuming the links are reasonably easy to split and re-make, a bit of creativity in the placement of a zebra crossing, re-surfaced bit of road, metal plates etc as lift out sections might be a viable option?

 

Mike.

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The links can be a challenge to break and remake. To join two links they need to be at about 45 degrees to each other, which means the length of the chain is slightly shortened. I only make or break my chain at one of the 180 degrees return  wheels, where I have an access point. These wheels are about 50mm diameter, and the wheel itself is removed allowing the chain to be laid inside the original radius enough for two links to form the required 45 degree angle.  

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This system look really good.  There is an European layout where an autobahn runs alongside a canal and a railway.  It is very impressive with two lanes of traffic moving in opposite directions and I think there is a barge moving along the canal.

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Couple of points on splitting the chain for an exhibition layout....my advice would be don't.......

 

It's a bit of a pig of a job to re assemble the chain, you may find you end up reassembling the lot,  I took mine apart for cleaning a couple of times and basically you end up with a lot of links....it'd be a pain doing this every time.

 

Secondly if you're planning on using over joints you'll need something to smooth the sliders over this and it'll not be easy to disguise on a scenic section, I had an inspection hatch on mine and ended up using Tamiya tape to smooth the joints between road and hatch, find off stage but not easy to sort elsewhere, add in the fact that card is really the recommended road surface applying an adhesive tape could end causing more problems. 

 

Like anything else it's not impossible but it's another thing to sort out when you've bounced your layout 100 plus miles in the back of a van.

 

I think I can comment on it seeing as I've used it and bounced a layout many miles!

 

 

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18 hours ago, bécasse said:

Having watched the system in use a number of times, I have come to the conclusion that the most impressive things are the cyclists with their legs "operating" the pedals.

 

I tend to agree - simple but effective!

 

 

Most young visitors prefer the cyclist to the trains!

 

Tony

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  • 1 year later...
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Please, would a Magnorail track fit into this space?

P1020519.JPG.817852be25374c8f7abe9b83d918ac66.JPG

 

The maximum width available is about 150 mm, in front of the 13 inch mark on the rule.

 

I am planning a model of a classic vehicle restorers and it would be fun if one of their cars could go for a test drive. I am thinking of a 75 mm diameter roundabout at one end and the second reversal inside their workshop (the cardboard box).

 

P1020521.JPG.09cfe452cea14a4d83ebe95589569825.JPG

 

 

The other exits from the roundabout being purely scenic and static.

 

- Richard.

Edited by 47137
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I have some Herpa Minis and the turning circle of an Austin Mini was about 29 feet / 8.5 metres. This is about 98 mm in 1:87 scale, a bit more than a Magnorail 180 degree curve but not desperately wrong for a driver testing a car to its limits! The roundabout can be a round dot of paint.

 

I have ordered up a "bicycle" starter kit from Germany, this comes with a slower motor than the "cars" version and if it really doesn't fit I will have the bikes for another layout project.

 

- Richard.

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The regular return loop wheel on Magnorail is 52mm diameter so you can run two straight lanes between them at  about 62mm centres even where the motor is situated. On my N dogbone track I have narrowed the lanes to about 30mm centres to suit the scale. I reckon a "handbrake turn" can be accommodated on the return loop without problem. I have N gauge buses going round mine, and on the Facebook group for Faller Car System there is an extensive Magnorail layout with a 1/76 RT bus turning 180° on the 50mm return loop. They did not teach that at Chiswick.

 

 

 

Edited by Mike Harvey
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