Nelevation System

[SweenyTod1]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this, but as it would be part of a track plan, I hope its ok.

I have been looking into this device again and I wonder If anyone on here has bought one and can give a review of how well it works, value for money etc.?

I sent them an email with a question regarding a "second level kit option  (£30 per end)", of which there is no photo nor explanation of what it does?  I've not had a reply so far, but that's just a couple of days.

The reviews on their website are not current, so I'm suspicious that they may not be trading either due to Covid restrictions or permanently. All in all, it looks to be a clever piece of kit and though somewhat expensive, is the ideal solution to limited space layouts as well as the saving of track, points, wire and control ( DC) etc. etc.

So if you have one or have seen one in full operation, please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you,

Tod

[PaulT]

I saw a demo at a show when launched at least 5 years ago.

I have an Engineering background and was impressed by the quality of their desgn and implementation.

 

I had in mind to buy a part kit for an application that could not use the full straight works.

 

They informed me thjat they stopped releasing kits years ago....too many comebacks and no control over the installation.

[SweenyTod1]

Thanks for that Paul. My suspicions were correct then. Its a shame that there is no update on their website or even taken down. I presume then I won't get a reply from them, unless they make other products  and are still trading those.

A good idea, but not robust enough [t seems, especially as track alignment is key to the device working reliably every time!

 

Tod

[AY Mod]

The site search throws up previous useful topics - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/search/&q=Nelevation&quick=1

[DCB]

There was a post      Nelevator in OO  By GWR-King, December 18, 2019 in Modelling Questions, Help and Tips.

Its a brilliant concept, far too expensive for my budget and too short for my OO trains.   

I would like an OO version 9 feet long but I doubt it can be can be made to work reliably.  However a single track vertical traverser moving between two levels, even a 9ft one should be do able as you could support the deck in the middle as well as the ends. I believe  Peter Denny described an experimental one made principally from Meccano in a mid 1960s Magazine, Railway Muddler?  Constructor?   See Pic plagiarised from the earlier post. 

Edited June 17, 2020 by DavidCBroad

[PaulT]

If you look at nelevator website you will see why their deliveries are very slow.

Of course a 9ft long OO version is doable. A skilled engineer with relevant experience could design it and either DiY or get it made and it could be very reliable.   Whether you would be able to afford it on a hobby budget is another issue.

 

If I did it for the market place I would be looking at mechanical  development costs > £10k, software development cost may well exceed that. Then component costs in the region of £1k per device. To recoup , one would need to sell an awful lot  at £1k x N to make it feasible as a commercial product.  I would face exactly the manufacturing/labour challenges as the nelevator chap is struggling with.

 

IMHO there are two ways the average modeller is going to get a machine like this at an affordable price.  One is a one off DiY where the development and design would be a hobby project in itself for a year or three OR a Chinese entrepreneur spotted a world market.

[PaulT]

17 hours ago, SweenyTod1 said:

Thanks for that Paul. My suspicions were correct then. Its a shame that there is no update on their website or even taken down. I presume then I won't get a reply from them, unless they make other products  and are still trading those.

A good idea, but not robust enough [t seems, especially as track alignment is key to the device working reliably every time!

 

Tod

I did not mean they had ceased trading.  I did mean that kits were too much pain under warranty and they only took orders where they could install the gear.  Their manufacturing woes mean that the rate of production doesn't keep up with demand.  ASAIK they are still trading and working to complete orders in the pipeline, so not (yet) taking new orders.  I wish them luck.

[SweenyTod1]

7 hours ago, PaulT said:

I did not mean they had ceased trading.  I did mean that kits were too much pain under warranty and they only took orders where they could install the gear.  Their manufacturing woes mean that the rate of production doesn't keep up with demand.  ASAIK they are still trading and working to complete orders in the pipeline, so not (yet) taking new orders.  I wish them luck.

Thanks for that Paul. My suspicions were correct then. Its a shame that there is no update on their website or even taken down. I presume then I won't get a reply from them,  [t seems, especially as track alignment is key to the device working reliably every time!

 

On 16/06/2020 at 12:55, AY Mod said:

The site search throws up previous useful topics - https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/search/&q=Nelevation&quick=1

Tod

 

Good to know the project isn't  completely dead in the water and I wish it every success. I can fully understand the cost implications due to its complex construction, but not managed as well as it could have been, as many of the comments on the list of posts sent to me from the Mod, relate to customer complaints and  questions, some still outstanding it seems. A brilliant concept, but I feel it was too much too soon. Definitely not a DIY project, but as suggested already, a simpler, more robust idea, may be the way to go. The interest and support for such a device is obviously there, so lets hope the future will be successful.

 

Tod

[Steve Stubbs]

I bought one of the very first ones, I think i was told it was no 13 off the production line.     I had ordered a kit, but they decided that they were too complex for the average punter to assemble.     I did get it at the pre-order price.    In essence it is what I wanted, I have the middle length N Gauge one, each track will hold a diesel and 9 bogie coaches.     Or a Heavy freight diesel and 24 4 wheel goods vehicles.

 

I had a few problems with it.    All were solved, but very frustrating at the time.    I had bought it to use on a modular layout with the Weston N Gauge Modular group.    I made some modules to take it, with a run around track going either side of the main span on both Up and Down, a scissors at each end so all to tracks could feed either direction running, and four cassette docks for use with DMUs, light locos, and very short trains without the need to occupy a full length track on the main device.       To carry it around to meetings, I used a sack trolley, which meant carrying it at an angle.

 

First problem, not mentioned in the literature, was the track spacing at each end is wider than the standard Peco, which in itself is too wide.     To get track alignment from the incoming ends of the two scissors within the length of the triple module meant very tight reverse curves outwards, I ended chopping up Peco Setrack second radius curves to make it work.    But this involved changing the large radius turnouts for the run around and docking station tracks for short radius to make the needed space.

 

Next problem was the Peco code 55 trackage in the carrying trays was not fixed in position longditudinally so it moved when it was being transported at an angle on the sack trolley.   Net result was rails torn out of the retained sleepering strip where they stuck in the entrys as the carriers moved up or down.   There is only 2mm clearance at either end between fixed and moving tracks.   I replaced about 7 full lengths of Peco 55 and used a small amount of UHU to retain the tracks from sliding in their trays.   However this occured again at the other end, the meter length being fishplated to get the extra length.   Yes I had forgotten to anticipate that.    The fishplates didnt hold.   I then had to cut and refit another set of tracks at the shorter end.    The Nelevator people sent me some of the vertical retaining clips as I had to destroy the ones there to get the damaged track off.

 

The third issue was simply in my view bad design.    I started getting the track carriers stopping while being driven down, then falling free once tapped to free them and the indexing was lost..     I rang the Nelevator people who said remove the cover over the stepper motors, what was happening is that the drive from the stepper motors is transferred to a circular polished steel shaft through a meshed gear, the gear (Nylon) being retained by a small grub screw.    There is no way a nylon gear with a tiny grub screw will be kept in position for long on a polished steel shaft with no 'flat' for the grubscrew to engage in.    Under load, the gears were being driven laterally out of mesh by the torque.    They were already aware of the problem, presumably someone else had already reported it.    They explained they had changed their manufacturing procedure to bond the gears to the shafts.    ( I had already anticipated this and had applied the locktite already).    BUT they had not advised the owners of those elevators already out in the wide world of either the problem or the solution.

 

The final thing was the need for a 'KILL' switch in the system, I did see a prototype mk 2 handset at a show at least a couple of years back which had one.    If you are not that near and one of your clubmembers drives into an already loaded tray, the result is a cascade of rolling stock down onto the floor.    All you can do is rush over and pull the power lead out, before attacking the relevant club member with any convenient hammer or wrench.       And then all the carefull indexiing is out of the window and you have to reindex all the tracks before continuing.    

 

Yes I still have it, and still like it, and would I buy another?   Maybe but the price is a lot higher now.     It is probably as cheap now to build a fiddle yard the old way with ladders of sidings, but that uses a heck of a lot more space and effort.   But I wont try transporting it about without extra care again.     I cant see the use of them in OO other than if you only have very short trains.    

 

Steve in Somerset

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Steve Stubbs
grammer

[PaulT]

I went to nElevator website again and regsitered "an interest" and signed up for the newsletter.

The owner confirmed that they ARE trading but not accepting new orders until the backlog is cleared.

 

He will let me know when order book reopens.

 

It worked for Ultrascale!

[jwd]

On 22/06/2020 at 16:33, PaulT said:

I went to nElevator website again and regsitered "an interest" and signed up for the newsletter.

The owner confirmed that they ARE trading but not accepting new orders until the backlog is cleared.

 

He will let me know when order book reopens.

 

It worked for Ultrascale!

 

With all the lockdown i'm sure its put a spanner in the works for deliveries but has anyone heard of or had their Nelevator delivered this year?

 

My last contact was May 2019 and I haven't heard anything since, no-one picks up their phone and haven't any responses to my emails, from the above they obviously reply to potential new customers via the website, what about answering their existing customers??

 

I ordered mine in October 2016 so it's been a while.......