Steam Monorail

[Gabor]

Hi everyone!

This is my newest creation, a remote controlled minifig scaled monorail, which is not fast, not modern, not streamlined, but old, dirty and slow. Despite or because of these fact, I hope you like it!

The video:

Maybe you remember my RC STS crane (http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/380083). The temperature was +1°C in that video, in this video it was +42°C! The bridge and the other things under the track contains approx 1000 bricks! On the last Malug meeting we made a bridge building competition and after that we got the bricks. What a cool thing, without them, the train destroyed the track. And an advice: if you build a monorail, don’t make the video in a rock-garden. Find a flat and horizontal table, and your life will be very comfortable! :D (to make the scenes with the bridge took more than 4 hours, I had to rebuild the whole track after every failed record)

The Track looks simple, but it has to be strong and stable, because the train’s centre of gravity is in a high position. Of course the technic pieces are the best for it! The blue 2L pins are necessary. If we use only the small pins (with stud on one of its ends) the system part of the track can leave the technic part easily.

Behind the windows:

I found out the method I used, while I was building my RC Mercedes Citaro (http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/349750). The main feature of this method is that the model has an only-technic module inside, and it is covered by system elements and walls. The inside modul is completely independent, it can work perfectly without the system parts. In my Mercedes I used this only at the driving mechanism. The main advantage of the construction is the stability. The technic pins and liftarms (built in three directions) are strong enough against the forces caused by motors and gear ratio (and crashes…).

More pictures: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/392844

Edited July 19, 2014 by Gabor

[JopieK]

Looks very nice! be careful for you LEGO though, 42 degrees C is quite hot I think!

[bjorkan]

Very nice, and I like the video, like some retro sci fi :)

[Rail Co]

I Like the design of it! Very compact!!! Nice to see a team locomotive in monorail for once :D

Hope to see more :P

-RailCo

[Hrw-Amen]

Very good to see, the video was good to see it running in the garden and despite of it being 42C it still appeared to be very windy the way the trees were blowing about behind.

The steam train looks good as well and the whole thing appears to fit together well and runs good to.

[zephyr1934]

Very well done, and you hit two birds with one stone (monorail and garden railroading). So would the train work with the old 4.5v/12v rail? (using just one rail for the monorail track)

[Redimus]

Nice.

You should try to do this one next!

[legoman666]

That's pretty awesome. Thanks for showing the internals! Clever use of the tires to make it go.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Awesome project!

I like your original idea! ;-)

[dr_spock]

Cool video and clever concept. Does it have a tender?

[Man with a hat]

Wow. Now that's something different. Very clever and original idea. And a nice video as well. That's another interpretation of a police station...

[Gabor]

Thanks for your kind comments! I'm glad you like it!

@JopieK: Sometimes I put the whole equipment into the shadow, but that was the only one time, when I had enough free time to make the scenes.

@Hrw-Amen: The weather was quite windy, but the wind wasn't cold!

@zephyr1934: The 12V/4,4V trains can't work with only one rail. A minimum of two rails are necessary to set up the current circuit. The current goes into the motor through the wheel, and comes out through the wheel on the other side. If we want to do it with one rail, (if we look only the current-problem and not the balance of the train, or other technically questions) it's necessary to use for example an overhead wire.

Hope that I write these things correctly, if no, please revise it!

@dr_spock: A tender? Do you want to buy it?

[UrbanErwin]

Some very interesting techniques in the propulsion of the monorail

[zephyr1934]

@zephyr1934: The 12V/4,4V trains can't work with only one rail. A minimum of two rails are necessary to set up the current circuit. The current goes into the motor through the wheel, and comes out through the wheel on the other side. If we want to do it with one rail, (if we look only the current-problem and not the balance of the train, or other technically questions) it's necessary to use for example an overhead wire.

Sorry, I didn't mean the complete track, I meant using just one of the rails in place of bending the 1x2's to make curves, e.g., from the old Lego ideas book, 241

(even in 1971 TLG was contemplating SNOT)

Meanwhile,

@Redimus that thing is insane, also very interesting that it was successful in its day.

[Commander Wolf]

Cute video... but dat Chocobo music! Was there supposed to be some sort of story? I couldn't quite tell.

I would be worried about the heat, but only because I had a traumatic accident in which I left a bunch of MoCs in my car on a hot day and all the bricks got super loose. Super fail.

[mrfuture]

That was a different take on a monorail. Nice ! Monorail on 12 V can be done. But it has a hanging train insted of top of the rail.

[Locomotive Annie]

What a lovely steam monorail and quite ingenious in the way the drive is laid out. I have a big soft spot for steam monorails as I built one of my own some time ago using the Ewings system.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=81307&hl=kotanga

[ScotNick]

Really looks good, all the small details and the train as a whole! Brick on Gabor

[JopieK]

There is also a guy @ 1000steine that made a steam monorail:

(note: topic is in German)

[Gabor]

Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate all of them!

@zephyr1934: OK, I understand! Maybe it could go on that old track, but it wouldn't too stable...

@Commander Wolf: Oh, I'm so sorry your MOCs.

@Locomotive Annie: Thanks for showing your train to me! Fatntastic!

@:JopieK: Thank for sharing!

Edited July 25, 2014 by Gabor