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Tilt Table

NMRA Train Show Fast Tracks Display

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I haven’t worked on the Bronx Terminal project for some time now as we have quite a bit going on this summer. Once we get the train show out of the way and complete the building, I will get back to it!

One week to go until the NMRA Train Show in Detroit! We will be attending again this year, if you are also attending, be sure to drop by and say Hi.

I built this display for last years show and are going to be bringing it along this year.

If you watch carefully in the video you can see the “brush brakes” that pop up between the rails and slow the car to a gentle stop. These are mounted under the tilting table and adjusted to just “brush” the bottom of the car as it rolls over them.

We wanted a display that would have a bit of a “cool factor” to it. A small layout was considered but that would have required power and some sort of automation to keep it going on its own. Since there are a lot of layout displays at these shows we decided to go with this instead. It runs off of a 12v battery, so no power is required and therefore no hazardous cords on the floor.

This display serves two purposes, one it acts as a display at shows, and two it allows us a way to torture test our trackwork. With 50,000 cycles and counting, none of the switch points have broke from the throwbars, throughly dispelling the myth that points soldered solid to the throwbar will be a source of failure. Allowing a unmodified boxcar (ok, I changed out the plastic wheels for free rolling metal ones, but only so it would roll on its own) to coast through the trackwork shows how smoothly and flawlessly turnouts built in our fixtures will perform.

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Of course not having a layout to work on I got totally carried away finishing off the display. Most of the details were robbed from my Port Kelsey layout.

Last year at the Train Show in Philadelphia this ran for three days straight, without a single derailment. A quick calculation determined 50,000 cycles. Speaks well for the trackwork, and for the four Tortoise switch machines underneath!

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-Tim

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 07-20-2007 | 11:07 AM
Posted in: Latest Posts | Comments (1)

Global Warming?

Ontario Palm Trees

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This made me take a second look. Palm trees on Lake Erie? They are real, and seem to be growing well along the front of Callahans in Port Dover. Somehow I don’t think they will still be there in December….

-Tim

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 07-19-2007 | 11:07 AM
Posted in: Picture of the Day | Comments (0)

A Real Hog

One of my favorites….

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I have to admit it, of all the incredible looking bikes in Port Dover last week, this one is one of my favorites.   This horrendous piece of crap is held together with wire and luck and is the personification of a hard core biker.  The reality is he probably spends as much time to get this bike to look like this as the shine and polish guys do…

-Tim

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 07-17-2007 | 09:07 AM
Posted in: Picture of the Day | Comments (0)

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