Tilt Table

NMRA Train Show display

Click on the picture for a larger version…

Image Copyright (c) 2006 Tim Warris

This is a shot of the “Tilting table” we built for the NMRA Train Show in Philadelphia in July. What this table did is slowly rock back and forth allowing a stock boxcar to roll over the double crossover that was constructed using Fast Tracks fixtures. Each time the table would rock, all four turnouts would switch, and the car would roll through a different route.

To stop the car from rolling off the end of the table, small brushes would “pop” up between the rails, rubbing on the bottom of the axles and would slow the car to a stop. These brushes looked like weeds between the rails. This was quite effective, stopping the car every time and not causing it to come off the rails.

Building this contraption was quite an involved project, taking about 4 weeks. The electronic controls to make it would seemed simple enough, but was very difficult. Working with timers is not simple, fortunately Ron was able to work out the necessary logic and design a schematic to make it work.

This worked flawlessly throughout the entire show, cycling about 50,000 times, and never a single derail. It was quite a crowd pleaser…

-Tim

Posted by: Tim | 09-01-2006 | 09:09 AM