I'd like to try and animate some cranes, derricks, steam donkeys and hoists in N-scale. Has anyone ever seen this done successfully or have any how-to's, hints or books that they can share? I've heard that at the National N-TRAK Conventions, clinics have been presented on the subject of animation - did anyone attend these or keep any handouts? Thank you in advance...
great question paul, i've been thinking of some ways to do some animation. problem is n is just too small for "detail" items. but i've seen merry-go-rounds, ski-lifts, cranes (container), and other large scale stuff motorized.
At our NTrak club, we have a skip loader that has cycled thousands of times. Underneath the module there is a small motor with a wheel that rotates at about 1RPM . Attached to the edge of this wheel is a fine wire that passes up through the layout and is attached to the bucket of a skip loader. The wire flexes to take up the circular motion. Tada! No parts to wear out! Tony Burzio San Diego, CA
I'm a member of the Sun-N-Sand NTrak club, and we have several modules with animation. These are favorites with the public, and some of them have pushbuttons and a timer circuit so the feature is off until they push the button. It gives them a way to get involved in a non-destructive way. The requirements for an animated feature are simple. You need a supply of 1 or 2 RPM "gearhead" motors. Hankscraft makes the ones used in free-standing retail displays. If you have a friend who works in stock at a store, you might be able to get some when they are done with the displays. They are not expensive to purchase, either. Edmund Scientific used to carry them. Gearhead motors are available in the hobby, too, but they tend to be pretty expensive by comparison. They probably are way overbuilt for your purposes anyway. The most reliable animated devices are the simple ones with a single function. The mine car is a good example. We have one of those also. Carnival rides are available as kits. Horsehead oil pumps, too. It doesn't take much action to add life to a scene. A city trolley on a stop/pause/start cicuit is fun. There are stop/pause/reverse/start circuits if you want it to run point-to point. A mill race with a water wheel turning is easy. If you make it "underdriven" instead of "overdriven" the lack of water movement is less obvious. There are a host of lighting effects, that while they don't actually "move" they do add life. There is a detection circuit for grade crossing flashers, and working signal systems too. Neon lights, black light effects, chase lights on a downtown theatre marquee - those are all available. Someone sells a kit to simulate a working drive-in-theatre, where you can show "Emperor of the North" every night if you want to. There is a detection circuit for crossing gates, which is very realistic if combined with a gearhead motor or jackscrew point drive to make the gate action slow enough to look realistic. Or you could have a simple UP/DOWN toggle and assign someone to gatetender duty. Actually loading and unloading cars takes the technology to another level. We have a working straddle crane and the truck tractors and container chassis can be postioned by remote control, too. It works well, but is fragile and seems to require a lot of fixin'. Drawbridges are another item frequently animated. The turntable at the roundhouse is a functional piece of animation, too. Other than a pre-packaged kit, I think you are going to find that the most effective and durable animated features were designed by trial and error, and built in place to fit a specific scene. On ours, these more complicated animations are built on mini-scenes that can be lifted out of the layout for repair or tuneups at the workbench. In the event of a failure, we have alternate mini-scenes that drop into the same hole. Most of the alternates are not animated. We have a mini-scene with the Walthers New River Mining coal tipple for instance. The coal tipple is a static model, but it provides a substantial "industry" with a couple of sidings to replace the mini-scene with the container yard, when it is out for repair. I hope this information is helpful. It is a long way to Phoenix from your location, but if you are ever in town on business or pleasure, let me know, and I will try to arrange for you to see our animation "up close and personal." [ 27. January 2005, 01:27: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
A welding torch circuit is available, as is a foundary circuit. They both produce random flashes of random intensity. I don't think much is different except the number and color of the lights it drives. The same one or one very similar also comes as a campfire, I think. Just the thing for your hobo camp. I should have said in my earlier post, the NTrak layout is pretty large, and a little bit of this goes a long way. I think there are only 6 animated features on the current layout, which is 2.25 N Scale miles around. Too much of it, and the novelty wears off quickly and it starts to all look "toy". It also helps to have the feature "off" until a guest presses a button. Some of this stuff is pretty expensive, and the stuff with motors and gears seems to wear out very quickly if run continuously.
The Galveston Model Railroad Club has a N scale modular layout that they take to shows. I've seen it at Houston GATS and also at the San Jac MRR Club Jamboree (which ought to be coming up soon). It's full of animation and is a real crowd pleaser. Here's a link to their website. Not sure how much info you can actually find on the animation itself. http://www.texas-city-tx.org/MuseumRailroadClub.htm Regards
OKNRail has some pump jacks that are animated. I believe they are walthers kits. We also have a plane on our airport module that looks like it is getting ready to take off. it has a small aquarium air pump under the table and blows up through a small hole in the runway to make the prop spin. we also have a helicopter driven by a small motor of some sort with its rotor spinning slowly.
The Dayton Ntrak club has several modules to include a working crane with an electromagnet that is used to load gons with steel scrap. They also have a drive in theater using a small TV as well as a module with a moving parade and a module with a fire with all the associated flashing lights [no real fire is present just all the emergency vehicles]. I believe Gateway Ntrak has the working toronado with sound and lighting effects and the requisite mobile home park. That is really something to see.
I've built a number of animated features for trade show exhibits, though never one in N scale. This thread is piqueing my interest in trying one. The closest I can to model railroading was a near-HO-scale ski lift. My general advice is to overbuild. I buy 12V, 0.4 RPM gearheads at the local Grainger's outlet for about $60. They are rather large and heavy but virtually indestructible. Some of my early attempts failed with smaller motors and gearheads. Alignment must be precise and robust. The gearhead will keep turning no matter what else hangs up. And it's got to be serviceable--if not easily removed, then at least accessible. I had no choice on one display due to a pig-headed CEO (I should never defame pigs like that). With his demands for a "Garden of Eden" environment, it was inevitable that the rotating brain at the bottom of the exhibit would eventually snag something. Of course it did, and shredded the keyed bearing. I must have spent three hours on the top of a 16-foot stepladder, hanging mostly upside-down into a glass case, to retrieve the brain, install another bearing, and get it seated back on correctly. I'd also advise starting very simply--a merry-go-round or ferris wheel.
Kalmbach has a book: "Realistic Animation, Lighting & Sound". I think all 21 projects are reprints of articles in Model Railroader. Check it out at your LHS before you decide to spend $16.95.
I am shortly going to announce the release of my improved flasher based on the TFX407A core. The TFX504A sequencer board simulates welding, fire, different flavours of police, EMT and towing as well as lighthouse beacon. This is a very popular board - easy to use and very powerful. One board does it all. Product page
Mentioned some time ago is the animated wig-wag. They were once produced in N-scale but the mfg. dumped the project (probably due to lack of sales, but I'm not sure). raysaron mentioned "Realistic Animation, Lighting & Sound" which has an HO version of the wig-wag and it could probably be done in N but it's beyond my skill level.
Arc Welding I am interested to buy several numbers of the Integrated Circuit TFX407A, or similar. (only the IC, not a complete kit) Where can I buy this IC ? Appr price? Thanks for all tips. Göran Sweden email gorane@swedemail.se
One member of my club has an Ntrak module with a guy flying a control line model plane, its attached to the figure with a length of thin, rigid wire and the figure spins slowly on a motor under the module. I had a module with a small airfield scene that had a radar antenna that spun slowly with a hankscraft style motor underneath. On a home layout animation, I think, can be overdone and is another thing to maintain but on a display layout to go to train shows it's an attention getter. The layout on the local show circuit that usually has plenty of spectators standing around is a circus/amusement park with lots of rides and such, but just a single oval of track with one train circling around.
some cool animations here : The White River and Northern Model Railroad: Animation Videos The Sceniced and Undecided Railway
Rick Spano is a master at n scale animation on this fantastic layout in NJ. Rick has taught clinic classes on the subject and does amazing work: The Sceniced and Undecided Railway
I really liked Rick's Hobby Shop that had a working train set in the front window. That has to be the smallest working layout I've ever seen. Very impressed with the rest of his animation, too.
