Subject:
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Re: 9v Motor Placement Help
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:01:47 GMT
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Viewed:
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3696 times
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In lugnet.trains, Jason J Railton wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Ross Crawford wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Anthony Sava wrote:
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I have a Super Chief that I’ve been taking to TexLUG meetings which
currently has 2 locomotives (A’s) and 7 cars. Each of the locos has a 9v
motor each. I’ve been looking to aquire a third locomotive so I can make a
B unit (to make an A-B-A config) so I can add a third motor to the train
and help save my motors overall.
My question is - which is better?
One motor on each locomotive - 1 on the first A, 1 on the B, and 1 on the
last A
or
Two motors on the B - 1 on the first A and making the second A powerless
I’ve been told by one club they have the motors spread out, but for the
only reason being thats the way they do it, not because its better.
I’d appreciate any feedback. Thanks!
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With 7 cars, I think 2 motors is plenty, I’d leave the B motorless. When
pulling a longer train, it can be necessary to add a motor in the middle of
the train, because the magnets just aren’t strong enough to pull a long
train (yes there are other non-LEGO solutions to that like
rare earth magnets).
ROSCO
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Two motors should pull that train comfortably, so long as all the wheels are
rolling freely. I’d put one each on the first two units. A third motor
would be an advantage if your layout has lots of turns.
When adding a third motor, it’s a good idea to think carefully about where to
put it. You don’t want it near the end of a train. Pushing trains isn’t as
efficient as pulling them. Think of it on a plain floor without the rails -
pulling a train makes it go in a straight line. Pushing it is unstable and
it will wave about randomly. On rails, that means more friction from side to
side.
But, a motor a bit further down a long train can help with corners, where the
back end of your train can be travelling in the opposite direction to the
front. So, somewhere around the halfway point works well. It’ll still have
some pulling to do, but won’t bunch-up with the units ahead of it.
Jason R
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You could also put two motors under one of the A units (I did that with my CNW
f-unit, though I can’t find any good pictures to prove it). I’ve pulled over 30
cars with the normal LEGO magnets, but it is pushing the limit of their
strength. The more curves the train will be in at any one time, the harder it
gets. The Super Chief cars have greater contact area with the trucks and thus,
more friction on the curves. I don’t have problems with two locomotives (one
motor each) pulling six SC style cars. My
newest passenger train
has an A-B-A set (one motor each) and 11 SC style cars and works fine without
the rare earth magnets or motors distributed throughout the train (though both
tricks were used when we did
4 locomotives + 18 SC
cars).
If you want to go over two motors, you’ll probably need more juice than the
normal LEGO transformer puts out. We typically put two transformers on opposite
sides of the layout for COLTC shows, but do so at your own risk as it is not
recommended by LEGO (also makes switching out trains more adventuresome).
As for multiple motors under one locomotive, the ones I’ve done this with always
seem to dirty the tracks quicker, but that may also be due to the fact that I
have a roll of pennies in them (so I have not ruled out confounding factors).
But if choosing between two motors under one locomotive or two motors under two
locomotives, I’d suggest the latter if you have the option.
Benn
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: 9v Motor Placement Help
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| (...) Two motors should pull that train comfortably, so long as all the wheels are rolling freely. I'd put one each on the first two units. A third motor would be an advantage if your layout has lots of turns. When adding a third motor, it's a good (...) (17 years ago, 15-Mar-07, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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