Subject:
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Re: Tilting Train Movies: APT and Acela
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Thu, 15 Nov 2001 05:35:59 GMT
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Viewed:
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348 times
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Hi James,
I have gotta say - that APT is extremely good and very authentic looking -
not just the tilting action but the overall appearence of the model.
Being originally from England, I had the pleasure of seeing the real APT a
few times hurtling through Warrington Bank Quay station and seeing it tilt
round the corner just outside the station. You have captured the look VERY
well indeed.
Well done!
Richard.
"James Mathis" <thakius@nmt.edu> wrote in message
news:GMsx7v.Hrz@lugnet.com...
> I have revisited the tilting train construction many times over the past
> months. I have been exploring designs mods for the model of the British
> Rail Advanced Passenger Train (APT) as well as newly incorporating a • similar
> tilting mechanism into a model of Amtrak's Acela.
>
> First, I must sadly report that I have opted-out of the simultaneous "lift
> and tilt" design. As the model of the APT developed into a full and more
> proper configuration of 8 cars, the demand on the wheels/bogies to apply • the
> necessary force to both lift and tilt the car bodies caused a severe
> increase in rolling resistance--particularly through extremely • curvey-curve
> sections of test track that were as long as the 8-car APT set. Just too
> much friction and binding between the train wheel flanges against the • inner
> track rails as the wheels are "pushed" into the track by the weight of the
> cars. To run the 8-car set in "lift and tilt" mode, I resorted to using
> quantity three 9v train motors and quantity two speed regulators! The
> current draw from the three motors pushing-pulling the APT set was just • too
> great for a single speed regulator. So, however poor of judgement it may
> have been, I connected two speed regulators to the the track and dialed in
> the same polarity and voltage position. In this power configuration, the
> full APT complement of 8-cars in "lift and tilt" mode worked
> great!...however unconventional or unwise....
>
> In an effort to require only one speed regulator, I have now opted to • raise
> the car bodies off the wheels/bogies by approximately 1-plate; perhaps
> remeniscent of Eric Brok's original tilting Metroliner set(?). I would • like
> to remind you that his design is an elegant inclined pivot that locates • the
> tilting axis at approximately floor level of the car bodies, just above • the
> bogie plate. The APT now has a somewhat unsightly air-gap now showing
> between the base of the car bodies and the top surface of the • wheels/bogies.
>
> In August 2001, I was extremely pleased to be invited by the PNLTC to
> participate in their LEGOLAND California event. I was graciously allowed • to
> run this 8-car version of the "air-gap" APT at the venue. The 8-car set • ran
> on a fairly straight large oval of track without very many "curvey-curves"
> on a single speed regulator. However, I think I had taxed the three 9v
> train motors too much, for at least one motor would "heat-out" and stop
> working after a few tens of minutes of run-time; the APT set would just • stop
> dead on the track.
>
> So, in the following movie of the "air gap" APT, I had to use two speed
> regulators and three 9v motors. Test runs using a single speed regulator
> with the three motors yielded extreme slow-down through the most tortuous
> curvey sections of track. This MPEG movie is rather large at • approximately
> 4.5MB; recorded at about 25frames/second, it is about 12 seconds long.
>
> 8-car "Air-Gap" APT movie (three 9v train motors and two speed • regulators):
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=6789
>
> I have worked toward incorporating a similar forced-tilt mechanism into my
> model of Amtrak's Acela train set. The primary difference between the • Acela
> and the APT is that the Acela does not have shared wheelsets between the
> cars. I am having derailments of the Acela if I run it in "push" mode;
> i.e., when the 9v motor is at the rear of the train. (I am trying to • force
> the use of *only* one 9v motor.) The forces exerted through the magnetic
> couplers and the wheel/bogie axis of rotation cause the passenger car • wheel
> flanges to jump out of the track. Also, the space-available in the
> locomotive cab area is restricted if one build to allow a minifig driver
> on-board. This is a source of frustration in the tilt construction of the
> locomotive nose of the Acela. The following movie of the tilting Acela is
> about 1.9MB, 25frames/sec, and about 5 seconds long.
>
> 4-car "Air-Gap" Acela movie (one 9v train motor and one speed regulator):
> http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=3021
>
> Thanks for reading, or at least "jumping" to the movies. I hope they show
> the tilting action well-enough. Sorry about the file size and download
> times for those of you with slow connections. I know I feel your pain; my
> modem connection speed from home where I upload the files is a snail-pace
> 21.6k. Time for a coffee break.
>
> later,
> James Mathis
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Tilting Train Movies: APT and Acela
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| (...) It is a great pleasure to hear from someone who has seen the real-life APT in service tilting at speed through the countryside. Oh, I wish I could have seen it run. I lived for a few months in England when I was 11 years old. I have *very* (...) (23 years ago, 15-Nov-01, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Tilting Train Movies: APT and Acela
|
| I have revisited the tilting train construction many times over the past months. I have been exploring designs mods for the model of the British Rail Advanced Passenger Train (APT) as well as newly incorporating a similar tilting mechanism into a (...) (23 years ago, 14-Nov-01, to lugnet.trains)
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