Bob’s been in touch with his scratch built HO trolley line:
“Hi Al,
Love all the posts,ideas,and videos from your subscribers.
Every bit of it makes me think of different ways to accomplish various parts of my layout.
Attached are some pics and a video of the Trolley Line that I put on my Basement wall.
It has all hand made houses, trees and the sky background which I also painted.
Lots of people and the businesses are named after various family members. Cathy’s (my wife) Chocolate Chip Cookies, Bob’s Train World etc…)
It is HO scale, runs on DC, ( I also have a 5’ x 10’ HO Train layout that is all DCC)
The Trolley is controlled by a Circuitron AR2 Auto Reverse module coupled to a Circuitron DT-4 module which allows it to stop at intervals designated buy the Opto-Sensors located in the track.
I live in Springfield Pennsylvania, just southeast of Philadelphia, in the good old USA !
I hope you and your readers enjoy my little world!
Thanks for all your hard work!
Bob”
Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
Loved what Bob has done.
It just goes to show (again!) don’t let lack of space stop you having fun.
And best of all, starting small lets you get your feet wet, and in no time at all, you’ll be hatching plans for the next one.
It’s a great way to go from the armchair, to actually laying track and enjoying yourself.
That’s all for today folks. A huge thanks to Bob.
In fact, it’s given me an idea, I think I might do a post linking to all the layouts that don’t take up a lot of space.
That’s all for today, folks.
Please don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide if you want to have some fun of your own.
Best
Al
Looks great!!! I am waiting to move to build my layout.I will have something similar to this in the middle of it,going through “town” as the larger trains run around the outside of that. I also plan to have a monorail going around the room at about eye level(wall mounted like you have done).Keep up the excellent work and most importantly-ENJOY
Superb Trolley Line! Wow!
That trolley line is inspirational. Cheers! NJ Mark
The trolley line is great fun. Thanks for sharing it with us.
WOW! DO any store lights or buildings have lights for night operations?
Fantastic ! ! !
Love the painted buildings and the circuitry to make it work. Very nice job from a guy who grew up in the Delaware Valley.
MN Dan
Great layout and show for the Trolly. Great use of space as well.
I have an “O” Guage Trolly I am going to put in my city scene. I assume the electrical I saw you make your self. Would you share how you got it to stop and go?
I would love to have it stop and go. Currently it hits the bumper at each end and reverses direction.
Great job!
Sincerely,
Jim Beal
Dude, that is slicker’n snot on a doorknob. What a great idea.
Looking good!!
Excellent use of material – gives many ideas what can be done with limited space.
Thanks for sharing
You can run trolley cars of the overhead wire quite effectively, including trolley reversers at the ends of the line, guaranteed to make people fascinated. If your layout has to be in portable sections, it’s harder to keep a constant tension in the overhead, but still perfectly do-able using pantograph pick up and all-wheels current return. Very satisfying too, watching the pan flexing gently up and down as it runs.
Rod
Glad to see a trolley line. Sold my O scale collection of cars, kits & trackage to finance the manufacture & sales of high quality headphone amplifier. Now have a few pieces of HO traction items.
BRAVO!
Thanks for all the nice comments and compliments.
No, there wasn’t a lot of room behind the houses to install lights, I did think about it but decided not to undertake that idea.
Jim,
The Trolley Line is 12Volt DC train controller which controls the speed and a 12volt wall wart that controls the Circuitron AR-2 module coupled to a Circuitron DT-4 which I bought at a local train store.
The AR-2 allows it to stop and reverse direction when the Trolley covers a light sensor in-bedded between the rails.
The DT-4 also has up to 4 inputs for light sensors to stop the Trolley wherever you place the sensors.
They both have controls for the length of time that they stop and reverse the Trolley .
Future plans include extending the line around the room passing thru a park/wooded area.
Very cool idea I like it
This is so unusual cant wait for the next instalment.