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My layout is still in the planning stages at this point, but one thing I know for certain is that I want to feature a lot of lighting and animation. [:)] I want to devise a way to make automobiles/vehicles move around like the real things. I know Faller makes a system for this, but, while I like the logistics of it, I'm not too impressed with the selection of vehicles (all they seem to have is big trucks and vans--probably a function of the fact that each has its own independent motor, which seems inefficient in my opinion [:(]). Also, they are mega-expensive and only available in HO. I’m currently leaning toward N scale. I've also seen an article in MR where the guy used a wire system. However, this involved cutting a rut down the middle of the roadway and I'm not crazy about that, either. [:(] I was thinking possibly of some type of magnet-driven system. Click the following link for a diagram -> http://hometown.aol.com/chadinark/myhomepage/layoutcarmover.jpg Magnets are what Faller uses for guidance. One big advantage of this system would be that it would require no cuts/ruts in the road. Possibly I could mount a small magnet on the bottom of a car that could follow a magnet or magnetic strip that was in motion under the road (which would likely be a sheet of styrene or similar material). The magnets would be driven by a conveyor-belt type system. I could have slow speeds for city scenes and a somewhat faster conveyor for highway scenes. The cars could be made to move in a circuit around the layout, or I could have them go in a tunnel and reappear on the other side of the layout (after traveling upside-down under the layout). The cars themselves might have working axles/rubber tires or maybe only the magnet would drag along the road and this way the tires might not need to ever actually touch the roadway (they would just be really close). Just some brainstorming... One drawback of this system is that I also wanted to have illuminated headlights/taillights on the vehicles; this would probably be much easier in the wire-driven/rut-in-the-road system because power could be routed to each vehicle through the stem that connects to the vehicle). Any other ideas? Has anyone figured out a way to make cars move? [?] I'd appreciate any suggestions. My layout is only in the planning stages at this point but I figure this is something I would want to do from the ground-up.
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