I read on Yahoo that a guy is sending an autonomous 4' sailboat across the Atlantic. It has solar panels to power the guidance and communication system.
Theoretical:
How much would it cost for 3,000 miles of O gauge track across America? Thats 15,840,000 feet or 5,280,000 yards or sections of Gargraves track. If a Lionel train was sent on it coast to coast it would probably have to have some kind of onboard battery system. I'm not thinking of an autonomous train though. RC would be better. I don't know what would be cheaper,, standard 027 tubular or maybe Gargraves 2 rail track since the train would have its own onboard power. Would one Lionel or other 3 rail engine make it 3,000 miles? How fast in real MPH would it go? How long would it take? I think if it followed an interstate that would be easier than if it followed railroad lines across America. I could just see it now,,,, truckers reporting on a toy train going down along the center of a major highway.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
That sounds like it could be fun! With that kind of distance there would be numerous breakdowns. They did something similar in the UK with OO Scale trains. It was only a mere fraction of the distance you propose. The track power was supplied by car batteries.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
It depends upon the route.
As a lifetime owner of a 2-rail American Flyer brand, I would personally block any Lionel track laying through the Chicago area.
Rich
Alton Junction
It would be cool either 2 or 3 rails but there would be so many obstacles like roads and all getting across them but in theory I wonder if you didn't have like a stopping point for lube and all say every 100 miles and you used either an old in excellent A.F. or Lionel engine as I think some of those old engines have to have close to that on them. Be better if you used 2 engines one would ride like in a gondola or something ( yes special built little over size to hold it) and switch the engines out at the 100 mile mark may even need to reduce it to like 50 miles I wonder how far an engine can run at a average speed a day as that actually would be the max you would want to run one before lubing and switching it out. would be interesting to do in fact you could Get Gargraves O/S gauge track and run O for a while then S back and forth and just have a O couple on one end and S on the other of the car hauling the engines
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
2 rail? that reads like a voice from the past. I think it would get through Chicago just fine.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
If a Lionel train was sent on it coast to coast it would probably have to have some kind of onboard battery system.
I don't think that's a given. After all, real electric railroads don't need onboard battery systems to keep running. As long as we're constructing this hypothetical coast-to-coast Lionel layout, we might as well put as many electrical booster stations as needed along the way.
I'm thinking that the real obstacles wouldn't be technical, but rather (A) bad weather, and (B) vandalism. But since this is all a mental exercise, we can assume respectful 1:1 scale humans along the route and nothing but clear, warm days.
sir james I 2 rail?
2 rail?
Just having a little fun.
Rich I'm with you on this one. But what a great publicity stunt it would be. Btw- I'm not so sure a Marx loco might not be the fastest one!
Ray
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
THAT'S IT! Marx clockwork!
No doubt the best way of all. Only two rails required. No thousands of miles of costly copper wire. No electrical shorts in the rain!
But you do need a person stationed every 100 feet or so to rewind it!
OK, now that I have inadvertently offended at least one Lionel guy, and for that I apologize, let me make a proposal.
Since this is all theoretical anyway, what say we build a couple of 2-rail systems and a 3-rail system side by side, and we have a transcontinental race between Lionel, American Flyer, and Marx.
Winner take all, whatever that may be.
This 3 rail guy is not offended, but that kind of statement does start wars, as you well know. A toy train across the USA, battery operated OR wind up, with lot's of blisters, would be the way to go.
sir james I This 3 rail guy is not offended, but that kind of statement does start wars, as you well know.
This 3 rail guy is not offended, but that kind of statement does start wars, as you well know.
Yep.
I wasn't thinking about that when I blurted it out.
My best friend and my favorite brother in law both own and operate Lionel, so it is always a friendly rivalry. Just to make amends, I will place a small side bet on that 3-railer when the race starts, but my heart will still be with that 2-railer.
I still say I never saw anything faster than a marx. Windup or electric. When pushed to their max they will derail on any curve.
AF53 I still say I never saw anything faster than a marx. Windup or electric. When pushed to their max they will derail on any curve.
Most lionel will derail on a curve at 3/4 to full power also and a few (1688 comes to mind) will jump at about 1/3 to 1/2 speed as that train will fly. I've a couple of marx guess bad ones which I didn't think would compare to any of my lionels but we know some just get missed used no matter what brand and there about the end of there life. The PA-1's with the 7 passenger cars and 2 dummy B-units and a scale boxcar will jump my loop if I get about 13/ - 12 speed on them as they won't sit and wait for nobody lol but in all marx , AF, Lionel, K-line ( which also fly) and Williams ( which do also) all have very fast engines when wanted to be
I still say if we ran gargraves O/S track ( its 4 rail) we could switch engines out every so often to give them a break between runs) Would be great to be part of this but this also would have to be a southern route train layout the Rockies would be a real problem to deal with. So being a southern route we could use a set of lionel 2356 southern A-B-A F units
I'm not diggin in no tunnel, RT you go in.
We only had 1 kid with Flyer in our neighborhood so there was no real mines better stuff. I do remember as a kid arguing with a hobby shop salesmen about them though.
You could get a PhD calculating the logistics of that operation!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Why would you need that much track? You just need to remove track from behind the engine and place it in front. The only thing to work out is how long that movable span needs to be. I'd also be a bit different with power. Live steam!
if you used gargraves straight track it would only be ( 3 foot sections) 5,280,000 pieces lol bet they would love that order lol
also could you imagine the tressels you would have to build to get it to go high enough for a tractor trailor to go under you would have a long aproach for that lol
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