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Light rail trains?

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  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: St. Paul, Minnesota
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Light rail trains?
Posted by Boyd on Sunday, June 15, 2014 7:18 PM

Does anyone make modern light rail trains in 3 rail?

Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.

  • Member since
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  • From: Austin, TX
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Posted by lionelsoni on Sunday, June 15, 2014 7:33 PM

Alstom does:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alimentation_par_le_sol  Oh, wait--I think maybe you're looking for model trains!

Bob Nelson

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Posted by Firelock76 on Sunday, June 15, 2014 9:15 PM

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but MTH has put out subway / mass transit trains of various kinds over the past decade.  Lionel's done some Metro-North trains and subway trains as well.  Probably as close as you're going to get.

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  • From: St. Paul, Minnesota
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Posted by Boyd on Sunday, June 15, 2014 9:20 PM

We'll the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" would not be real without a light rail train. 

Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.

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    November 2011
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Posted by M. Mitchell Marmel on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 2:57 AM

The answer is...sort of. 

You can pick up these "City Liners" online from various sources, but you're on your own as far as power trucks, etc. are concerned. 

One suggestion for a quick and dirty light rail vehicle for 3-rail would be to get an MTH PCC and mount a pantograph on it, thusly: 

Hope this helps! 

Mitch

Prez, Razorback Traction Co.

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Posted by wallyworld on Saturday, June 28, 2014 11:53 AM

You might want to check Ebay as International Hobby Products in the past produced O scale finished unpowered and body shell versions of the Kawasaki-built LRVs operated by SEPTA in the city of Philadelphia. You supply the trucks, perhaps off of a PCC. The correct pantographs are available..

The only current available model is here:

http://islandmodelworks.com/Portland.html


Also you can check for listings of brass O scale LRV types imported by The Car Works in the past but these as most of the O scale traction offerings are two rail powered, and not three rail. I suppose you could run them off the overhead with some modifications but these are pricey and produced in limited runs. 

Oddly, N scale has a lot of these to chose from as well as in HO.There is a N scale version of Superstreets complete with line poles as well. Ncat used to have ( maybe still does) a great site for making N catenary.should you switch to N...Heaven forbid.that outcome.


Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

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  • From: Henrico, VA
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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, June 28, 2014 2:08 PM

Most people switch to O gauge as they get older.  The eyes, you know.

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  • From: St. Paul, Minnesota
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Posted by Boyd on Saturday, June 28, 2014 2:25 PM
Yeah, sneeze on a Z scale layout and you might derail 100 cars.

Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.

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