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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by ckape I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I remember seeing a article on an operating rotary dumper in MR that used toothbrush bristles to slow down the cars. The bristles were pretty much invisible in the pictures unless you were looking hard for them. Of course, if you want something you can turn on and the only suggestion I have is a contraption that uses levers, msucle wire to lift toothbrush bristles so they hit the axles or lower them so they don't. For a range of retardation you'd want to put several contraptions in a row. [/quote] [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by trainfinder22 The best solution to this would be to have a electromanet under the tracks that would be push button controlled . The magnet would be at the neck of the yard leading into the "Bowl". A real retarder would not work in small scale. Also you will need to Number All your freight cars so that each has a Unquie Reporting number like CSX 897435 that is kept track of by a computer and is updated on were your car is in your yard or in your layout bv station [/quote] Yes I had seen the article utilizing the bristles long ago and this would undoubtably be the easiest to set up something similiar. However I was hoping to find someone who had figured out a prototypical method of braking by gently sqeezing the flanges, this being varible controlled by the switchman according to track occupancy. of course this is more workload than his prototypical counterpart, the amount of braking being determined by computer. This seemingly onerous task would be greatly simplified by having just three settings: No Brake, for when the classification track is up to 1/3 full; Light Break, up ot 2/3 full; and Heavy break, for 2/3 to 3/3 (capacity). Two people are necessary for efficient operation: Switchman: classification and braking control; and Yard engineer, controlling the train and decoupler located at the apex. The challenge of the mechanics of the retarding unit are great: thousandths of an inch of movement, varience of wheel flange widths etc. [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by jrbarney Lord Schtupp, Since you're relatively new to this forum, you may not have done research at the Index of Magazines yet. Here's a link to article references: http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=S&cmdtext=hump+yard&MAG=ANY&output=3&sort=A As I recall, there are some ingenious retarders in some of those articles including one that used solenoids. Also, you may want to use the "Search the forums. . . ." window at the top of this page to locate some earlier threads on rotary card dumpers to follow up on the bristle retarders. Bob NMRA Life 0543 [/quote] No I hadnt but I will make use of the magazine index, thank you Bob - neato [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005 It's nice to see that you have given this some thought already. That is a very realistic concern about coupling speed. If you could find a way to standardize the rolling characteristics, and find a balance between weight and drag, that might be a good place to start. Then you could have some kind of speed sensor in the track, and employ the electromagnetic retarder method. Nobody said this was going to be an easy project. A little scientific experimentation with Newton's laws would go a long way toward your reaching your goal. Maybe start off with a couple dozen cars. Gather their vital statistics, especially weight, along with wheel and truck types. Then take 10 sections of flex track and experiment with incline heights and profiles. Kind of like Pinewood Derby for trains.[:p] [/quote] Funny but we had done just that in a somewhat scientific way., using about 18' of flex and some old tyco trestles, you know the ones where the track slides into tabs that allowed some curvature variations to be done, also about halfway down I did some finger braking to get a feel of how much force is necessary. As you can imagine the few weighted cars we tried went different distances. All trucks have metal wheels I figured that once an optimum contour was determined then I can fabricate an aluminum template at my sheetmetal shop to create a consistant bowl profile. Its bendable and disregarding track curve would allow exactly the same rolling resistance for all tracks. . Check out this scrap view of the Conway PA hump yard: [img]http://www.dallypress.com/schtupp/forums/conwayscrap.gif[/img] This yard is a double hump with east and west humpyards and east/west arriving/departure yards to the north and south connected by double track running under the apex. A much simplfied (obviously) version of this is what we want to do. Thanks you all for your input, Im glad I asked! More research needed :) -LS
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