Hello,
I often check Wikipedia's main page to see what's interesting around the globe and a recent feature caught my attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel
After watching several animations and videos of this fascinating engineering marvel it immediately occurred to me that this could be the mechanical basis for a useful elevator for a staging yard, or "fiddle track" on mutiple heights.
If you wanted to have storage track at a mid-level height "The Wheel" could even be stopped at the 90° (horizontal) point and trains run off at that level.
I could picture this being at least four feet long and I don't see why a center wheel couldn't be introduced (or even more for longer stretches) so you could run trains or cuts of cars of reasonable lengths into and out of a storage yard.
Just a thought for anyone looking for such a solution. Has anyone seen a similar setup used in this manner?
Regards, Ed
An engineering and construction marvel. Interesting. Honestly, given my engineering, fabrication, and carpentry skills (which aren't terrible BTW), if I needed something like that on my layout, I'd probably commit hobby heresy and resort to the 0-5-0 switcher on a frequent basis.
- Douglas
It looks like a basic ferris wheel only with very long carriages. Of course it would require several large bearings for them to set in and rotate as the wheel rotates, keeping them level at all times. Probably more complex than the typical linear elevators or slide mechanisms. Interesting machine none the less.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Believe it or not, I actually considered building a, "Six-shooter," version of this idea as a staging yard when I first started planning for my present layout space. Inspiration came from the cylinder of a revolver, and I originally planned to put the tracks in four inch PVC pipe and use roller skate wheels for rollers.
Happily for all concerned, the KISS principle came to the rescue. As a result I now have nine staging tracks fed off two throats, plus a cassette dock that allows removing complete trains from the layout - presently allowing four times the storage capacity (in tracks) as the 100mm bore super-Derringer. Plus, five of those fixed tracks can handle 20 car trains, instead of the standard twelve. And I don't have to wonder if the counter-rotating mechanism will jam and dump a stored train inside a closed pipe.
As for moving trains from one level to another, a plain-Jane vertical lift elevator is both simpler and less space consuming.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - as simply as possible)
What's interesting about the Falkirk Wheel is that the two sides counter-balance each other, so it doesn't take an exceptionally powerful motor to turn it. And if you're thinking "What if a big, heavy boat gets in one side and a canoe gets in the other," it doesn't matter. The big boat displaces an amount of water equal to it's weight. The side with the canoe has a lot of water that the other side doesn't have, and so they weigh the same.
Steve S
Steven S What's interesting about the Falkirk Wheel is that the two sides counter-balance each other, so it doesn't take an exceptionally powerful motor to turn it. And if you're thinking "What if a big, heavy boat gets in one side and a canoe gets in the other," it doesn't matter. The big boat displaces an amount of water equal to it's weight. The side with the canoe has a lot of water that the other side doesn't have, and so they weigh the same. Steve S
It does displace an equal amount of water by weight, but the total weight carried on any given side is still the weight of the water plus the weight of the watercraft and its load.
Right, which is what I said.
but as Steve explained, there's less water on the side with the bigger boat, an amount of water equal to the weight of the boat and it's load.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
gregc but as Steve explained, there's less water on the side with the bigger boat, an amount of water equal to the weight of the boat and it's load.
That hat in the emoticon above is my 'stupid' hat.
I was thinking lake, where the water displaced by the boat just rises a bit (still in the lake), not displaced out of the tub, which it is in the case of the wheel. I shall switch to my new hat and slink off in shame.
Wasn't there a Greek that explained the principle of displacement a long time ago?
The name Archimedes comes to mind.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - once aced Naval Architecture 101)
Might be workable for a model railroad. Balancing the weight would be a minor issue (empty track vs loaded tracks). That having been said, the space requirement would still be about the same as a traditional flat yard with a not-as-traditional (in the US) sector plate.
I guess it would be useful in the place of a helix (you could put a staging yard directly below the main tracks and back a train into the wheel elevator, but then you could do that with a regular elevator).
Not practical due to the length of the items. Most people build their helixs bigger than necessary, like it is to be veiwed. You can go with the minimum radius you stuff will take and if you make up a double header situation, you can go with a much higher incline.
rrebell Not practical due to the length of the items. Most people build their helixs bigger than necessary, like it is to be veiwed. You can go with the minimum radius you stuff will take and if you make up a double header situation, you can go with a much higher incline.
You are now getting into the effective grade discussion which was discussed in my recent thread as well as one linked by gregc. If you want to deal with an excessive grade in a hidden and not easily accessed area, that is your own decision.
If you intend to have other's operate your layout, they will thank you for getting rid of the operational headache of adding extra (possibly multiple) locomotives to your train to go through a helix.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/221186/2444394.aspx#2444394
Stupid IE is failing me for hyperlinking.
Also your locomotive gear box will not like be pushed downgrade by the train...
Your railroad, your rules though