I did some work with my rolling road tonight. This is a great tool for running-in new locos, fault finding and setting the chuff rate on a sound-equipped loco.
Mine is fitted up to accept either DCC or DC, depending on the locomotive I want to test.
For those unfamiliar with the rolling road, it is made up of several sets of rollers connected to a power source, allowing you to run a loco without it going anywhere.
Each roller is made from aluminium angle with 4 brass 'wheels' separated by nylon tube. My road came with 7 rollers suitable for HO, although O and N rollers are available.
The connection to my DCC power is via a 37-way connector, although only 2 of the pins are required to power the rolling road
Here is a short video showing the rolling road in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a56grVE-3lM
'Fraid I don't know where they are available from in the US, but Gaugemaster sell something similar in the UK.
Jon
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That's an interesting test bed, Jon. Micro-Mark has sets of rollers that sit right on the rails to accomplish the same thing. They also sell them for O and G scales.
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/
They're a very handy tool not only for setting chuff rate, but also spotting mechanical binds. Does that 0-6-0 have a little bit of a waddle to it, or is that from the rollers?
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
At first glance, your thread title reminded me of the Science Fiction classic The Roads Must Roll.
Have you considered wrapping a building around the rig? Reminds me of the PRR test plant at Altoona back in steam days.
Your multi-pin monsterconnector might be gross overkill for connecting power to your roller set, but it would be just the thing for connecting a removable yard throat's wiring to the fixed harness on the layout.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)