DIY moving bus road for tomytec

[Ultratram]

I got a start on my scratch build tomytec road for my buses. The basic materials for any diy road for moving buses is magnetic wire and non magnetic road surface. For my current build I am using 28 gauge or .41mm galvanized steel wire and 1mm thick foam board. 

 

Depending on the thickness of the wire the magnetic force changes so finding the right thickness of board took a little trial and error guess work. I find that if I substitute foam for polystyrene plasticard I would want the sheets slightly thicker by about .010 of an inch.

 

My test road works smoothly and transitions well with existing road using tamiya masking tape. 

 

I know tamiya makes textured pavement paint but I will try to make my own with acrylic paint and some cosmetic grade pumice. The tamiya paint bottles look to small for the amount of road I would like to make.

 

The next phase will be to add an intersection. And have a full loop.

 

For now I will use stock bus stops. Making diy bus stops is possible but I have yet to look for a supplier for the magnets. Rare earth magnets are out of the question as they are much too strong. I really only need weak magnets to trigger the bus to stop and start.

 

[kvp]

14 minutes ago, Ultratram said:

Rare earth magnets are out of the question as they are much too strong. I really only need weak magnets to trigger the bus to stop and start.

Not really. It's the strength of the field that matters, so a smaller neodymium magnet could work just as well as a larger conventional one. I got some small button magnets sold in a local craft store (together with some enamel coated steel wire) and they work. Both when hotglued to the back of an item for mounting on a fridge and as speed control magnets under Tomix road and tram pieces.

[Ultratram]

21 hours ago, kvp said:

Not really. It's the strength of the field that matters, so a smaller neodymium magnet could work just as well as a larger conventional one. I got some small button magnets sold in a local craft store (together with some enamel coated steel wire) and they work. Both when hotglued to the back of an item for mounting on a fridge and as speed control magnets under Tomix road and tram pieces.

I could give it a shot to see if my smaller neodyniums work. With the right spacing they may work