Tomytec Moving Bus System 2.0 (2023)

[Wolf]

8 hours ago, bill937ca said:

But in the video it seems to stop at the bus stop

 

As far as I understood, the old chassis had a timer to re-start after a set time (automatic start) even if the station was not manually operated, wich the new does not have.

 

I get the BM-04 the week after the next delivered, i can check if it is in fact different from the BM-010, but I still think thats just a naming to be able to check if the chassis came from starter set or not.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Wolf

[Wolf]

Question:

A local vendor here sells replacement magnets with less power to make the Bus System chassis compatible with Fallers Car System. I have run the Tomytex Bus on a former Faller Car setup, it worked, but yes the magnets on the Tomytec Bus are pretty strong, on occasions "glueing" the Bus to the wire. Anyone has experience with these less powerfull magnets, or with replacing the guiding magnet at all? Is this an easy task?

[inobu]

6 hours ago, Wolf said:

Question:

A local vendor here sells replacement magnets with less power to make the Bus System chassis compatible with Fallers Car System. I have run the Tomytex Bus on a former Faller Car setup, it worked, but yes the magnets on the Tomytec Bus are pretty strong, on occasions "glueing" the Bus to the wire. Anyone has experience with these less powerfull magnets, or with replacing the guiding magnet at all? Is this an easy task?

Its not hard dissembling them but try this first. The magnets are a press fit so you can use a pin to push it up a bit. 

 

Use an Exato blade or the like to hold the cup then press the magnet back/up into the cup with the pin.

This can lessen the magnetic field.

 

 

As I mentioned these new buses are scaled back in a number of ways that make them problematic.

 

Inobu

Edited March 27, 2023 by inobu

[Wolf]

52 minutes ago, inobu said:

Use an Exato blade or the like to hold the cup then press the magnet back/up into the cup with the pin.

This can lessen the magnetic field.

 

Oh, i will try that, thanks!

[Wolf]

I can confirm increasing magnet distance makes it work smoothly on Faller Car wire. However just pushing it didnt work, it always after a while came back "down". In the end I removed the magnet, put a drop of UV Resin on top and reassembled it, having the UV resin act as means to keep the magnets distance.

 

Thanks for the Hint!

[inobu]

That's good. I used PVA glue.

 

Inobu

[brill27mcb]

Just got my two BM-04 chassis from Japan. Wolf, they are not marked BM-010, BM-04 or anything else in white on the bottom, just an apparent batch number on the side.

 

My early quick finds:

1. Both of my samples ran fine. Note that the very tiny printed instructions that come with them have an error in the orientation of the round battery cell holder piece. Tomytec has issued a drawing correction online and apologized for the error. The BM-04 chassis box and instructions are in Japanese only.

2. Both stop or run through my old BS-001 bus stop set fine (with the cylindrical auto stop/start magnet removed). They stop if you have the manual switch down on "stop" and go when you move the switch up to "go."

3. As I expected, the BM-04 chassis has too much chassis overhang behind the rear tires to fit into the GMC bus shell, so it can not serve to get my GMC buses running again. That's unfortunate! With the LiPo battery failure and no replacement battery packs available that I can find, my GMC buses remain inoperable. Even if yours are still operable, their days are numbered, since the LiPo battery only takes so many recharges.

4. The BM-04 chassis is also too wide to fit into the Mercedes Citaro bus shell, so it can't be used to rescue those "orphaned" buses, either. It is too wide, since the shell's window posts are cast deeper than the sides of the shell and protrude inward. This is also unfortunate, and the same applies for the articulated LiPo-powered chassis.

5. My two BM-04 samples ran at slightly different speeds, but they were both between the "slow" and "fast" speeds of my two BM-01 powered buses. (By the way, the BM-01 through BM-03 chassis starts out at the "slow speed" when first turned on, and only goes up to "fast" speed after passing over one of the speed change magnets. So if you don't use the speed change magnets, your older bus runs in "slow" mode all the time.) They are generally compatible for mixed operation (old and new chassis), or at least based on my samples they are within the same varying speed range.

6. The strength of the rear wheels spinning seems stronger in the new chassis than in the old ones.

7. One of my new chassis stopped reliably at the S-003 Start/Stop road section in the "stop" position, while the other just ran right through it in either position. However, the bus that stopped would then not re-start when I moved the slide switch to the "go" position. When driving over when the slide is in the "go" position, the front wheels sometimes do a very slight steering jerk, but recover and stay along the guide wire.

8. One of my new chassis would run fine over one of the former speed change magnets in my test roadway, but the other new chassis would hang up there and not move.

 

The random issues in 7. and 8. above confirm Tomytec's warnings about incompatibility of these items with the new chassis, but the fact that it is not consistent leads me to believe there may be work-around modifications that could be made.

 

Lastly, when opening the box, I was surprised to find the power chassis tucked in sideways right at the top, just wrapped in bubble wrap. If you are accustomed to Railway Collection power chassis, there is no similar vacuum-formed cradle for the bus chassis. The majority of the box is stuffed with many clear plastic pieces. These are used to add top and side pieces to the chassis in order to fit it solidly into the many various shells available.

 

Rich K.

Edited March 30, 2023 by brill27mcb

[Wolf]

Thank you so much for the detailed report! And personally a lot of thanks for the note that the Citaro Chassis dont fit, I was really thinking to get one of these. Now I will check for an alternative.

[Wolf]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:52 PM, brill27mcb said:

Lastly, when opening the box, I was surprised to find the power chassis tucked in sideways right at the top, just wrapped in bubble wrap. If you are accustomed to Railway Collection power chassis, there is no similar vacuum-formed cradle for the bus chassis. The majority of the box is stuffed with many clear plastic pieces. These are used to add top and side pieces to the chassis in order to fit it solidly into the many various shells available.

Today the new packed curves, straights and the extra Bus stop (as well as a ton of BM-04 chassis) arrived here as well, and they all share the same, no inlay, no cradle, just all put together in bubblewrap. Kinda weird XD

Also, I never noticed that I pre-ordered the C66 Radius curved plates, wich are amongst the "new" printed ones too. I sadly can confirm, the BM-04 Unit is not able to take that radius, at least the two units i tried would just leave the curve on like every second attemt.

Sure, my mistake for not tripple checking my order, but a tad disappointed tomix does a re-run on curves that are not compatible with the new product. Urgh, now need to order C140s, hope still can get some.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Wolf

[brill27mcb]

So the Tomytec BM-04 cannot reliably run around the C66 curves, even when adjusted to a short (32mm) wheelbase? That's interesting...

 

I don't mind them continuing to produce older Moving Bus System items that are not compatible with the new BM-04, as long as they state that they are not compatible. There are still many people with the older chassis that could benefit from the chance to buy stop/start or intersection road pieces.

 

And I wish Tomytec would stock and sell replacement LiPo battery packs for the chassis they made that need those.

 

Rich K.

[brill27mcb]

I came across this video by someone clever enough to create a small add-on circuit board for the Tomytec BM-04 chassis, which changes its stop-and-stay behavior at the Bus Stop section to an automatic stop-then-go behavior:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWBa9eXpYA

 

I actually found this through a Yahoo Japan Auction listing (via Buyee):

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/w1086976099?conversionType=service_page_search

 

It appears, from what I can figure out from Buyee's translation to English, that he is selling the Bus Stop road sections together with the chassis, so they might both have been modified to make this change work. That is not made clear in the video. Since the YJA listing will disappear soon, here's the English translated version (I have underlined the part about the power unit and bus stop roadway pieces):

 

----------

Thank you for your interest in our products.
Please read below before bidding.

[Description of product]
An automatic departure function is added to the bus collection running system A3.

The new power unit BM-04 will remain stopped until the lever is operated when stopped at the bus stop. Therefore, I added an external electronic board to restart the car in about 5 to 7 seconds.

How it works: https://youtu.be/dEWBa9eXpYA

・The board and wiring are completely external, and the power unit side has not been processed at all.
　Please remove it when you don't need to re-car, or when you send it to the manufacturer due to a power unit failure.

- The mechanism of re-car is different from the old power unit. It cannot be left parked. No speed change.
　If you have an old running system, please do not run them together.

・Exhibits are only the above-mentioned power unit and road / bus stop.
　Please note that as the product name suggests, the Toyota fuel cell bus in the package photo is not included.

・Bonus 1: As an alternative to the fuel cell bus, I will add a yellow bus run by Yokohama City.
　I think it's probably "Hino Blue Ribbon (Passenger Ship Shuttle Color)" from "The Bus Collection Yokohama Municipal 100th Anniversary Special", but I can't understand the details because it's out of the area.
　Please judge from the image.

・Bonus 2: [For those who do not have small children] A new LR44 battery is included.
　Made by Maxell, which is safe and reliable, but because it is for overseas use, it is not packaged to prevent accidental ingestion like the one for domestic use.
　If you have small children, please purchase the package for domestic use separately for safety.

Brand: Tomytec Geocore Bus Collection

[Product Condition]
Roads and bus stops are brand new and unused.
・The power unit is also processed based on a new product, but due to the nature of the product, we will send it after confirming the operation of stopping and restarting.
　Please forgive the dirt and fine scratches on the tires.
・[The Toyota fuel cell bus in the package photo is not included] It's important, so let's do it again.

[Others]
- After arrival, we recommend that you check the operation before contacting us for receipt. We cannot respond to inquiries after the transaction is completed.
·If you're not clear about anything, please ask.

----------

 

Rich K.

[inobu]

1 hour ago, brill27mcb said:

And I wish Tomytec would stock and sell replacement LiPo battery packs for the chassis they made that need those.

 

https://dtpbattery.en.alibaba.com/search/product?SearchText=140728

 

Inobu

 

[brill27mcb]

I see that the latest Bus Collection poster, for products due for release in August and September, shows that all are compatible with the BM-04 chassis:

https://diocolle.tomytec.co.jp/guide/viewer.html?id=31

 

It will be interesting to see if they resume adding this type of information to the product packages, too. It stopped during the pause in bus chassis production.

 

Rich K.

[AlanL]

I managed to obtain a few of the first sets that were released and then things appeared to dry up. Glad to see a new chassis however a bit disappointed as to the lack of features. Anyway curious as to the track pieces. Any idea why on the underside of the sections that it appears there are slots molded in that permit the insertion of the steel wire? Wonder if Tomy has plans down the road for many more features.  Looking for some sites that show peoples work with these moving busses. Enjoy getting ideas from others.

Thank you

Alan in US

[katoftw]

I think the slots were just to allow power cables through.

[AlanL]

I was referring to the areas where it appears you can possibly insert the thin metal wire that will guide the bus!

 

[woodbury22uk]

On 4/22/2023 at 7:41 PM, AlanL said:

I managed to obtain a few of the first sets that were released and then things appeared to dry up. Glad to see a new chassis however a bit disappointed as to the lack of features. Anyway curious as to the track pieces. Any idea why on the underside of the sections that it appears there are slots molded in that permit the insertion of the steel wire? Wonder if Tomy has plans down the road for many more features.  Looking for some sites that show peoples work with these moving busses. Enjoy getting ideas from others.

Thank you

Alan in US

Late to the party on this. The slots on the underside were there from the very beginning and allow the user to install their own wire to customize the route, say swing the traffic around a parked vehicle or overtake a stationary bus. When Tomytec made the junctions and turnouts, you could see the benefit of using a standard straight road to lead the guidewire across an opposing traffic lane at an angle when running through the junction. Like many others I was a great fan of the older style chassis and especially the Li-po fitted ones which could be installed in smaller vehicles. I used them in a UK set-up to power the modern style of London bus made by Oxford Diecast using a 3D printed adapter to lock into the bus body. In this video you can see that the route through the junction is made up of several straight wire lengths so the bus jerks a bit as it turns.

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by woodbury22uk

[Nicolas]

Been a long while since anyone posted here. I’m hoping that after a year of tinkering with the BM04 chassis some of you have found answers or adaptations to your initial needs.

 

I’m most interested in mods to the chassis which make it usable for the Citaro Buses & Rapido buses.

 

Share if you have had any luck. Much appreciated.

[brill27mcb]

Nicholas, I have no updates since my March 30, 2023 posting.

 

Rich K.