Tomytec 'Car-system'

[KenS]

The bus climbs like a monkey.

 

I took a two-foot length of wood, laid the roadway on it and a short lead-in piece, and set the "go fast" magnet partway down the lead-in, so the bus was at top speed at about the bottom of the ramp.  Then I tried different elevations to see how it climbed.  The bus had the same batteries in it I'd had for earlier runs, so they weren't fully charged, but probably still had a good charge on them.  Note that the roadway forms a fairly good vertical easement (gentle curve from level to full grade), which likely goes a long way to helping it climb.

 

Up to 10% grade (2.5" rise at the 24" mark) the bus ran without any visible slippage.  At 12% I thought I saw the rear wheels slip a couple of times, but the motion wasn't impaired. At 16% the wheels occasionally slipped, but still without a visible change in the motion of the bus.  At 20% the bus seemed to briefly hesitate a couple of times, but still ran fairly well.  At 24% (6" rise) the bus was clearly erratic, but still running without obviously stopping. At 30% it noticeably hesitated a couple of times, but never really stopped, and still reached the 24" mark. In all runs except 30%, the speed wasn't substantially reduced from level ground.

 

That's the 30% (7.5" rise) illustrated in the photo.  I gave up at that point because I couldn't get the ramp higher without more scrap wood than I had handy, and the bus was really running pretty poorly.

 

So in short, it's pretty good at climbing an extended hill using the plastic roadway. The roadway does have something of a textured surface: it's not rough, but it's not slick either. I'd run this on a 20% grade no problem.  If I were going to try 24%, I think I'd try to create a rougher road surface for the wheels.

 

I suspect performance would suffer as the batteries run down, which is another reason I'd probably stick to 20% slopes.

[keiman]

The bus climbs like a monkey.

 

 

Thanks  Ken,  I may have to think about it now, would love to be  able to buy a bus on its own to experiment with.

[westfalen]

I just pre-ordered two sets, hope HS gets plenty this time round.

[rankodd]

The bus climbs like a monkey.

 

 

Thanks  Ken,  I may have to think about it now, would love to be  able to buy a bus on its own to experiment with.

 

I don't know that a bus on it's own would be all that much cheaper. The reset of the set is pretty insignificant in comparison...

[westfalen]

The bus climbs like a monkey.

 

 

Thanks  Ken,  I may have to think about it now, would love to be  able to buy a bus on its own to experiment with.

 

I don't know that a bus on it's own would be all that much cheaper. The reset of the set is pretty insignificant in comparison...

I think what would be better is track sets or individual pieces, if you want more than a simple oval eventually you won't want to buy another bus every time you need more road.

[KenS]

Yes, I would dearly love to have more straight roadway sections to play around with, but I don't really want to spend money on the bus mechanism, bus shell, and curves.

 

That said, I need more Tokyo bus shells for my layout, so I may end up doing that anyway.

 

I'm beginning to have nagging thoughts of a coffee-table size urban layout with tram and bus using the tomix track and roads.  Heaven only knows when I'd find time to work on it though.

[Tenorikuma]

The new issue of Rail Modeller (June issue) has a feature on a Kato Unitram layout that utilizes the Tomytec car system. I only flipped through it at the bookstore, but it appears that the modeller took the wire out of the roadbed and stuck it beneath Unitram plates.

[brill27mcb]

I'd like to get bus roadway sections just to add traffic lanes/parking to my trolley streets! When they first debuted the bus system, they did show a wide curve section that fits outside of the C177 Wide Tram curves (177+37 would be 214mm radius) -- still hoping it will be announced.

 

Rich K.

[keiman]

Decided to bite the bullet and pre-order from HS.

Just got an e-mail saying they have put back to August the next batch.

Lets just hope get a better rate of exchange by then.

[rpierce000]

The individual track pieces have been announced for a November release.  They inlcude:

 

A bus stop

A 70mm straight track

Curves in 66mm, 103mm, 140mm, 177mm and 214mm radii

 

I am somewhat disappointed that there is not a longer straight track. The super tight radii are going to be very nice for being inside curves for a tram layout.

 

All track pieces are in packages of six, the stop in packages of one. Prices for track are very reasonable at 900-1100 yen per package or about $1.50 per piece. The stop is about $20.

 

BT Trains has 10 complete bus sets on order for August as well as the above track packages for November. We will have pre-ordering open in the next few days.

bttrains.com

[bill937ca]

Bus crosses tram track. Appears to be stock track. Is the magnetic field strong enough to pull the bus into line?

 

 

[KenS]

The bus magnets are strong, but the rail is non-magnetic. I suspct there is wire there, but they simply break the wire where it crosses under the rail (to avoid shorting it; the rail is exposed on the underside of the road) and the bus doesn't have enough of an interruption to loose lock. Left to its own devices, the bus will run straight without a guide wire for a short distance before it slowly drifts into a gentle curve. But crossing the full width of the wide-tram track without getting away from the guide wire on the far side is a bit much to ask.

 

The wide-tram track pieces I have have the fittings to allow wire to be installed down the middle of the track or on either side on normal straights and curves (there are pictures of this on my site). This may simple be because they're using the same master mold for both (although there are no slots for the rail on the roadway pieces). Or they may have future plans to do something with an integrated bus/roadway. If they did, this kind of crossing/merge might well be something they were planning, although there's nothing on existing track to suggest it (the roadway has provision for diagnonals on the straight though, but not on the curves). It could be a prototype for that.

 

But with a dab of glue you could probably attach wire anywhere you want and make one yourself.  You might have to use larger wire if it wasn't in the pre-cut groove, or score the underside of the plastic to make it thinner.  But the magnet is pretty strong; it might work well enough for short distances without that. I'd been planning to do some experiments along that line myself, but never found the time.

 

You could make a road/track crossing and a merge fairly easily by attaching wire (either taken from a piece or roadway or a similar steel wire) to the underside of the track yourself, I suspect. The tricky part is the merge, as I think you'd need to break the existing wire there, to keep the bus from grabbing the wrong one and trying to turn left instead of right. But perhaps the sharp angle of approach is enough to make it work.

 

It's possible that it's unmodified track and roadway (except for the end of the approaching roadway being cut to match the curve of the track), and it just counts on the limited ability of the bus to make sharp turns and it's tendency to run in the same direction when it looses lock. But I suspect there's more to it than that.

 

Interesting either way though, thanks for posting the videos.

[KenS]

Here's a video YouTube coughed up as "related" that shows a home-made roadway "switch".  Note how it works in either direction with the double roadway.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eE7IB_L3As

 

And a second by someone else showing a similar switch, with details of how it was built:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z1vitKYoIw&feature=related

[cteno4]

The bus magnets are strong, but the rail is non-magnetic. I suspct there is wire there, but they simply break the wire where it crosses under the rail (to avoid shorting it; the rail is exposed on the underside of the road) and the bus doesn't have enough of an interruption to loose lock. Left to its own devices, the bus will run straight without a guide wire for a short distance before it slowly drifts into a gentle curve. But crossing the full width of the wide-tram track without getting away from the guide wire on the far side is a bit much to ask.

 

You could make a road/track crossing and a merge fairly easily by attaching wire (either taken from a piece or roadway or a similar steel wire) to the underside of the track yourself, I suspect. The tricky part is the merge, as I think you'd need to break the existing wire there, to keep the bus from grabbing the wrong one and trying to turn left instead of right. But perhaps the sharp angle of approach is enough to make it work.

 

It's possible that it's unmodified track and roadway (except for the end of the approaching roadway being cut to match the curve of the track), and it just counts on the limited ability of the bus to make sharp turns and it's tendency to run in the same direction when it looses lock. But I suspect there's more to it than that.

 

Interesting either way though, thanks for posting the videos.

 

ken,

 

i fiddled with this a lot with the faller bus a couple of years ago. i just taped iron wire under medium duty chipboard and it would follow the wire fine. i had it cross tracks at a perpendicular like this fine. i just butted the chipboard up against the out side of the rail about level with the top of the rail and put a chunk of 040 x 0.25" stryene in the center of the track. i just ran the wire up to the rail, but nothing in the center of the rails and it jumped across fine and picked up the guide wire on the other side. the bus will pretty much keep going in what ever direction the steering was last pointed for a few inches then seems to settle back into what ever it has for sort of a natural position (ie sometimes straight, sometimes a bit of a turn, not consistent)

 

i also payed with crossing paths and this worked fine as long as it was like within 20 degrees of perpendicular. if you get to like a 45 it starts wandering some at the crossings with the faller magnet, but the tomytec magnet is stronger so it might track better.

 

merging works fine, just have to merge at like a 30 degree of less angle and also leave a little gap in the wire on the merging end so that the straight thru does not pick it up if it comes back towards the point. by doing this you can do loop backs very easily, making a double loop back works great to have the bus come out go around something and disappear for a while (doing a loop back somewhere hidden), like a building turn in.

 

you can also make a switch pretty easily. just have two incoming wires and then a third wire that you slide between those two. i wish i would have taken a video of the switch i made it was pretty cute. it was all taped up with scotch tape so it fell apart pretty fast, i was just doing these tests to see what you could do with it. the great thing is it sounds like the tomytec bus steering magnet is much stronger than the faller's. that was the real limiting factor with the faller as you needed to have the wire very shallow and any little road imperfections could knock it off the wire guide.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[disturbman]

And you can also do something like that: http://e231green.way-nifty.com/rail/2011/05/post-61d3.html

[rpierce000]

BT Trains wholesaler has dug us up an additional four sets of set 1, the first 10 sold before we got them!!  If you want one of these, go buy it NOW. http://www.bttrains.com/products/TomyTec-Moving-Bus-System-Basic-Set-A.html

 

We also have THIRTY new straight piece pack (S-001, a pack of six 70mm pieces) for $13.24. Let me know if you want some before they go on the "shelf". bob@bttrains.com

[cteno4]

hobbylink has a 30% off sale on moving bus track pieces, think it goes till they are sold out or april 1

 

jeff

 

http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?SaleGroup=SALECARTOY&header=cartoysal031&utm_source=HobbyLink%20Japan%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=b3d5dd718e-Chimp_toycarstrains_03_18_2012&utm_medium=email&DisplayMode=images&Dis=2&Sort=std&qid=4Z1J99R5LUZKMA&set=1&Maker2=TMT&z=Maker2&Scale2=150

[bill937ca]

An interesting idea.  The elevator does kind of look like the things they measure your feet with when you get shoes!!

 

 

[westfalen]

I'd like to see how the bus moves on and off the elevator, from my experiments running busses across adjoining T-TRAK modules the slightest gap gets the wheels stuck, it definitely wouldn't make it off that elevator. On my Urusai Fumikiri modules I'm going to have to put a temporary road section across the gaps when the modules are put together.

[KenS]

Watch the first video (the one that's only a link, and doesn't show the usual You Tube image), that shows the platform replaced with a bus stop section with an exact fit, and a running bus.  What's cool is that the elevator makes the level change in the time the bus pauses at the stop.

 

Still, I'm left wondering: why?  Has anyone ever seen a "bus elevator" anywhere?  It looks like something you'd see in a parking gararge, but I've only ever seen those for cars (although I've heard some city warehouses used them for delivery trucks).  It's a neat thing, and very clever, but aside from being clever, what's the point?

[keitaro]

fun?

[bill937ca]

 

Still, I'm left wondering: why?  Has anyone ever seen a "bus elevator" anywhere?  It looks like something you'd see in a parking gararge, but I've only ever seen those for cars (although I've heard some city warehouses used them for delivery trucks).  It's a neat thing, and very clever, but aside from being clever, what's the point?

 

 

I know there were bus elevators in North America mainly in the 1920s and 1930s as part of a bus terminal.  The bus drove into the elevator and was taken down to a terminal in the basement. Motor Coach Age had an article once.  There may also have been bus garages with elevators and I  know for sure there were streetcar car barns with elevators. If there were facilities like that in North America why not Japan?

[KenS]

Cool. Bus depots with elevators. I learn something new every day.

[westfalen]

Watch the first video (the one that's only a link, and doesn't show the usual You Tube image), that shows the platform replaced with a bus stop section with an exact fit, and a running bus.  What's cool is that the elevator makes the level change in the time the bus pauses at the stop.

 

Still, I'm left wondering: why?  Has anyone ever seen a "bus elevator" anywhere?  It looks like something you'd see in a parking gararge, but I've only ever seen those for cars (although I've heard some city warehouses used them for delivery trucks).  It's a neat thing, and very clever, but aside from being clever, what's the point?

 

Ok, I didn't look at the first video, that explains how it works.

[cteno4]

West

 

In my experiments with ttrak modules and the faller bus I found that a thin strip of scotch magic tape was the trick to bridge the gap. It could allow quite a bump and the bus would make it thru and grab the wire on the next module. I expect the tomix would do evened better with their reported stronger steering magnet.

 

If the edge is properly prepared then the tape will come right off for breakdown and is pretty invisible and a matching road color marker might help as well.

 

I didn't take it forward with my standard spaced street car modules as it required keeping a whole lane cleared for busses (yes there are express lanes). But I've designed the street sections to come up easily so I can change them if I want to add this later.

 

Jeff

 

I'd like to see how the bus moves on and off the elevator, from my experiments running busses across adjoining T-TRAK modules the slightest gap gets the wheels stuck, it definitely wouldn't make it off that elevator. On my Urusai Fumikiri modules I'm going to have to put a temporary road section across the gaps when the modules are put together.