Tomytec Moving Bus Geometry

[bill937ca]

I've been doing some thinking about how the Tomytec Moving Bus could be applied to layouts.  The initial sets appear to be simple ovals which can go around tram tracks inside a train oval which could be inside an elevated loop.    That would be boring.

 

The roadway itself is an elevated structure slightly above the table top. The height appears to be about 5mm (which is what the existing tram covers measure up as).

 

 

The cross traffic turns in Japan are right hand turns which may frustrate those that wish to use these roadways to model North American vehicles.  I suspect any intersections may have to be scratch built.

 

There are several ways around the lack of moving vehicles in other lanes.  Many Japanese streets are so narrow that there are no parked vehicles along the traffic lanes. Another technique is to add BRT with a solid lane of buses (like Ottawa on Slater and Albert streets).  You will find similar snarls in San Francisco on Market Street and other places particularly at points where numerous bus line feed into train stations.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottawabusgallery/4051662460/in/set-72157622487719950/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottawabusgallery/3885134945/in/set-72157622487719950/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottawabusgallery/2123050571/in/set-72157622487719950/

 

These lanes would also be appropriate for locations where there are three lane streets with a single lane of moving traffic. The older sections of cities like Philadelphia contain numerous streets like this.

 

For those looking for a sleek, streamlined bus consider the NABI BRT.  This is the 60-BRT with wheel skirts. Its mainly found in the Western US, on several systems alone in Los Angeles.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2508/4076802945_2deda64505_b.jpg

 

http://www.cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php?title=North_American_Bus_Industries_60-BRT

 

 

[Kabutoni]

I expect the width to be 37mm, just as the tram lanes and a length of 70mm. Don't know about corner geometry, but I expect it to be about a 103, 140, 177 and a 214mm radius (from the centre line seen). I'm also curious about the method of path-finding. Do the buses have magnets, or are magnets incorporated in the tracks?

[cteno4]

The busses have a magnet attached to the rack and pinion steering mechanism that tracks a metal wire in the roadway. you can roll your own by laying down a wire under your own road way (i tested this with the faller bus and you can get up to a piece of 040 styrene over the wire and it still works, but 020 is better in practice i think).

 

in looking at more of the video i think the bus pull in may have a neat little trick. in some of the shots of the bus pull-in piece you see a little lever there. im thinking that maybe its a little switch that pulls in the wire to the bus stand (like drawing a bow) and activates the stop. pushed out straight the bus bypasses the stop.

 

the trick here is how they have the stopping circuit done. on the faller there is a small reed switch in the bus that when it goes over an electromagnet you have set under the track and turned on the bus stops until the electromagnet is turned off. thing is with these videos you see no wires coming out of the roadways and they are too thin to house a good vertical electromagnet to trip the reed switch. im wondering if they are using a permanent magnet that is sensed by the bus by a circuit that then has a pause time built into it. this would require a little custom chip to do this control, but if they are mass producing these then not too horrible to do these days!

 

the last option talked about is the two speeds. its been mentioned in some blogs and you see them speed up in some of the videos after a short wile after a stop. if the bus has a little custom circuit in it now then it would be easy to have it start up after a stop at a slower speed then after like 3 seconds move up to full speed. the busses dont seem to slow down before stopping, so this seems to make sense.

 

if there is a little circuit in the bus then its wonderful as it makes it much easier to make pause points in the road system, especially if you roll your own.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

Here's a thought.  The lanes are 37mm wide.  In many places with narrow streets you will find cars or small trucks parked with one side on the sidewalk and the other side on the edge of the road.  Could you make the bus weave past several vehicles to make it less obvious the bus or truck is the only moving vehicles with the stop mechanism minus any bus stop shelters?

 

The videos are from Yokohmama a month ago:

 

 

[cteno4]

yeah i think the busses work a lot better on smaller back roads like this and having them weaving around parked vehicles helps.

 

i like how this video has them wandering some back roads in the town that are less traveled.

 

its just the main city streets its odd that only busses are running on the roads. even if you have another lane full of cars and trucks its down to the idea of grid lock except for the express bus lanes.

 

making your own roads is pretty easy with 020 styrene and some wire underneath. you can even cut 020 styrene with scissors. spray paint gray and then use some white pin tape.

 

cheers

 

jeff