Zach Bond "Momentum Van" project

[laurence703]

it may have a small wheelbase for a normal 4 wheeled van. wagon etc, but it'd make a great bogie if someone were to design a frame for it to sit in.

[AFGadd]

Been equally impressed by what I've seen & read, to that end I've bought a ZeCar.

I have also bought myself some 1/8" bore Delrin gears & chain. I want to build a longer wheelbase (at least that of the ZeCar) with "4WD"...

I'm assuming that if one axle works well, two can only be better?

[Keith S]

I find the wheelbase short too, there's no reason the "zecar" couldn't be installed vertically with just the one end protruding from under the wagon lined up with one axle.

I considered doing this, to retain the stock wheelbase. There reason I decided not to, is that the way Mr. Bond set it up, the zecar is only touching the wagon body by its axles. I had an idea that this might be why it is fairly quiet: it's not touching the van body therefore doesn't transmit much sound to the wood.

But there are other ways to insulate the van body from sound, such as rubber mounts or something. You could even put the zecar inside the van altogether, with a gear on its axle, driven by one or both van axles via a chain... or turn the whole thing into a bogie as Laurence suggests.

[philipy]

Angling the zecar, so that you only use one axle on the rail, sounds OK to me, but I'd have thought that adding gear trains and/or chain drives would vastly increase internal resistance to the fly wheel mechanism, not sure it would work as well? I'd be happy to be proved wrong though!

One other thought that occurred to me is that from looking at the pictures, at least one of the gears appears to be plastic of some sort, I do wonder if something that is basically a toy will stand up to some fairly heavy duty running? Only time will tell I guess.

[Keith S]

Yes one gear is plastic, looks like nylon to me, the other gears are metal. Others will have to assess its durability: I haven't begun building my railway yet. Testing this wagon is the most running my loco has done in years.

[philipy]

Having now seen Alan P's video of his delrin chain 4-w drive version, it seems my fears were unfounded. Well done chaps.

[McRuss]

Could someone tell me the diameter of the Zecar axles?

Markus

[AFGadd]

Could someone tell me the diameter of the Zecar axles?

Markus

Hi Markus,

They're about 1/8". I say about, as IP Engineering wheels are almost a rattle fit on the axles...

The axles are also "crimped" at the ends, the ultimate solution would be to make plastic bushes to go over the ZeCar axles and bore out your wheels to fit the plastic bushes.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

I found that, using the IP insulated 45mm wheel sets, the wheels where a good fit on the axles. Then again my zecar was bought about 6 years ago so they might have changed a few things.

[Keith S]

I just used a drop of glue to secure my IP wheels onto the axles. They are a close enough fit that the glue secures them.

I filed the ends of the axles smooth so they would run in the brass IP bushings.

It all seems to fit pretty well...

[cheshire]

The axles are also a perfect fit for W&L Accucraft wheels too. I have mounted the Zecar so that only one axle is used, moving the old axle boxes in by exactly the width of 2 coffee stirrers per side so the axles of the Zecar can sit in the bearings. Its revolutionised my Silver Lady which always raced away and stalled on curves. As an aside, all my wagons are heavily weighted with lead, so you don't get the wagon pushing the train as much, its just like a brake on straights and an extra help on tight curves. Thanks for the idea, one of the best £14 I have ever spent!! Any ideas now what to put on the top of the flat wagon to disguise the flywheel? Needs to look good with freight and passenger trains? Thanks

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[philipy]

How about disguising with a furniture container? BR had many types in the 50's and one chained down on your flat would look good in any train.

Plenty of info here:
http://mike.da2c.org/igg/rail/5-unit/unitload1.htm

[tom_tom_go]

That is good suggestion by Phil, would look just right:

[Andrew]

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Oooh, that looks good! How have you supported the end of the Zecar's body to keep it at that angle?

I reckon I'd go for some sort of crate to hide the mechanism too...

Cheers,

Andrew

[cheshire]

The wheels are held in the axle boxes and the body is epoxy glued with a coffee stirrer on the top of the wagon. Much of the railway is fixed / mended / built with a coffee stirrer!!

[Keith S]

I'm thinking of ordering another "zecar". Maybe I'll put one in a coach, so I'll have a goods and passenger one.

The package says part of the profit from these things goes to rain forests or something...

You fellows will post some videos of your train's performance with the new momentum wagons, won't you?

[robyholmes]

How easy do you think this would be to fit to a roundhouse tender (4 wheeled). I've ordered the zecar and hope to order the tender kit soon as part of a coal fired Billy I'm building.

[Keith S]

Roundhouse tenders (at least the one I have) are a bit different underneath than a wagon, they have a brass sub-chassis that the axles fit into and the axle-boxes on the frames are non-functioning. I'm sure you could fit a flywheel device to the tender but it might not be as easy as hacking into a wooden wagon body. If it was me, I'd prefer to put the thing in a trailing wagon, and save the tender for coal and water.

[Marquis DeCarabas]

The axles are also a perfect fit for W&L Accucraft wheels too. I have mounted the Zecar so that only one axle is used, moving the old axle boxes in by exactly the width of 2 coffee stirrers per side so the axles of the Zecar can sit in the bearings.

I'm confused (quite easy when it comes to anything apart from signalling) - when you say that you've moved the old axleboxes "in" - what "in" do you mean?

Do you a) mean away from the headstocks and "in" towards the centre line of the wagon or b) narrowed them in relative to the gauge?

[tom_tom_go]

I got mine in the post today and got on with removing the original wheels which will rust nicely in my scrap yard

As I run 32mm the axles on the Zecar are not long enough to allow the use of axle boxes other than for cosmetic use:



I would prefer the axles sit in axle boxes so I reckon I will replace these.

I want to get this running as soon as possible to test so rather than spend extra time extending the wheel base which to me does not look right in 16mm would suit more a 7/8ths tender wagon based on what the Penrhyn use to operate.