New Monorail Info by Mark Bellis 20121217 The new Monorail concept was initiated by Masao Hidaka. Support it on LEGO Cuusoo! http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/487 I decided to take up this concept and help to develop it for the community, by applying engineering skills and system thinking. Track Concept: Track sections are connected by a Technic peg-in-hole method. The aim is to create track elements emulating the full range of original parts: straights, curves, slopes, points and start/stop rail, and more besides: crossings, different slopes, Y-point, crossover etc... All track sections are made from basic parts, which TLG will always make in one colour or another, hence there will always be track available. Train Concept: Vehicles run on the track with small rubber tyres providing traction. Vertical axles or tubes either side of the track keep each car in position. At least one axle of one car is powered. There is a preference for both axles of at least one car to be powered. Initially 2 wheels and 2 sets of guides per car are preferred. This may limit how small a car or bogie can go. Bogie vehicles would need a forward/backward hinge to cope with slopes. A hanging monorail, with cars underneath hanging from bogies, is possible. Power Functions: The Power Functions system is ideal for controlling the trains. The LiPo battery, Infra-Red Receiver and Medium Motor work well. The V1 receiver works well with 2x Medium motors. Note that a new version of the Medium Motor will work better in pairs with the V2 receiver. I have tried using the PF pole reverser switch to emulate the original direction change switch on the motor. This is an ongoing experiment. Track Details: Track features, such as points or signals, can be controlled by PF, RCX or NXT. It is desirable for points and crossings to have the auto-change features of the original, setting the branch tracks to where the train is coming from. I decided to begin with tracks 5 plates deep including the top tile. I kept the train guides shorter than the depth of 5 plates. Straights are easy enough, just composites of 2-wide plates and the tiles on top. Nothing to prove, these are production-ready. Curves I made from 2x2 plates 1x2 plates and 2x2 tiles. This compares with Hidaka's 6-long sections with round bricks included for the curvature. There are many ways to do it. A radius of 48M suits the small plate composite well. The small plate composite curves are well-tested and production-ready. Slopes are an essential part of the original monorail. Hidaka has a prototype slope that is shown working on YouTube. I saw that the train size (6-wide) and the curves (radius 48M) were both 1.5x the original. Therefore I aimed for 96M as the maximum length of a slope to rise by 10 bricks, the same height as the original. I thought a slope should be robust so I went for multiple rod & clip hinges between modules. This is stronger than a single hinge and keeps its position better. I created a long slope of 80M long and 10 bricks high. 80M leaves 16M of bridge to get over other tracks, and reduces the proportional length compared to the original. I also created a short slope of 48M long and 5 bricks high. I used two of these opposite the single 80/10 slope. This means more varied levels are possible on a layout. I used the same composite modules of plates modified at the ends of the slopes. Therefore the concept could extend easily to 112M long and 15 bricks high or 144M long and 20 bricks high etc...! The modules have calculated angles and sizes to fit well and not strain the parts. They are quite strong in situ but more vulnerable as the layout is being built. The slopes have been proven on continuous test and are now production-ready! A flat crossing for monorail was something TLG patented but never released. I thought I'd have a go, either with a rotating track section (8-long) or tracks with sections that would flatten out of the way, below a passing train. I have prototypes of both under development. The flattening-rail crossing needs no intervention but can catch a train sometimes. The turning-rail crossing is more suitable for RCX/NXT automation or as a smaller version for a signal. Points are more challenging. Hidaka has made one of each hand that works with an RCX-driven gearmotor, and is easily adaptable to Power Functions. I will have a go in due course. Not sure what I will do yet! I will aim to get the functionality of the original working better than the original used to work. The original monorail points used to stick a lot. It is possible to vary the track colour scheme to suit the theme. My first tracks had red and blue alternate layers. Space themes have their key colours. My yellow-on-black suits Blacktron. Different areas of a layout could have appropriate colours. You might like to use the colours of your country for a town theme. This is an advantage over the original grey. It is essential that all track pieces are made from sustainable basic parts. This means the monorail can be popular for ever, not finish when production of specialist parts ceases. Train Details: I began with a single car 18M long and 6M wide, with 2 wheels and 4 guides. The guides are part of a frame of Technic parts at each end. For coupled cars another piece attaches to the frame and is strong in transmitting the forces from one car to the next. I used cross blocks and 3M studless beams for couplings. Hidaka has used ball and socket joints and Joe Meno has used train magnet couplings. Any system is possible. I developed the train to put the battery and IR Receiver on other cars. This aims to make some room for passengers or goods on the train. A 3-car train is good with one Medium Motor at a ratio of 20:12 to small pulleys (half bushes) with small (wheelbarrow) tyres. A 5-car train benefits from a second motorised car. I tried one at each end, with the battery in the middle and the two motors in parallel. This is similar to what I do with larger trains. My 5-car train is like this so far: 1st car is motorised at 20:12 on both axles. 2nd car is the switch car with the switch and IR Receiver. 3rd car is the battery car 4th car is a goods wagon, with a dummy load of just enough weight. 5th car is a mirror image of the 1st car, again motorised on both axles. I expect to add PF light bricks to trains, both for head and tail lights and for internal lights, like a tram. Summary: I believe this is a good monorail system for the long-term future. It makes the most of Power Functions and is adaptable to RCX/NXT if you like. Try building your own, and support it on LEGO Cuusoo! http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/487 Mark Bellis