Without actually having been there, just watching this video it looks like those widened wheels worked better {although some of them eventually failed}...👍
Structural spray foam; almost as good as load-bearing zipties! I think if you had a piece of rod / axle and another bike worth of gears, you could have put yourself in the middle of the frame spread the load equally and maybe spare the wheels from destruction. Also, cold weather does tend to make plastics and compatible glues a bit more brittle than usual. A++ for effort! Always keep improving!
StarShip 10 did it, ..... landed upright alls good! Maybe you can convert your Trash Train into a Mars Trash Train! 🤣 And, you need to put the bike in the middle front so it is like a truck! Very COOL! 👍
My mind says: double the original barrel covers, one inside as as already is, an additional one outside; lose the "load beading zip ties" and replace them with nuts and bolts thru the bicycle rims and covers; if you feel like it, weld both barrel covers together to form an additional mechanical advantage to your propulsion system, in the form of no splitting so less "flat tires"! (if you weld them, I'll end up with another form of rim that might, by chance, accept some sort of tire, might be flat but still, to add friction... traction/breaking)
While I do agree with you on the more ridged frame, I think the wheels are ok but for two things. 1- The load bearing wheels could no doubt usew some re-inforcement. 2- glue a one rubber thickness of bike tire innertube cut to fit so you would have plenty of traction. And once you have a stronger frame (and it will be lighter no doubt) be sure to add some weight to the other side of your rail bed so your load bearing wheeels have not so much of a load. You are getting more on track (tongue in cheek as I type) with the idea, just need to upgrade the frame andf the current wheels.
Make a speeder now!!!!!!!! (Electric or fuel.....----idea... why not turn some wheels from solid thick wood? home-made lathe that can turn wood will work. after the wheel is turned, apply an adhesive to the tread, and coat it in sand. Also, the smaller the wheel, the better. Look up the real-deal rail speeders here on YT) 😁✌
Take two blue tops and mount them together with one of them reverse from the other, with the the rim between them. Put the chain gear on the outside, add a bike intertube to the middle of the tops for traction and round a rod all the way from one side of the complete cart to the other side of it.
Hi saveitforparts! I like your project and it inspired me a bit. Why don't you use just an ordinary bike wheel with a flange (disc out of plastic, metal or even wood) ziped/ bolted to the spokes of the wheel, then you wouldn't have the problems with traction (because of the rubber) or stiffness of your wheels, because they are meant to this kind of job. And how about bolting the bike frame to the middle, so the vehicle is more balanced. You could even use an old electric drill to get kind of an e-bike. Many greetings from Germany 🖐️
Car rims would work or golf cart rims with axles run a gear on the rear axle a mount your bike or motor in the middle ! For traction spray bed liner on the rims or use old inner tubes ! The rims can’t fall off the rail , it’s double edged !
I like the single rim because it goes through switches and crossings (if they're not full of dirt). I'm still tinkering with this, I've actually pulled most of it apart and started to rebuild it.
@@saveitforparts you still can by cutting the one side bead area off giving you more surface of contact to rail . If you look at the wheels that the RR uses they are wide .
One other issue I see with this design is that wheels can bend a little bit in and out since the sides aluminum bars are not supported in front and back, adding those supports would improve wheels stability.
What about putting two blue tops together with a spacer between them? Just reverse one of the tops from the other one. Add some canvas or rubber intertubes to the wheels for traction.
Hey man, just thought of something else too, to maybe keep in mind. The tire itself should also have plenty of a conical shape, right? Smaller outside, to larger inside, where the flange is. So, maybe make some substantially wider conical tires, with a nice solid and strong flange inside. The forces placed on train wheels and tires as the train moves at all speeds, dictates their geometry, right? 😁
What about car rims, you could also try to make it 2 wheel drive and put the pedal part in the middle. It would be much heavier though. I'd also think about trying to mount a lawn mower blade to the base near the front and spin that thing up to clear everything out of the way as you go forward though. WAIT I KNOW WHAT TO USE: FAT TIRE BIKES! go to a bike shop and get some fat rims that fit on the track and ride them without rubber, if you want grip just get an old bike inner tube, cut the stem out and strech it over the rim, the tube should be a bit smaller than the rim size though. You will most likely need to modify a regular bike or find one designed for fat wheels. if you get a hub motor you could have an electric train cart bike lol
@@saveitforparts fat tire bike rims would fit over both sides of the track and there are plenty of ways to rubberize them! I actually went to my friend who builds bikes house and we took some wheels down too the track. The rim fit perfectly with just enough wiggle room though that was my local track and there are plenty of sizes of fat tire rims. Ask a local bike store if they have any old bike rims that they don't care about. You might also bring your track piece down to see what size rim fits best. Also ask online for any many people let fat tire bikes die when they need new tires because they bought them around 2017 thinking it looked cool but soon realized that big wheels mean more rolling resistance, have much more expensive specialty tires and the bike is just much harder to pedal, and keep up speed.
If you put the bike in the center you could still use plastic wheels the problem is is that the whole load is on just the two wheels picture propelling with I believe in the old days they did have real bikes or somewhere to what you're trying to do but with like a bike style
Hello, was your solo bike made after Dick Bentley's design? I used His plans and made my train rail bike out of junk metal parts instead of hardwood. Lots of fun to build. You are a genius at work!
The reason your vehicle keeps derailing is because of the shape of your wheels. Actual rail wheels have an angled contact surface, settling the weight of the vehicle between the tracks. You'll notice that a rail wheel has a smaller outside diameter than the inside - if you want stability and rail settlement, you'll need to replicate this somehow. The second reason you keep derailing is your weight position. You have your cycle offset to one side, which massively reduces the weight bearing on the left side of the vehicle. This causes a weight distribution bias, also leading to derailment. You'll need to move your cycle to the centre, too, if you can.
@@saveitforparts Cool - here's an actual video demo of what I was on about with the wheel profiles, I didn't explain it very well: th-cam.com/video/RCid4AlHu9A/w-d-xo.html
just put a spare locomotive on the back, that will add enough weight to make the plastic wheels get traction. Or use metal. Metal has an even lower coefficient of friction. Lower is better, right?
I loved the “professional horder”.
Greetings from the high plains of Texas.
You are doing a great job today
good proof of concept at least. Id make it a dual bike as well so you could have 2 people on it at once.
I wonder if people in your neighborhood say,"There's that crazy guy on the tracks again".
Without actually having been there, just watching this video it looks like those widened wheels worked better {although some of them eventually failed}...👍
Structural spray foam; almost as good as load-bearing zipties!
I think if you had a piece of rod / axle and another bike worth of gears, you could have put yourself in the middle of the frame spread the load equally and maybe spare the wheels from destruction.
Also, cold weather does tend to make plastics and compatible glues a bit more brittle than usual.
A++ for effort!
Always keep improving!
Ya ya you are really doing a great job with your railcar. Hi hello i am Al from south Florida USA
Fairmont Motor Car Co had humble beginnings also. Looks good on paper and on the shop floor until you give it the road test
Nice videos! I discovered your channel after watching the noaa satelite video.
StarShip 10 did it, ..... landed upright alls good! Maybe you can convert your Trash Train into a Mars Trash Train! 🤣
And, you need to put the bike in the middle front so it is like a truck! Very COOL! 👍
My mind says: double the original barrel covers, one inside as as already is, an additional one outside; lose the "load beading zip ties" and replace them with nuts and bolts thru the bicycle rims and covers; if you feel like it, weld both barrel covers together to form an additional mechanical advantage to your propulsion system, in the form of no splitting so less "flat tires"! (if you weld them, I'll end up with another form of rim that might, by chance, accept some sort of tire, might be flat but still, to add friction... traction/breaking)
Great Project. Not easy finding a substitute for train wheels. Perhaps layers of plywood to start??
While I do agree with you on the more ridged frame, I think the wheels are ok but for two things. 1- The load bearing wheels could no doubt usew some re-inforcement. 2- glue a one rubber thickness of bike tire innertube cut to fit so you would have plenty of traction. And once you have a stronger frame (and it will be lighter no doubt) be sure to add some weight to the other side of your rail bed so your load bearing wheeels have not so much of a load. You are getting more on track (tongue in cheek as I type) with the idea, just need to upgrade the frame andf the current wheels.
Make a speeder now!!!!!!!! (Electric or fuel.....----idea... why not turn some wheels from solid thick wood? home-made lathe that can turn wood will work. after the wheel is turned, apply an adhesive to the tread, and coat it in sand. Also, the smaller the wheel, the better. Look up the real-deal rail speeders here on YT) 😁✌
Take two blue tops and mount them together with one of them reverse from the other, with the the rim between them. Put the chain gear on the outside, add a bike intertube to the middle of the tops for traction and round a rod all the way from one side of the complete cart to the other side of it.
love your channel. Thanks!
Hi saveitforparts! I like your project and it inspired me a bit. Why don't you use just an ordinary bike wheel with a flange (disc out of plastic, metal or even wood) ziped/ bolted to the spokes of the wheel, then you wouldn't have the problems with traction (because of the rubber) or stiffness of your wheels, because they are meant to this kind of job. And how about bolting the bike frame to the middle, so the vehicle is more balanced. You could even use an old electric drill to get kind of an e-bike. Many greetings from Germany 🖐️
I'm thinking of doing something with rubber tires next.
@@saveitforparts ALWAYS use a rubber. LOL
I wonder if the more traditional rail bike could fit a 66cc 2 stroke motor kit?? THAT would be super cool.
I actually just bought a bike with a little gas engine on it. I might modify that for tracks, but I'm also working on my electric railcar.
Car rims would work or golf cart rims with axles run a gear on the rear axle a mount your bike or motor in the middle ! For traction spray bed liner on the rims or use old inner tubes ! The rims can’t fall off the rail , it’s double edged !
I like the single rim because it goes through switches and crossings (if they're not full of dirt). I'm still tinkering with this, I've actually pulled most of it apart and started to rebuild it.
@@saveitforparts you still can by cutting the one side bead area off giving you more surface of contact to rail . If you look at the wheels that the RR uses they are wide .
Stretch inner tubes over wheels for traction
2:08 Sharpie on the back of the hand? I see we use the same style notepad.
One other issue I see with this design is that wheels can bend a little bit in and out since the sides aluminum bars are not supported in front and back, adding those supports would improve wheels stability.
I've done a slightly different design since this video, and I might re-do it again this winter.
What about putting two blue tops together with a spacer between them? Just reverse one of the tops from the other one. Add some canvas or rubber intertubes to the wheels for traction.
I've got a different design I'm working on now, I still wanted the single rim for going through switches but it's complicated no matter how you do it!
New design: th-cam.com/video/X1Fo_gK-QeI/w-d-xo.html
This is so cool.
Hey man, just thought of something else too, to maybe keep in mind. The tire itself should also have plenty of a conical shape, right? Smaller outside, to larger inside, where the flange is. So, maybe make some substantially wider conical tires, with a nice solid and strong flange inside. The forces placed on train wheels and tires as the train moves at all speeds, dictates their geometry, right? 😁
What about car rims, you could also try to make it 2 wheel drive and put the pedal part in the middle. It would be much heavier though. I'd also think about trying to mount a lawn mower blade to the base near the front and spin that thing up to clear everything out of the way as you go forward though. WAIT I KNOW WHAT TO USE: FAT TIRE BIKES! go to a bike shop and get some fat rims that fit on the track and ride them without rubber, if you want grip just get an old bike inner tube, cut the stem out and strech it over the rim, the tube should be a bit smaller than the rim size though. You will most likely need to modify a regular bike or find one designed for fat wheels. if you get a hub motor you could have an electric train cart bike lol
I'm thinking rubber tires next, still experimenting with different ideas though.
@@saveitforparts fat tire bike rims would fit over both sides of the track and there are plenty of ways to rubberize them! I actually went to my friend who builds bikes house and we took some wheels down too the track. The rim fit perfectly with just enough wiggle room though that was my local track and there are plenty of sizes of fat tire rims. Ask a local bike store if they have any old bike rims that they don't care about. You might also bring your track piece down to see what size rim fits best. Also ask online for any many people let fat tire bikes die when they need new tires because they bought them around 2017 thinking it looked cool but soon realized that big wheels mean more rolling resistance, have much more expensive specialty tires and the bike is just much harder to pedal, and keep up speed.
Taper the wheels. The tread on RR wheels are tapered. Flanges are not the primary reason trains stay on the tracks.
If you put the bike in the center you could still use plastic wheels the problem is is that the whole load is on just the two wheels picture propelling with I believe in the old days they did have real bikes or somewhere to what you're trying to do but with like a bike style
Professional horder .....🤣
Hello, was your solo bike made after Dick Bentley's design? I used His plans and made my train rail bike out of junk metal parts instead of hardwood. Lots of fun to build. You are a genius at work!
I believe the bike is a Bentley design, my friend built that one.
The reason your vehicle keeps derailing is because of the shape of your wheels. Actual rail wheels have an angled contact surface, settling the weight of the vehicle between the tracks. You'll notice that a rail wheel has a smaller outside diameter than the inside - if you want stability and rail settlement, you'll need to replicate this somehow.
The second reason you keep derailing is your weight position. You have your cycle offset to one side, which massively reduces the weight bearing on the left side of the vehicle. This causes a weight distribution bias, also leading to derailment. You'll need to move your cycle to the centre, too, if you can.
I'm planning to redesign things a bit, with the weight more centered and different wheels.
@@saveitforparts Cool - here's an actual video demo of what I was on about with the wheel profiles, I didn't explain it very well: th-cam.com/video/RCid4AlHu9A/w-d-xo.html
Ooooo, put another lid on the other side samwhich style!
The flange should be on the inside, really. much less relevant in the case of a small cart, but still more forgiving inside, than out.
@@DetroitMicroSound This puts a flange on both side and keeps it on the tracks. This is what we did when we were kids! Works grrrrrrreat!
@@terrywheelock9458Lots of ways to go with a small cart, but trying to keep the flange on the inside is still the way to go, I think. 😁
@@DetroitMicroSound well yeeeeeah! But then how you gonna break the sound barrier! 🤣 Dats right .... I said it! 🤣
@@terrywheelock9458 😄
Wait a second, RUBBER TIRES???? that is crazy.
just put a spare locomotive on the back, that will add enough weight to make the plastic wheels get traction. Or use metal. Metal has an even lower coefficient of friction. Lower is better, right?
also, fyi, it's technically 'trespassing on railroad property' and it's like two weeks in county. No biggie.
cool
Was a good try buddy!
Well, you've found out what doesn't work 😊
unfortunately most abandoned rails in central California have been pulled up and scrapped ive been looking around for a while
I mean, hey, how could you not use structural spray foam when you're already using structural zip ties?! :)
structural spray foam ROFL