MOC: Hi-Rail Excavator

[dr_spock]

Presenting my hi-rail exacavator. It is a fun little creation I put together for an upcoming LUG meeting at train themed brewery. It is driven by the rubber tires mounted to a PF train motor. The battery box and IR receiver are located in the high side gondola. It is made to stand up to children playing with it.

I got the inspiration from a picture of the LEGO display at LEGO World. A designer took the 4203 set and put it on rails. I don't think he/she used a train motor since his/her wheels are spaced much further apart. He/she also used a box car with draw bar. I think a gondola would make more sense to pair with an excavator to dump material into.

Hi-rail Excavator by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

Here it is running on some tracks:

I morphed it from this originally:

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Hey this is great Dr_Spock ...at first glance I thought it wasn't motorized!

Nicely done!

[BricksMcgee]

Nice little model! Looks like it runs well

[ecmo47]

Lovely!! Nice break from all the monster MOC's that graced these pages.

Is it IR controlled or just on/off?

[kieran]

Looks ir to me, what I am wondering is what motor is in it?

Edited February 15, 2015 by kieran

[LoneBrickerSG]

Looks ir to me, what I am wondering is what motor is in it?

It is driven by the rubber tires mounted to a PF train motor. The battery box and IR receiver are located in the high side gondola. It is made to stand up to children playing with it.

You can see the cable connected to the batt box, and the dome on the IR receiver.

Your MOC is making me want to put train wheels on my 4203. The model itself looks pretty slick and very believable as being an excavator.

Did you ever consider using crawler tracks instead of tires? Then you can have tracks on your tracks.

[ecmo47]

Ah...I missed the IR receiver in the front of the wagon in the video.

[dr_spock]

Thanks everyone.

It can run pretty fast with the PF train motor when cranked to level 7 on the IR speed remote control. It flew off a switch at the edge of my table and hit the floor. I was surprised how much of it held together.

Your MOC is making me want to put train wheels on my 4203. The model itself looks pretty slick and very believable as being an excavator.

Did you ever consider using crawler tracks instead of tires? Then you can have tracks on your tracks.

I haven't tried rubber tracks with the PF train motor. Not sure if they fit or not. Someone should give it a try.

[kieran]

ah cool its a train motor with non train wheels. nice idea

[lightningtiger]

Great design 'dr_spock'......but it had an issue I see.......will it appear on Seconds Before Disaster ?

Brick On 'dr_spock' !

[monsinjor]

Very nice build dr. Spock!

[ummester]

Nifty little build Dr Spock.

Re the Gondola, is there any reason (other than just aesthetic choice) that you have the wheels with 6 studs space between them? Is 8 studs the maximum you can have between non turning wheels and still allow the cart to corner, or do I have that wrong?

[Richfilth]

6-stud spacing is what 9V TLG kits used (kits 4563 and 4564 in particular).

Edited February 16, 2015 by Richfilth

[dr_spock]

Thanks everyone.

I tried 8 but it looks better to me with 6. LEGO also used 6 stud spacing for the wagon the Lone Ranger Constitution Train Chase set.

[Q3671]

[dr_spock]

Is that what you do for a living in public transportation?

[Q3671]

this is a part of my job

Edited February 19, 2015 by Q3671

[Q3671]

pic's to big sorry, i try to make them smaller, no succes

[Commander Wolf]

I wouldn't have thought to make anything like this with anything but a micromotor, but other than the speed being hilariously unrealistic the train motor works surprisingly well.