jFox Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I was considering adding a monorail set to my collection, but after seeing some of the videos from Masao Hidaka like this one ( ), I thought it would be a fun challenge to create them from scratch. Not to mention the cost and practically irreplaceable nature of existing monorail parts... Aside from his videos (which are pretty clear overall), I can't seem to find a whole lot of other variations.So I'm curious, have any of you tried this method yourself? Come up with any interesting monorail designs, or track options? Have any advice for someone going down this road? Quote
Electricsteam Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I sort of built a monorail a few years ago.... I still have the base for the wheels.... I regret taking it apart and never making a cool set up using the bluerails... anyways that's another type you could consider. Quote
Asper Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I have built a monorail after Masao Hidakas videos. It was shown at "Bricking Bavaria 2014". There is a video and a flickr album with some more prictures (not all about the monorail). I designed and built a switch for this but do not have videos or detailed pictures. Building this was fun and I plan to do this again - extended to a two track layout. In the German forum 1000Steine you can find the "SOLORAIL". (Text is all in German, but the pictures and video should give a good impression). I have never seen it in real life, but the video is impressive. And there is üfchen... With his brilliant ideas, here some of the monorail videos: , , , ... Quote
cgarison Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I have also built a copy of Masao Hidakas' monorail as well, but currently it is not part of any of my LUGs' layouts dues to space (pardon the pun) constraints and interference from the other trains and monorails that are already running. But when you are displaying Nate Brill's "hanging monorail," the version I built just does not have the character to compete. Quote
jFox Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 I have built a monorail after Masao Hidakas videos. It was shown at "Bricking Bavaria 2014". There is a video and a flickr album with some more prictures (not all about the monorail). I designed and built a switch for this but do not have videos or detailed pictures. Building this was fun and I plan to do this again - extended to a two track layout. In the German forum 1000Steine you can find the "SOLORAIL". (Text is all in German, but the pictures and video should give a good impression). I have never seen it in real life, but the video is impressive. And there is üfchen... With his brilliant ideas, here some of the monorail videos: , , , ... Thanks for the links, love those videos. That monorail really zips around the track! I have also built a copy of Masao Hidakas' monorail as well, but currently it is not part of any of my LUGs' layouts dues to space (pardon the pun) constraints and interference from the other trains and monorails that are already running. But when you are displaying Nate Brill's "hanging monorail," the version I built just does not have the character to compete. Whoa, that hanging monorail is a great idea, thanks! The train/monorail on the bottom is pretty cool; it looks very rugged and sci-fi, great design! Quote
cgarison Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 Whoa, that hanging monorail is a great idea, thanks! The train/monorail on the bottom is pretty cool; it looks very rugged and sci-fi, great design! According to Nate, a version of his hanging monorail has been creates that runs on the powered track (I think he said 12 volt, but I could be wrong.) The hanging monorail is a blast to run around our moon base. I has a cute little wiggle as it comes out of the turns. After three years of use on the layout, it has developed some uniques characteristics that need to be sorted out when starting it out every morning but those do not detract from the experience of running it around the track. The locomotive in the picture is Peter Morris's "Space Train" which has sadly left our display when Peter moved down south this past fall. I am currently working on a replacement locomotive for the moonbase and have built used my "Ghost Train" as a prototype for our new and improved running gear for the locomotive. With the Ghost Train passing its second full scale test with flying colors (the first test was a total failure), the time has come to build another sci-fi styled locomotive that is worthy to set next to that fabulous beast once the two have a chance to meet. Quote
jFox Posted February 27, 2015 Author Posted February 27, 2015 Sci-fi trains are what originally got me interested in perhaps picking up a monorail set. The price tag is what got me pretty quickly uninterested. Trains are still a pretty new branch of Lego for me, but I'm starting to think about how to use them as a central point of some larger creations. I'd love to see your Ghost Train when it's finished. It didn't seem very popular when it came out, but I thought the Ghost Train was pretty cool--it was an interesting twist to a normal train. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted February 28, 2015 Posted February 28, 2015 You might want to check out Mark Bellis' monorails Quote
jFox Posted March 1, 2015 Author Posted March 1, 2015 You might want to check out Mark Bellis' monorails Whoa, jackpot! That's a lot of good info in that gallery, thanks zephyr1934! Quote
vmckee Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 Does anyone have a preference between Hidaka's version 1 and 2? Does version 2 provide more power? Quote
Shupp Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Hey! That's my suspended monorail! Yeah, that's one option, and it runs pretty well. Now that there are PF L motors I want to build a new one sometime According to Nate, a version of his hanging monorail has been creates that runs on the powered track (I think he said 12 volt, but I could be wrong.) Well, I don't know that mine inspired it at all, but here is a video of that other suspended design. I want to try this sometime too! Edited March 5, 2015 by Shupp Quote
cgarison Posted March 6, 2015 Posted March 6, 2015 Does anyone have a preference between Hidaka's version 1 and 2? Does version 2 provide more power? From what I have seen, their is not much difference between the two. The one where the M-Motor pins to the running gear will give you more power/torque. The one where the M-motor clutch attaches to the plate may not have as much power, but it will be will be faster. Also note, from my visits to a few AFOL conventions, I have seen a couple more variations including one using an L-Motor that has the power to wreck a whole moonbase when it collides with a stanchion (or two/three) while running around the layout. Quote
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