LDD MOC: Horse Drawn Street Car Trolley

[Brickstarrunner]

"Everyone in the world was once a child. We grow up. Our personalities change, but in every one of us something remains of our childhood...[that] knows nothing of sophistication and distinction. It's where all of us are simple and naive without prejudice and bias. We're friendly and trustworthy and it just seems that if your picture hits that spot in one person, it's going to hit that same spot in almost everybody. So, in planning a new picture, we don't think of grownups and we don't think of children, but just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that maybe the world has made us forget and that maybe our picture can help recall."

- Walt Disney, Main Street U.S.A.

I want to try and bring you to a simpler time. Around the Turn of the Century in the good ol' center of the United States of America. Horse drawn carriages and walking were the preferred modes of transportation with locomotives being long ranged transportation. Horseless Carriages were becoming the craze as well. Everyone would go to the park or soda fountain to pass the time on Saturdays, and go to church on Sunday in their best attire. Barbershop Quartets sand on the street across from the open-air cafe playing some jolly good Rag Time music on a piano on stage. Everyone pretty much knew everybody, and life was nice and sweet.

I can't bring that back to you now, but I can bring you something that has a connection with that era. I present to you, a Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A.'s Horse Drawn Trolley.

In keeping with my sudden Disneyland rush of ideas, I decided to do something simple today. I recreated the Horse Drawn Carriages seen going up and down Main Street among the hustle and bustle of the Disneyland Park-goers. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love riding the Horse Drawn Trolleys at Disneyland. Something about hopping into one of these carts, feeling the slight bump forward as the horse takes off, the sound of the wheels as it rolls along the rails embedded in the street, the sound of the clip clip of the horse, and even the cling of the bell and level the driver does to change the speed (Brake system I believe) and to alert guests of the oncoming trolley. I have a great passion for that Trolley. But enough about me, it's time to get onto the pictures.

My favorite details have to be the gas lamps on each corner of the roof, the bumpers located at the front and back of the trolley, the outcropping steps on the sides of the trolley for assistance into the cart, and the concave wall sections as well. Oh, and the supporting poles on either side of each bench is nice as well.

Just to prove to you that this is not a fake, I shall show you the wheels on the underbelly. Also, sorry about the very awkward and tight seats. I tried other designs, but none of them seemed right, so I had to go with this design. Hey, at least Minifigs can be seated there in real life, just not in LDD.

Yes, it does run on rails, just not the traditional L-Gauge rails. It has to run on modified 4 stud wide rails, much like the ones found in that Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Minecart set. Except you WILL have to get custom made curves. The ones provided in the set are too tight, and the Trolley will get stuck on the curves. It needs rails with the same curve as regular curved tracks. So so far, the only way to run this baby is by a straight line of track OR custom molds of tracks yourself.

And now for the usual reference photos of the Horse Drawn Trolleys located on Main Street U.S.A.

And an original horse drawn trolley that I do believe inspired the Main Street trolleys in a way.

Below, I provided the LDD download, although do be warned. LDD likes to be stupid and says some bricks are not placed properly (The 4 posts on the corners holding the entire bloody roof up) It can be help up in real life, it's just that LDD doesn't know that. Oh LDD, unlimited bricks, limited on how to place them.

I hoped you enjoyed. I know I had a blast creating this and listening to the music provided above. I have another trip to Disneyland planned tomorrow and the day after that, so hopefully I will get some more ideas on what to do. Maybe I can do the Disneyland Railroad Stations, preferably the Main Street and New Orleans Square/Frontierland stations.

PS: Trolleys are considered trains, right? They run on rails and everything. If not, can someone please move this thread to the proper area? Thanks.

Horse Drawn Carriage Exporting.lxf

Edited June 6, 2012 by Brickstarrunner

[Hrw-Amen]

Interesting idea, I guess a lot of original railways were horse drawn or at least donkey/pony drawn for bring up stuff from mines and so on. Could easily be turned into a castle or medieval train MOC I imagine.

Just looking at the pictures of the real horse drawn trolley I see they have several points/switches, I am wondering how they change those, do they have a chap jump off and run a head to change direction or is it all down to which way the horse pulls the carriage?

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow this MOC looks absolutely awesome ...and real!

[Brickstarrunner]

Interesting idea, I guess a lot of original railways were horse drawn or at least donkey/pony drawn for bring up stuff from mines and so on. Could easily be turned into a castle or medieval train MOC I imagine.

Just looking at the pictures of the real horse drawn trolley I see they have several points/switches, I am wondering how they change those, do they have a chap jump off and run a head to change direction or is it all down to which way the horse pulls the carriage?

I've been to the parks on several occasions, every time riding the Horse Drawn Trolley, so I can tell you how it works. For one thing, the horse always pulls to the right, so the trolley also pulls to the right. But the tracks are also specially designed, when I took a closer look. There no switch or automation or anything like that. It's just a single piece of iron or steel or whatever metal it's made of.

Notice how there is no actual switch. Just a single piece of track that diverges into two. The tracks have grooves in it for the trolley to pass through. All the horse has to do is pull it in the right direction.

http://img.photobuck...09/IMG_0247.jpg