Cog and rack loco , possible ?

[up1950s]

I didn't want to muck up the traction on grades thread so here is my brain fart right through my a$$hat . Can a cog and rack loco be done ? Mesh at first tooth could be a problem with errant land to land meet . Turnouts would require the rack to be so high that the cog clears the turnout rails , and rack sections be only on non-turnout portions . Were any rack rails used in logging ?

[peteski]

That seems like too much trouble.

Why not use "Magna-traction" as it was presented on the A-board by Lemosteam?  Remember that thread?  Those little rare earth magnets and a steel wire buried under the ties worked pretty well.

[Lemosteam]

Whoa Peteski- Blast from the past there!    I still get the occasional hits on these...  Actually finihshed the ficticious loco too...

Then again Richie, there's always these:    (Don't laugh, my kids LOVE them!  Dead rail remote control and 20% grades- NO PROBLEM!

[SkipGear]

It has been done. Arnold or Fleischman has made a production cog railway set. I can't remember which it was but I have seen one on a gentleman's layout that he was selling and a friend was about ready to buy the whole layout just to get the cog rail equipment off of it.

[up1950s]

Wow , somehow I don't remember John's magnet deal , and yes KISS is a smarter way , Maybe if a phony rack was available in steel and used instead of the under tie steel wire the magnetic attraction would even be greater , thus the traction greater as well . Or guard rails made out of steel .  They could also be used on a non-logging layout , at critical grades and starting points such as ends of stations , and ends of sidings . Probably more feasible for HO because of space to use for the magnets , but Johns idea should not die on the drawing table . MOW car with a big magnet just for cleaning wouldn't hurt either , unless you had permanent coupler magnets installed , then its issues need to be dealt with .

[engineshop]

Fleischmann is the only one that makes N-scale cog rail but the never did any switches.
http://www.fleischmann.de/de/product/12225-0-0-1-3-0-0-005003/products.html

[jmlaboda]

Maybe you can draw some ideas from these links...
http://www.scottpages.net/WallMountN.html
http://www.nscale.net/forums/showthread.php?10558-Making-a-Cog-Railway-Build-Diary

[delamaize]

Fleischmann is the only one that makes N-scale cog rail but the never did any switches.
http://www.fleischmann.de/de/product/12225-0-0-1-3-0-0-005003/products.html

I have some of the Fleischmann track, the locomotive, and some of the coaches that go with them. I have been storing them away for a future planned micro layout, but I need about triple the rack track I have right now, just to start.....I'll get some pictures, and maybe a grade test video later, if you guys are intrested.

[VonRyan]

I have some of the Fleischmann track, the locomotive, and some of the coaches that go with them. I have been storing them away for a future planned micro layout, but I need about triple the rack track I have right now, just to start.....I'll get some pictures, and maybe a grade test video later, if you guys are intrested.

+1


I've seen someone who did a short section of cog-railway on his HO layout for the heck of it. The rack started just before the grade and the loco never seemed to have any problem meshing to the rack as it prepared to climb, IIRC, what was close to a 50 degree angle.



-Cody F.

[peteski]

I agree that the initial meshing of the gear and rack would not be problematic. After all, the gear spacing would be probably less than 0.030" and the wheels are free to spin on the rails.  Even if there was a meshing hiccup, it would be almost unnoticeable. To me the problem would be with the movable rack items like switches.

I still think that Lemosteam's magnetic traction enhancement looks like a worthy idea to try for this type of a railroad model.  Even the very tiny rare earth magnets have very strong magnetic field!  I like the idea of using a dummy rack to hide the ferromagnetic wire.

[Lemosteam]

Peteski, The ballast hides the wire as it is directly below the track.  Here is the Aforum thread...

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=68417&SearchTerms=Magnet

Funny retreading it here...

[peteski]

Peteski, The ballast hides the wire as it is directly below the track.  Here is the Aforum thread...

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=68417&SearchTerms=Magnet

Funny retreading it here...

I remember that quite well John.  But up1950 mentioned that he would still like to model a "dummy" rack and that it would be a convenient place to hide the steel wire: "Maybe if a phony rack was available in steel and used instead of the under tie steel wire the magnetic attraction would even be greater , thus the traction greater as well . Or guard rails made out of steel." I simply agreed.

PS. I'm really glad that Atlas is keeping the A-board online. It is such a great resource for information. I'll be really sad when they finally pull the plug. Hopefully, that won't happen for a while.

[Alaska Railroader]

Whoa Peteski- Blast from the past there!    I still get the occasional hits on these...  Actually finihshed the ficticious loco too...

Then again Richie, there's always these:    (Don't laugh, my kids LOVE them!  Dead rail remote control and 20% grades- NO PROBLEM!

THIS I would love to do.

[mmyers05]

Wow , somehow I don't remember John's magnet deal , and yes KISS is a smarter way , Maybe if a phony rack was available in steel and used instead of the under tie steel wire the magnetic attraction would even be greater , thus the traction greater as well . Or guard rails made out of steel .  They could also be used on a non-logging layout , at critical grades and starting points such as ends of stations , and ends of sidings . Probably more feasible for HO because of space to use for the magnets , but Johns idea should not die on the drawing table.

Not to drift the thread too much, but I for one am fairly confident that (if you get a bit creative) you could use the 'magna-traction' method to get your trains climbing almost any grade. 

About six months ago I spent a weekend running a whole bunch of calculations and experiments to see if the 'magna-traction' concept was one that I wanted to pursue (ps. thanks for the inspiration Lemosteam!). Suffice it to say, at the end of the weekend I was sold; I'm in the process of equipping all of my locomotives with magnets and I'm actually contemplating removing the traction tires that I had relied on previously (because I consider this to be a far superior method). 

That said, I recognize that aspects of my situation are rather unique; I am planning to run an entirely steam roster on steady +4 percent grades, for example.

Either way though, I think that using magnets to increase pulling power on grades is very, very doable and remarkably effective.
   

[daniel_leavitt2000]

If you made the rack from etched steel, it would work with magnets and simulate a real cog and rack setup in appearance.