A working RPO in N-Scale

[VonRyan]

I might have a smaller 12V solenoid like the one you found.  I'll have dig through my stash of parts.

That'd be perfect. I've been thinking of ways to disguise the bottom of the relay I have, but a smaller one would certainly save me from hacking a huge hole in the floor of the RPO car.

[peteski]

Of course I forgot to look - I'll do it tomorrow. 

[Lemosteam]

If a small solenoid is what you're after, why not modify an Atlas Code 80 switch machine?

[VonRyan]

If a small solenoid is what you're after, why not modify an Atlas Code 80 switch machine?

The Atlas solenoids aren't spring-loaded.

My original plans were to use an old Arnold Rapido solenoid, only problem was that I couldn't find a suitable spring to pair with it.

Hence why I bought the 24v solenoid seen above. Removes all the hunting for, and testing, a suitable spring. Plus the arm at the opposite end of the spring appears to be copper or at least copper-plated, thus it'll make building the actual mail-arm mechanism far easier.

[peteski]

Well, not so good news. I have too much stuff!  I spent some time this morning looking for that solenoid (in all the places I thought it would have been) with no luck.  I remember exactly what it looks like bu,t that's not much help.  I still have few more places to look for it and will do that later today or tomorrow.  I don't remember throwing it away and I didn't use it for any project, so there is still a chance I'll find it.

[Lemosteam]

The Atlas solenoids aren't spring-loaded.

My original plans were to use an old Arnold Rapido solenoid, only problem was that I couldn't find a suitable spring to pair with it.

Hence why I bought the 24v solenoid seen above. Removes all the hunting for, and testing, a suitable spring. Plus the arm at the opposite end of the spring appears to be copper or at least copper-plated, thus it'll make building the actual mail-arm mechanism far easier.

It may not have ot be.  It is a bi directional solenoid that could be used to extend and then retract the hook.

[VonRyan]

It may not have ot be.  It is a bi directional solenoid that could be used to extend and then retract the hook.

That'd complicate things a wee bit.

In the current plan, the spring replaces the need for a third wire which eliminates the need for a third contact shoe coming out of the bottom of the car, which means that there doesn't need to be a third phosphor-bronze lined styrene channel shoehorned between the rails.

The plan is to have two separate contact wipers coming out of the bottom of the RPO car which when approaching the mail crane will be guided into styrene channels lined with strips of phosphor-bronze, which will provide the solenoid with the necessary power to actuate the mail-hook mechanism. And just after the mail-hook makes contact with the mail-bag, the contact wipers will have moved out of the channels and the spring will close the mail-hook which will serve to bring the mail-bag into the car.

[VonRyan]

Well, not so good news. I have too much stuff!  I spent some time this morning looking for that solenoid (in all the places I thought it would have been) with no luck.  I remember exactly what it looks like bu,t that's not much help.  I still have few more places to look for it and will do that later today or tomorrow.  I don't remember throwing it away and I didn't use it for any project, so there is still a chance I'll find it.

I know this all too well. Especially now that the studio has been "cleaned" and thus most of my parts and such are tucked away in boxes and burried on shelves.

[peteski]

Well, I looked everywhere - found stuff I didn't even remember having, but not that solenoid.  I'm still pretty sure that I have it somewhere, but at this point I have to consider it as missing.  Sorry that I raised your hopes. I should have made sure I had it in hand before offering it to you. 

[VonRyan]

Well, I looked everywhere - found stuff I didn't even remember having, but not that solenoid.  I'm still pretty sure that I have it somewhere, but at this point I have to consider it as missing.  Sorry that I raised your hopes. I should have made sure I had it in hand before offering it to you. 

No worries. You'll probably find it once I cut a giant hole in the floor of the RPO. 

[VonRyan]

It's a slow day here at work, so I've been thinking about contact methods to activate the solenoid.
My original plan was for two contact wipers to come out of the bottom of the car to run through "water troughs" to provide power. However, this creates the problem that the two contact wipers would have to drag over points and diverging rails of turnouts along the route. After all, this is planed to be in operation on an N-Trak module.

So, that got me thinking about one of the contacts being outside of the track gauge.

The American Flyer car I'm drawing inspiration from had a contact shoe coming off of one of the trucks, and was designed to contact a rail that was higher than the normal rail height.
 
In N, this can become quite complicated as the tolerances have to be finer to keep things from getting out of hand.

I'm thinking that this may ultimately be the best course of action, but I'm interested in hearing any ideas that some of you might have.
Keep in mind, the solenoid is labeled as being 24V, thus I cant power it from the DCC voltage of the track.

[peteski]

It's a slow day here at work, so I've been thinking about contact methods to activate the solenoid.
My original plan was for two contact wipers to come out of the bottom of the car to run through "water troughs" to provide power. However, this creates the problem that the two contact wipers would have to drag over points and diverging rails of turnouts along the route. After all, this is planed to be in operation on an N-Trak module.

So, that got me thinking about one of the contacts being outside of the track gauge.

The American Flyer car I'm drawing inspiration from had a contact shoe coming off of one of the trucks, and was designed to contact a rail that was higher than the normal rail height.
 
In N, this can become quite complicated as the tolerances have to be finer to keep things from getting out of hand.

I'm thinking that this may ultimately be the best course of action, but I'm interested in hearing any ideas that some of you might have.
Keep in mind, the solenoid is labeled as being 24V, thus I cant power it from the DCC voltage of the track.

Since the power supply for the solenoid will be separate from the track power, they could share a single connection (one of the tracks).  So you could install trucks with metal wheels which pick up power from one track and you now only need one pickup shoe.

[nkalanaga]

Most mail pickup/drop points were at stations, so maybe use a high platform, with the contact in the track side of the platform itself?  Nothing would show, and unless others also had high platforms on their stations, there shouldn't be anything else for it to touch.

[VonRyan]

Since the power supply for the solenoid will be separate from the track power, they could share a single connection (one of the tracks).  So you could install trucks with metal wheels which pick up power from one track and you now only need one pickup shoe.

While I get what you mean, I'm not sure how that would work. I just can't picture it in my head.

[VonRyan]

I just won a Pecos River brass Mail/Baggage on eBay last night, so once it is in-hand, work can begin to make it into a functioning RPO.

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