Following on from the quiz topic...

https://www.marklin-user...venge-----what-am-I.aspx

I thought it was a good time to take some photo's of my little bit of fun for others to ponder.

The whole idea was inspired by the never-released VW Beetle Track Car 54312 from 1998/99. I had purchased some "Kinsmart' models of the VW Car and Bus, these are really cheap models, but they have two huge advantages - one is they are cheap, anywhere from $5 - $10, I think I paid $9.00 on average.

Secondly, they are 1/32 and very well presented models.

I also happened to have an old 3021 motor lying around so one day I just started trying things out and figured that I could do this mod with little effort. Actually the hardest part was getting the flanged wheels done - well it wasn't hard, just not something I could do so I turned to my friend and fellow MMRC modeler Kevin Stevens who is an engineer by trade, he was able to knock them up from Brass in no time. They would have been relatively easy for him, because he has the skill and the tools. I am very grateful for his assistance. I won't say much more except that a picture paints a thousand words.

Comments and feedback welcome.

I try always to make do with what I have, the pickup from the wheels is two canabilised HO center-rail pickups, just the leaf-spring portion. Some very fine screws and nuts to hold them on. LED's for the lights, an ESU decoder (I used a 6081 originally).

The 'chassis' (if you can call it that) is very flimsy, it's only when screwed to the upper body that it becomes rigid.

I also included some comparison pictures against my Brekina Klv20 which is G scale that you realise how big the difference is. And then I've also put it against a Faller AMS VW Bus (HO) and an old Eheim HO Railbus to give some reali perspective.

Ha, thanks for the 'bump' Dave - I'd forgotten that I posted it - not a single comment until now.

I was most disconsolate. You have restored my cheer and I'm glad to hear it is being missed.

It will return, one day although I still have some funny bugs to iron out of it which only started as the layout grew.

There's a (very) short video which John Philips took on my channel - VW Railbus (Draisine) at Railex

Cheers

Cookee

Great cookee

Hadn't seen this post ... makes me wanna try similar.

Drove old VWs for awhile ... love that car !

Yum

Cookee, this is just great! Congrats on a very nice model. Does it run as good as it looks like?

ps. Missed this thread even though I usually browse through all the forum sections.

Brekina produce some nice models although theirs are based on the VW Bus / Kombi Van. Shown in my images above is the Brekina LGB version, runs on G1/Maxi track but is oversized against G1 or Maxi.

They do make an HO version, but not for 3-rail - (link here..).

Reading the material through a translator, it appears they anticipated inquiries for an AC version but that it has not been possible to produce. If I read it right, something to do with the weight of the unit, materials it's made of etc. Perhaps I've mis-read it but the main issue appears to be good electrical connection and traction. But this seems a bit odd, because two-rail plus traction tyres means only a single wheel on at least one side for pickup.

3-rail would give two wheels for the outer rails and the pickup shoe. Perhaps a pickup shoe strong enough for reliable pressure onto the studs would cause the vehicle to lift from the rails?, I'm sure Brekina would realise the large potential market in 3-rail so I doubt they made this decision lightly. Perhaps they did not feel the development could result in a model that would be seen as a good buy? - the DC version is 70 Euro's, I don't think this is too much, I'd probably pay even a little more for an AC version but others may not agree. They may have found that it runs fine on straight or curved track but unreliable through turnouts, heck some of Märklin's own items can be a bit dodgy through turnouts below a certain speed.

Either way, with C-track, it's quite feasible to wire your track in such a way that you could have a 'section within a section' so that you might have a portion of your layout or yard wired so that there was a section that could be switched between 2 and 3-rail to run this little beauty. Or you could try doing a hand-modification to add a pickup shoe and you may be quite happy with the results.

There's also the old Brawa / Eheim version which come in a 3-rail version, I have one of these but still need to resolve a problem with the pickup shoe, one was missing and parts for these 50-year old items near-impossible to find.

There may also be other manufacturers, someone will know if there are any to add. I'd sure like to know also.

I have a Gandy-Dancer, a cheap Bachmann model I brought about 25 years ago wondering if I could ever convert that but those baby's are TINY. It's relegated to the 'novelty' area of my collection but maybe one day I'll be able to make use of it.

Cheers

Steve