Lionel 175 Rocket Launcher - Question

The most creative suggestion I have for you involves whether or not you have some space above your ceiling, such as a basement with ceiling tile suspended under (or mounted to the underside of) floor joists above.

I had always wanted to incorporate a 175 Rocket launcher into the layout, such that the rocket's launch pad is directly beneath, say, a 10" to 12" hole in the ceiling tile. Then, attach a piece of .010" to .030" sheet styrene plastic (bigger than the hole) directly to the ceiling tile, but with the following modification.

Within a circle the same size as the hole, cut into the thin plastic wioth an X-acto knife, so that there are multiple "pie slice" cuts radiating arond the circle in the styrene sheet, with all cuts converging at the center of the hole. The desired effect will be thin pie-slices of plastic covering the hole. Around this you disguise the edges of the plastic sheet with its hole by attaching some cotton to make it look like a cloud is lurking directly above the rocket launcher.

Got the picture?

The 175 rocket launcher will indeed very forcefully launch the rocket so hard and fast that you better not blink! The result is, the rocket launches, goes up through the cloud, and stays there; courtesy of the thin plastic fingers that it just punched through! The rocket remains "trapped" above the ceiling until you come along at some opportune time, reach through the hole in the "cloud", and retireve the rocket.

Neat, huh?

Jim Barrett

That is an awesome idea!!!

An idea would be if you want less liftoff force, take the plunger tube apart and cut a couple of the coils of the spring and test.

As a kid the 175 rocket launcher was the ultimate in Lionel accessories for me. I used mine so much I broke 7 rockets over the years.
My father came up with a similar idea around the 5th broken rocket because he said he couldn’t afford to buy any more rockets. He took a piece of Formica about ten inches wide and bent it into a curve/ inverted skateboard ramp; when launched and contacted this changed the rockets trajectory form vertical to a horizontal in-between the Joist. Then he took an old pool skimming net and hung it from one of the down rods of the drop ceiling and in between the Joist to catch it. It took about 20 launches to get it adjusted but it worked fine for many years and I only broke one more rocket and that was from plastic fatigue and about a million launches. As an adult I still love that accessory. Over the years I installed smoke and lights to make the launch more dramatic. Never did get around to putting a sound amp and effects in it.
I do like that idea Jim and I may try it when the Layout gets finished if It’s OK.

Good thread, I will be waiting to hear other ideas on the subject.
Thank You

Jim,
Yes I got the picture; unfortunately I have the standard drywall ceiling. With the layout already 40 inches off the floor I am not left with much launch altitude. Your idea is a good one and certainly answers my question.

Bluecomet,
That is another good idea. Assume you had an unfinished basement since the Formica was placed in between the joists.

Chuck,
Another good idea. Had not thought of that. That would certainly help with the force of the launch.

I was thinking of something that may not be as ‘good looking’ as Jim’s idea. I was going to take some black thread and attach it to the launch pad and vertically up to the ceiling. Then maybe a single small white wire tie attached to the middle of the rocket (have not thought about how to attach the wire tie yet). The wire tie would wrap around the black thread. At the top of the ceiling I would put a small piece of foam where the rocket would hit. This may solve the launch problem but not sure how the rocket would come back down. I could very well break a couple a of rockets as they came back down and hit the launch pad. At this point I am thinking of where to place the launcher so keep the ideas coming! Thank you for the replies.

Greg -

I went with two Pulleys, Fishing Line and some washers.

Pulley from Lowes


1) Attach one Pulley to the ceiling over the Rocket Launcher
2) Attach second Pulley to the ceiling off to the side of the layout
3) Run the fishing line thru the two pulleys.
4) Connect the Fishing line from the pulley over the Rocket Launcher to the top of the Rocket. (Looped it around and tied a knot)
5) Connect the other end of fishing line from the second pulley to the washers.

How Many washers - you need to secure enough so it does not pull the rocket off the Launch Pad but has enough weight to prevent the rocket from falling back down to the layout.

How Long is the Fishing Line - Your Milage will vary - What ever length works best for you. Needs to be long enough for the Rocket to set properly on the Rocket Launcher.


When you launch the rocket it has enough force so the counter weights (Washer) go down. Sometime the fishing line jumps off the pulley over the rocket but since it did not cause an issue I just left it. Since the counter weights (Washer) have enough weight - the rocket will just hang up in the air. To reset - just pull up on the Counter weight side and lower the rocket back down to the platform.



O------------------------------------O
I.............................................I
I.............................................I
I.............................................I
I.............................................I
Rocket.....................................I
..............................................I
Rocket Launcher........................I
====Platform=======..........I
..............................................I
..............................................I
............................Counter Weights/Washers



+++++++++++Floor++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

'I' and '-' is the Fishing Line
'O' are the Pulleys
'.' This is just spacers in the diagram

My concern was - "What goes up, must come down"
I did not want the rocket from getting damaged or broken "on re-entry"

AND

I did not want any "unnecessary lawsuits" from anyone on the layout with property damaged.

This was just a quick and simple solution - nothing fancy.

Brad

Brad you beat me to the post but here is what I had already typed!

You could also set it up as Lionel's Hot Air Balloon was (with two pulleys and some fine white or black string) but instead of a second balloon, put a heavy weight on the opposite end. Use enough string so the you can put the weight under the table and have it hit the floor just as your rocket hits (or gets pulled into)a big fluffy cotton cloud smiler to the suggestion by Jim. It should disappear into it but not have to go through the drywall. Your launch button would connect to any old relay or solenoid that would hold the weight up until energized.