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Not always does a project work out exactly as you envision and hope.  But here they are, smoothly cruising the downtown area of my layout -- at a scale 10 mph.  Again, these are Corgi buses shortened so they don't overhang and hit parked cars, etc., as they round tight corners.  Chassis is stock SS (step van) but their drive trains are all scratch built with flywheel can motors salvaged from an old MTI Veranda Turbine, and a 3.5:1 reduction gear (second photo), so they are slow -- in fact can will creep at just 15 inches per minute, and always run smoothly.  These will be a pretty permanent fixture on the through-downtown loop of my layout - they run so well and just look so good, and so '50s, orbiting the streets in my downtown.  

 

Two buses

Big Motor, small gears

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  • Two buses
  • Big Motor, small gears
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I only do work on my layout but I will share ideas with you.  I would not try Superstreets in any form: a scale tractor or even a 1:43 or 1:35 one will be too small to carry a motor/gears sufficiently torquey to assure smooth scale running at tractor speeds, and it would too short to have good electrical pickup.  

Two approaches come to mind.  First, a farm field has rows of plants which would hide a slot.  You could build a mechanism that had an oval slot from which projected a peg that dragged an otherwise unmodified scale tractor around the field, and drag that with a mechanism from underneath.  I've seen youtube videos of a bulldozer and construction site done like this.  It looked like it worked well.  

 

Second, you could use magnets.  The field surface would be made of 1/16 inch plastic.  Imagine a 2 foot diameter plywood wheel just under the surface of that plastic, that rotates with a magnet at one point its circumference and a magnet mounted under the front of the tractor: it will just drag the tractor around in a circle - not an oval but you have the basics.  2 RPM gives you about 7 scale mph.  If you want an oval, just use a bicycle chain around two large sprokets and mount the magnet to the chain.  Either way, a "Pellet Stove Auger Gear Motor, 2 RPM, 120 volts" (Amazon has them @ $60+ ) or a motor made to rotate a disco mirror ball will work well to power it.  This will work.   I've got a prototype working for another application and I have still incomplete plans to use it to power a construction site/farm on my layout (I know I want to do it, I know how to do it, I don't know where I will put it, though -- I'm running out of real estate).  You have to use tough plastic for the surface - that made for roof flashing is really good, and then mount it so it is rigid and held in place firmly: the magnets clamp from above and below with surprisingly high levels of friction.  But it will work, and in fact with a little creativity in the use of the chain and sprockets you can make the path wind over fairly complex routes.  

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