'Streets "Bonus Truck" Done (videos)

That's a really nice job Lee.

I am really starting to wonder if there is only one of you.  Nice Job Lee.

Looks great, Lee.  I like it running slow much better.  

Rick

Next to the buses you have created, the box truck may be one of my favorites.  Very nice job.  Also, you have some very nice vehicles parked along the street in the first video.  They look awesome on your streets.

Thanks for posting and happy railroading,

Don

Another great addition.

Another great realisation...somehow like this one better than the semi...

Very nice work!  Great ideas.  I would say this adds a lot to a layout.

Lee. You continue to amaze me. Another fantastic streets machine. Terry

Lee,

You must have 48 hour days to be able to accomplish what you do.    I always enjoy seeing your work.

Thanks,

Ed

Before to long they will be command controlled, we will need a computer to keep track of all the action. 

Good work Lee.

John

Great job

Lee, you are having way too much fun with this hobby. Wonderful.

romiller

How many vehicles can you run at one time on your super streets

Lee,

Another great conversion!  Have you covered your motor/gear upgrade to the chassis in any of your previous posts?  I am interested in what was involved.

"from the UPS-like "Streets van with the front axle unmodified, but a honking big can motor and flywheel and 3:1 reduction gearing"

Thanks,

Larry

Oh no offense taken.  It is a valid observation, which I completely overlooked.  Now, fully aware of it, I plan to ignore it and tell anyone who asks that it is a special model with "articulated, zero clearance hinges."

Such "Oh sh--" moments actually happen in the real world.  One I love is the early Sunbeam Tiger - the factory had to add a removeable back to the glovebox so you could reach through and remove the rear spark plug on that side from inside the car, which always seemed to be a very practical and rather civilized solution to the oversite.  Another was the V8 Chevy Monza - I helped a friend follow the factory instructions for changing the plugs, which involvde loosening the motor mounts and jacking the engine up and then cursing for hours at the stupidity of the engineers who built it while you still could only barely reach and turn that dang plugs: I knew people who actually cut a six inch hole in the wheel well so they could get at it instead.

Lee,

That runs smooth now all you need is a smoke unit lol…………

rudy

Well.....all this moving vehicle talk got my mind working. And when we went grocery shopping today and stopped at a local store that carries toys I bought two Carrera slot cars to play with.  The two were on blow out and cost me about $10!! So if it don't work I am not out much. One is a Disney CARS Mater tow truck which looks like will be easy to convert to a scale light duty commercial truck. It comes with HD wheels and tires with duels on the back! The other is a 2005 or so Ford pick up. This may work better as a car...but until I take them apart not sure.

At any rate maybe all this talk/work on a working road system will motivate a manufacture to do something more. 

When I first looked at the photographs in detail, I thought that Lee had ingeniously engineered the refrigeration unit so that it hinged upwards in concert with the cab tilting forward. I was sure that I could see the elegant hinge arrangement on top of the roof. 

Surely my faith in Lee's technical wizardry cannot have been misplaced? 

Fantastic;  Ilove the downtown area with the curbs & parking meters. What a great job. You certainly are talented.

Oh yes!  You guys are absolutely right.  When you activate the lever to tilt the cab, the refrigeration unit swivels up and above to get out of the way, and then the cab, with a zero-clearnace pivot point, tilts forward. 
 

Lee, that is a terrific addition to your empire. Thanks for sharing.

Paul

Slot cars and model trains; what a wonderful combination. Is it possible to wire relays in the Superstreets so that more than 1 vehicle at a time can run on the same loop? The next upgrade I forsee would be "Streetsounds" coming from the vehicle. Perhaps they could throw in sounds like diesel engines, tires screeching and honking horns.

Yes, the most obvious way would be to isolate some sections and use blocking sections and relays just like on three rail track.  What concerns me is the weakish connectivity of the 'Streets vehciles - I've noticed with trains often the replys do not activateuntil several sets of wheels (say a full car or two) have crossed onto the isolated rail section.  With a "streets vehcile, particularly one with traction tires, there is not.  with 18 wheelers I would not worry, but in general with standard two-axle vehicles I think it might not work well. 

I'm thinking of an alternative when I build my country road - I found a laser beam activated relay that I could position so when a truck is on a section it interrupts the laser beam for a while and opens the replay to the earlier section.   

Eventually I hope to add a diesel sound: there are slot car type cards available and also one could get the sound card out of a Galloping Goose which sounds like a truck.  I know my own limits when it comes to building things so I know what I won't get done: smoke, turn signals that come on in a D16 curve, and a horn.  If any company starts offering "Vision" level models they could offer those features.

Streetsounds?  You can run under DCC and modify vehicles to use DCC decoders or sound decoders.  

Mack CF Fire Engine conversion that I did last summer.

If I could "rent" an O gauger for a week to help me build my new layout it would be Lee Willis.

Lee, I stumbled across this video of slot trucks.  Thought you might like for reference

http://youtu.be/nQvLGdeUc2A

Wow.  Thanks.  They look good, but sure run fast!  I like to run my big rigs on my country roads at around a scale 55 mph.  Looks best that way to me.  

I'm going to look into them more, though, just so see where they get the parts, etc.