"World's simplest electric train" on YouTube video - ingenious !

Now that is truly something different.  I can't wait to coil up some copper wire and show my grandchildren.  

i screen captured a diagram from one of the videos this is demonstrated on, and it pretty much explained it to me in one simple picture...

if you're going to build one, just remember that the magnets need to be electrically conductive and the wire needs to be bare (not enameled) copper.

fun stuff!
cheers...gary

Note that the magnets need to be properly oriented. I suspect the battery drain is pretty high with this trick, and if the "train" stalls it might get the wires hot. Maybe someone here will try it and give us a full report !

the wire they show in the demo looks like 0.9mm dia x 10 meters length. doing some quick calculations, i figure that 10m will only make a little over 10" of tube.  it's going to take a lot of wire to make up any useful length, not to mention the time you're going to spend rolling it up.

and yes, you're right about the magnet polarities, either both north or both south poles need to be facing out with the difference determining the direction of travel.

good luck!
cheers...gary

that is neat alright

Bob C.

That's pretty cool - the linear motor effect thingy! We can build our own backyard Hyperloop.

(Not the wormhole/time-warp that some folks out there in interweb-land seem to think it is.) 

Really cool, I've got to try it.

Hey Ace, found a layout - 

Firewood posted:

Hey Ace, found a layout - 

 

THANK YOU Firewood, this is a very cool video which walks you through the whole process of building the "track" and creating an actual layout !!

Jump to 12:00 to see the partly-finished layout. Not sure why they made point-to-point double track. An oval circuit would be more convenient to run because after the train stops at an open station you could just push it straight through for another run without having to turn it.