Disney Monorail Set Question??

[PrincessMo]

I know this is a silly question but I wanted to know if anybody knew if there was an electric monorail set.......I have only seen the battery operated one??????

OR.........is there a way to make it electrical.........My beau and I plan to finish our basement this year in a "wilderness lodge type" theme......tee hee........and.........i wanted to put the monorail around the top of the room with the resorts and my ride collectibles but I don't know how to use the battery operated one that way unless i could plug it in to a "clapper".......would that work???? HELP..........I am determined to have it going around my finished basement/rec room/entertainment area and I need some serious help...........Thanks gang..........you always have great ideas and opinions..........i love the DIS Boards!!!!!

Have A Disney Day!!!!!!

 

[jfulcer]

I have not see a AC version of this toy.

While it could most likely be modified to run on AC, it would take someone who knew electronics relatively well to be able to do it.

Know someone with a little electical knowhow? You can turn it into a remote controlled beast (albeit still on rechargable batteries). Read here

 

[PrincessMo]

wow you are awesome............i DO know someone with electrical know-how........i would assume he does since he's an electirician.....tee hee...........BUT.......he typically doesn't do side jobs for friends and all.......i guess because of liability?? I am not sure I never had the nerve to ask him but maybe he could at least look at this information you gave me to help out........thanks again..........BIG help!!!

Have A Disney Day!!!!!

 

[Dodie]

We have one.

The power (batteries) comes from the train itself. There is no power through the track. I can't imagine how you would modify it. How would you get electricity to the train without attaching it to a cord or something?

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Dodie
We have one.

The power (batteries) comes from the train itself. There is no power through the track. I can't imagine how you would modify it. How would you get electricity to the train without attaching it to a cord or something?

Well, easy, IMHO. Make it just like the WDW monorails.

1) You would mount a positive 'strip' on one side of the track and the negative 'strip' on the opposite side. You could use some of the flexible 3' long HO (or Z scale) train track pushed into a grove cut into the side of the track. This would make your setup rather permanent as it'd be hard to connect the pieces together as one long track. Run the connecting cords down the inside one of the support pylons to the power source in #3.

2) Modify the engine chassis with some brush pickups (I think that's what they are called) inside the part of the monorail chassis that runs on the side of the track pressed against that rail you groved into the track. These brushes would be hooked up to the motor.

3) Use a normal Model Train Transformer to power the setup. You could do forward, reverse, and starts and stops just like a model train. You may need to step down the voltage some to match what the monorail needs but if you can do 1 & 2, this would be a piece of cake.

4) Now that you have the voltage going to the monorail, hook up a DCC controller (with sound) inside one of the cabs and you can have it play the monorail spiel from inside the monorail.

With a little hobby know-how and a couple of days I'm sure you could do this. Obviously with a conversion like this it would not be appropriate for children anymore - but it's still cool.

PrincessMo - maybe an electrician is not really what is needed - it's more a hobbyist. If you go to your local model train store ask them if they have anyone that repairs/rebuilds model train engines. They most likely could do the conversion for you. It just may cost you a bit.

 

[C.Ann]

Wow!!! That would be awesome!!!!!

Could you post pictures if you get it done???

 

[tstobb]

How about this?:

RC Monorail Conversion

 

[TammyNC]

WOW is all I can say about the conversion information. I started reading and before long got very confused. My Mom has a neighbor who owns a train shop, I wonder if he could do this for us? I think I'll be talking to him soon .

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by C.Ann
Wow!!! That would be awesome!!!!!

Could you post pictures if you get it done???

Are you going to donate a monorail for me to try this on?

 

[frannn]

and train stuff since they started coming out with it, but haven't begun setting it up permenantly yet. There's just so many pieces, with the castle, HM, tree of life, etc, that we need to figure a way to keep it out of the way. Any suggestions? We have a front sunroom (too small to be used for anything much. We have a changing table in it, and we put the Xmas tree in there at holiday time). I don't mind if it takes up space, but was hoping it could be elevated, but still running somehow. I was hoping to use the space below the elevated monorail for snowglobes, etc.

 

[PrincessMo]

wow gang.......thanks for all the info......very confusing to me but I am gonna find someone who can do this for me.....I am gonna give all the information that You were so kind enough to provide and see what someone says and what the cost would be.

I will let everyone know the outcome as soon as I can....I really wasn't prepared to jump on it right away because of the craziness of the holiday season and our money has been tight but I am planning to get moving on this real soon. Thanks again and keep looking on this board for my post once it is completed.

Or if you would like to be PM'd then send me a PM and I will put you on my list of people to PM about the outcome of the monorail.

Thanks gang.........Have A Disney Day!!!!!!!