Interesting Projects

The official monorail sets presented the system in a straightforward way. They consisted of basic loops (and spurs) with two or three bases. The trains all used the same basic structure with a central motor flanked by monorail car bases. The Unitron monorail was the most interesting as the cars hauled ships which could be offloaded onto a launch platform or on a truck and the base had an antenna which would rotate as the train passed. Here I'll share a few interesting projects and ideas I've had which stretch the system a bit.

Motor-Only train (Spyrius Monorail)

Though the official trains all included two bogies, two monorail bases, a motor, a power cable, and a 9V battery box. I quickly realized that in reality a train or, more specifically, an engine only required a motor, power cable, and battery box. My first attempt at building such a train saw the battery box perched atop the motor with a cab for the driver placed on an arm which could swing around the motor to either side so the driver could always face forward. It was extremely top heavy and struggled to even navigate curves. Hills were out of the question.

My second design was a Spyrius robot. I used the monorail motor cover to shroud the motor then added the battery box across the top perpendicular to the rail. I built a body around this basic design with arms and a seat for the driver on the very top. This robot works well on level track and navigates turns with ease. Hills are still out of the question as it is also top heavy.

It may be possible to navigate hills if the battery box were mounted on the end studs with a counterweight on the opposite side of the motor, but I have not seriously tried this yet. Let me know if you do!

Handcar

Handcars are one of the most iconic vehicles in railroading. Sure, they haven't been used for probably close to a century, but they're still cool. I built a spacey handcar using just a bogie. It even "worked" - if you pushed down on one end and let it "pop" up it would wobble forward and backward and move down a straight section of track. I've since torn the model apart, but hopefully you can try something similar!

Automatic Block Signaling

Running multiple trains on a monorail layout can be difficult since the trains can run at different speeds depending on the strength of their battery. I used to work for a company who made signaling systems for railroads so I was inspired to create an Automatic Block Signaling system (ABS) for monorail.

My prototype used an RCX brick, an old 9V motor, and a light sensor. The RCX brick would use the light sensor to determine if a block (protected section of track) was occupied and, if so, set the monorail stop/go switch to the stop position. Once the light sensor showed nothing in the block the RCX brick would power the motor to set the stop/go switch to go. This system could be replicated over any number of blocks to ensure a slow train was never rear-ended by a more nimble compatriot.

I have not yet built a large permanent layout, but when I do I plan to incorporate ABS on the mainline portions to allow unsupervised multi-train operation. In this picture you can see the prototype with the stop/go set to stop since there is a minifig on the track!

Dump cars

One of the first things I wanted to do after getting a monorail train was break free of the monorail base. It is a nifty piece and makes building trains a snap, but it is limiting. I quickly began experimenting with bogies attached directly to Technic plates. I also quickly began using magnetic couplers as they provided great flexibility and allowed cars to be uncoupled easily. I later discovered that the 6990 box included a monorail rollercoaster design on the back which used just a bogie without the monorail base to create the rollercoaster train (here is the design).

An early attempt at such a car was an ore hauler which could be dumped by a trackside arm. The car itself had two bogies an early magnetic coupler attempt. An trackside arm could be lowered to tilt the V-shaped body and dump the cargo. This early design never worked well as the car would often tip off the track. The coupler mechanism also did not work well when navigating curves. I've since greatly improved my car designs, but here is an early example for inspiration.

And here is another attempt at a dumping design intended to be driven by an overhead gear rack:

Inclined Plane

Inclined planes were used in the late 19th and early 20th century to connect low-lying cities with suburbs on the heights. A famous example is the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh, PA. The monorail system is suited to building an incline due to the cog design of the train.

I build an incline prototype at approximately a 45° angle. The train design is very important. I created a rigid connection between the monorail motor and a single monorail base which I placed uphill from the motor. I placed a battery box and boat weight pieces on the monorail base to keep the motor's cog engaged with the rail. I found that the motor was able to push the train up the slope fine and that the train did not need put in reverse at the top. Rather, when the motor was placed in neutral/stop the weight of the train pushed the engine slowly down the hill. Note that it is possible this would damage the battery long term since the motor was likely generating an electric current when being pushed.

I don't have a picture of the entire working model, but I have a picture of a part of the track and one of a partially complete train.

One imagined use is as a shuttle to load ore in a large blast furnace or something similar. Let me know if you build an inclined plane!

Outdoor Monorail Displays

Monorail is a great system to use outdoors. The large supports work well to elevate the track above grass and rocks while natural backgrounds can lead to some beautiful photographs. Perhaps my favorite monorail to date was the Ice Planet monorail train I built and set up in the snow. The plow on the engine actually worked!

And here is a shot of some spacemen in the grasslands.

Custom Stop and Reverser Tracks

Stop/go switches are nice for stations, but when you just need an emergency stop at the end of a spur they're overkill. It's possible to build a custom stop track (or a custom reverser) using only a few basic pieces. Here is an example colored to show the various elements used.

The 1x4 curves gently push the motor switch to the centeral stop position.

The same basic concept can be used to force the switch in another direction to reverse the train, as seen in 6991 Monorail Transport Base (see the slope starting on step 14 and note the 2x3 plate with hole added on top).

Monorail Track Scale

Real railroads sometimes have scale tracks customers use to weigh the product being delivered, such as scrap steel. Modeling one in monorail is difficult due to the rigidity of the track, but it's not impossible. The joints where monorail track is connected actually allows the track to flex a bit. The trick is converting this flexing into output which can be used to display a value. When I built my scale track I used some shock absorber pieces to ensure the track remained level when no train is on it. I then placed a bar under the track which pushes an arm. The end of the arm moves and points to a "tonnage" value on a wall.

You may have an idea for a totally different design - I'd love to see it!

Seatron monorail

Just because the Seatron theme was never officially released doesn't mean you can't build the train! I reverse engineered the design as best I could - there is also apparently an LDD or Stud.io file available somewhere online. Almost every piece seen in the prototype image was released - I only identified three elements which were not released in the color used on the prototype. My train used yellow triple curve panels with stickers as they're cheaper to acquire in the US, but stickers can be removed!

![Seatron reverse engineered with some cargo doors open] ({static}/images/interesting-projects/seatron_reverse_engineered_2.jpg)

Monorail Bridge

Another interesting feature to add to a layout is a bridge. A single piece of monorail track is strong, but if you want to bridge a large gap you quickly find the track flexing a bit too much. There are many ways to build bridges so I'll just present one design here.

I used the Nexagon piece released years ago to create a visually interesting design. The element design creates a line that parallels the track. The vertical spikes allow the track to be attached at a few points while providing an interesting detail below the bridge. The bridge is designed to be elevated with supports on both ends (so most of the bottom protrusions would be hanging in the air). Pillars could also be added below the structure if desired.

I also experimented with a sandwiched plate bridge design that created a 2x2 structure directly below the track. The bridge used two 2x plates on either side of finger hinges laid on their side to create a strong core. The plates were tied together with brackets. The design looked something like a beam directly underneath the track. If I find a picture of this design I will add it.

Custom cars

I've mentioned custom cars in ealier entries. I thought I'd also include a more modern design. This car uses magnet couplers mounted on a 2x2 swivel and using a Technic plate w/ pin holder to allow maximum flexibility. The car frame uses a pair of Technic bricks with half pins to attach the side plates. The bogies are attached with Technic plates and a combination of Technic elements and finger hinges are used to assemble the sides and deck.

Streamlined train

Streamlined F-Units are some of the most famous railroad engines of all time. They inspired me to create a streamlined monorail train. The body consists primarily of curved panels with some grills and other greebles added for aesthetic purposes. I call the train The Thunderbolt.

I may revisit the design someday to streamline the cab domes as well. See what kind of streamlining you can do with monorail!

Interactive Trackside elements

Having the train drive action along the track (or the track drive action on the train) is another interesting idea and one I encourage you to explore. My experiments have used racks and gears to interface between the train and trackside infrastructure. I did not use the same technique as seen in 6991 for two reasons: my trains tend to not be smooth on the side and, more importantly, I want to be able to control which cars drive the action.

Here is an example trackside satellite dish which can be driven by a train, a train equiped to drive it (and equiped to be driven by trackside racks), and an example showing both trackside gears and racks.

Another, more ambitious, goal for this system is driving an automatic car unloader. I'd like a train to drive by some trackside racks that automatically drive the dumping mechanism on the cars. Racks on the train could drive gears and allow the cars to be automatically reloaded elsewhere on the layout.

Trackside Industries

The official sets all included stations for the trains to interact with. My layouts usually have more industries than stations. Industries allow opportunities for switching and more realistic train moves. Here is a basic space tank farm with equipment to load and unload tank cars. Note the buffer at the end of the track - this was before I built permanent stop elements!

Intra-Meteor Car Hauler

The Rusty Orion ship built for SHIPtember was an interesting idea. The intention was a ferry to move monorail trains between meteors which were being mined.

Other inspiration

A few other ideas to explore, in no particular order:

• Mobile orbital defense laser
• Firefighting monorail
• Sea serpent and/or underwater monorail
• Food truck themed monorail train
• Ferry (load monorail cars on a boat that really floats!)
• A knight's joust using trains as the horses
• Portage railroad (railroad designed to haul boats over mountains that canals cannot easily cross)
• Mine train (perhaps a low clearance design)