trolleys

[chow-hound]

i will have an elevated trolley on my 4x7 board. 1. I am building a board and will have a DCC setup when done as i do not want to retrofit DC to DCC in a future expansion to a larger board. I am rewiring before doing anything else with the board. i want the trolley to stop at stations (momentarily) and traverse at each end. what is the best set up for an elevated track arrangement? 2. what is the difference between a cable car and a trolley (IE motor power up hills?)?

i am new to ho and realize this is a sophisticated product when compared to o/o27.

[richg]

Cable cars are pulled by a cable beneath street, via a slot in the center of the tracks.

http://www.sfcablecar.com/

Trolleys.

They get their power from an overhead cable. The first ones were pulled by a horse or donkey and ran on a pair of rails.
Cable cars have been called a trolley. The word trolley seems to have multiple uses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley

Rich

[Doneldon]

hound-

I endorse your decision to start with DCC if you plan to go that route eventually. It's a good idea to buy either the DCC set-up you expect to eventually need, or an entry DCC system which you can expand without wasting anything you are buying now. That pretty much eliminates the Bachmann EZ Command system, unless you plan truly low-level DCC use, but the Dynamis is worth your consideration. I suggest that you carefully decide what you'll want in terms of power, programming, computer interface (or not), extent of sound and light features you anticipate using, and them add a bit more capability for things not yet anticipated. Then you can compare systems from various manufacturers to see what best satisfies your criteria.

The difference between a cable car and a trolley is that a trolley has it's own power (generally electric) while cable cars are moved by gripping a moving underground cable (or, in the case of aerial cable cars, an overhead cable). Operators of the famous San Francisco streetcars control a vise like device which grabs the moving cable to move, or releases the cable to stop to turn around. Most streetcars and similar light rail systems, however, run by electricity which they get from either overhead catennary wires or a so-called third rail at ground level. Third rail systems are generally only used where people can't get at them such as in subway tunnels, elevated trains or sequestered rights-of-way. Some places have all three. In Chicago, for example, the "subway" system uses third-rail power on it's "El" elevated lines, subterranean subways and a few stretches of protected ground-level track, while the old IC commuter lines use catennary at ground level and in tunnels.

I don't believe anyone makes an HO commuter rail system with automatic multiple station stops. Someone on this board will correct me if I am mistaken about that. However, the tunnel stretcher at Talking Electronics should work. This is an Australian company with a whole slew of outstanding model railroad products and service which is as quick as the best US companies. You can find the circuit about halfway down the index at the left edge of their web site. They are at:

                    http://www.talkingelectronics.com/te_interactive_index.html

Another place worth checking is Miniatronics:

                    http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Last, Walthers has something which will work but it is pricey at $80:

                    http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/564-555

Good luck with your layout and welcome to a hobby which has held my interest for almost 60 years. Be sure to let us know how you are coming along.

                                           -- D

[chow-hound]

thankyou, i may not have been clear. But the info about mth, peerless, etc is valuable. what i forgot to say is that the trolley track will be elevated and independent of the train tracks so Dc for the trolley is viable while dcc for the train is the best choice. i have seen some electronic products for trolleys that do what i "will" want but correlation of that with an ho trolley/cable car product in a 15" radius environment is almost impossible for a newbee like me.

[Doneldon]

hound-

I assumed you were asking about an isolated, elevated line.

If you found the electronics which will do what you want you
are all set. The radius of your curves and the height of your
track are irrellevant.

                                      -- D