Are you cars lubed cause they seem a little loud in the video but maybe that's just me? I would look at that deja vu recreation and see how he did it or put a small black connector on the chain and see if the train catches onto that. I use sometimes them to push the train out of the station towards the lift. You ma alsoy want to add an other car to give you that speed to make the next elements. The dive loop looks great btw!
Yeah, I'd just cleaned them. :/ Maybe, I'm just used to the speed loss from working with 4/5 car trains and didn't anticipate the difference when using a 2 car train.
Do lots of experimenting until you find one that works! And don't be afraid to modify pieces if you need to. One option is to use a gray 1-rod connector. Cut the material at the top that forms the hole (I used gardening clippers), and you can wedge it around one of the chain links. The rubber band makes the connector latch onto the car. It's not the most reliable, but it works!
The second connector sticking out stops the train from going too far.
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I've tried that, but I couldn't get it to work consistently, the chain kept jamming. But once I get chance I'll keep trying.
I personally find that toenail clippers work as if they were designed for cutting Knex pieces.
Cutting pieces is very crtitcal doesn't really take anything anyway from your collection. When you're done with the piece (as in, when you tear down your model), I'd keep it around in a drawer or bucket of other cut pieces. I find it's helpful having a random collection of pieces when I'm working on an innovation.
I found some chunky pliers that did the job.
Quickly put together a test video. - https://www.youtube....h?v=dRwX069qJsQ
The layout won't be quite as long as I had originally planned due to lack of speed, but I think its looking alright at the moment.
The Vertical switch track, is the main issue currently.
Ideally it would be better to have some form of catch and release mechanism but I'm having trouble creating one which works consistently. Moreover, for the train to catch onto the "catch car" it requires more momentum and I'm struggling for speed as it is. I'm not convinced that the speed gained from releasing the train rather than the nxt motor directly pulling it down is worth lowering the switch tracks position.
And finally, a 2 car train makes the switch track inconsistently but is light enough for the NXT motor to pull it up, whereas a 3 car train makes the switch track relatively comfortably but the motor is unable to pull it up at the moment. I'll work on strengthening the position of the cogs wheels, as a lot of pressure is being applied to the top one, maybe that will help.
Not sure when the next chance I'll have to update will be now. But I will as soon as I can.
I'm also considering using my switch track mechanism in another coaster, but as a standard switch track, not vertical ( that should be more straight forward). Since my last terrain coaster was well received I've been designing another one, for a different site in the garden. I'd love to make one with tube supports but I don't think I'll have the time for that, so instead I'll hopefully be building an RMC style coaster this Summer.
Edited by rgarner42, 02 March 2017 - 12:06 PM.