# Building locomotive rollers, "rolling road," etc



## scoobster28 (Sep 15, 2008)

Known variously as "Rolling Roads," "treadmills" (by Accucraft), engine stands, rollers, etc. I am looking to build one for my small 0-4-0 engine but don't want to shell out the $60-70 for commercial ones. Nor do I want to do the whole "wood blocks propping up the ends" routine. Has anyone made them from ball bearings or other parts found online? Care to share your plans or pictures?
Thanks.

EDIT: I see that there is a similar thread below. However, I cannot delete mine or I would. I suppose the one below is investing making them commercially available for sale, and mine is looking for DIY plans.
http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I made mine from a pair of angle brackets from the hardware store (that way the holes were predrilled for me more accurately than "I" could ever do!) and some sliding screen door rollers (like on a patio door) and some long bolts. I separated the brackets to set the gauge using a block of wood.

See below:










I made one pair for each set of drive wheels on my loco. To get the weight distribution right, I mounted rails in front and behind the set of drive rollers to hold up the leading and trailing trucks at the right height. By making the roller sets separate, I can adjust the spacing to fit any engine. The only difficulty in building this is that most hardware stores don't stock very many rollers (often no more than 3 or 4 on the shelf!).

In the center drawing at the bottom... the left side shows the wheel to roller interface at the point of touching and on the right it shows the way the wheel nestles between the rollers.


One thing I have been tempted to do is replace the ballbearing rollers with wheels rigidly attached to the axles they are on. Then put a small electric motor on that shaft (either the axle is the armature of the motor or use a geared arrangement). Then, using the motors as electric generators and that can make them "brakes" to apply a load to the engine. If the motor leads are just an open circuit, then the motor will spin with just the bearing resistance, but if the leads are shorted then the back-EMF of the generated current will apply a high resistance to the motor turning. The faster the motor spins the more voltage is generated and the greater back-EMF so the greater the braking effect.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Every sports store has spares for rollerblades if i recall 16 bearings for $18 ,get the bearings first then go to a hardware store and buy the bolts,nuts,washers which fit into the bearings ,buy some L- shaped alu section it to pieces drill some holes mount the bearings with the proper spacing ,cut a piece of styro which will fit between the rails and mount or glue the alu with bearings on top !


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## scoobster28 (Sep 15, 2008)

This is exactly what I was thinking of. 

I just found and purchased some 22mm outside diameter (about 7/8"), 8mm inside diameter (5/16") rollerblade bearings on EBay. The cost was $5 for 8 bearings, shipping included. They might not be the highest quality but since the weight of the steam engine will be significantly less then a human riding a roller blade I have nothing to lose for trying. 

To mount them, I will use some 3/4" tall x 1/2" wide x 1/16" thick aluminum angle (Home Depot item #43650) I have lying around. Even new, a 3' piece costs under $5. If each 2" long piece of angle supports two bearings per side (for one axle), the cost per axle is under $3 including the mounting hardware. Very affordable indeed.

Some people want them adjustible, but at $3 per axle I don't mind making up more when I need them and keeping a set committed per engine. As I only have one, it isn't a big issue!

Thanks again!


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Keep an insulating strip(styrene) between the metal,so sparky's don't shorten out! 

Manfred


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