# ROCKET CAR LOCOMOTIVE



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I got this tin toy at a flea market, tried to resist it, but it kept calling me over and telling me how cool it would look on my railroad. 








I took it apart and did a trial fit with the Hartland motor block. I turned the wheels down(first time!) from some castings I got off ebay last year. 








The battery car is an old bike front fender headlight that I had been saving for years. It has a 9.6 volt battery holder from Radio Shack and I put some rechargable RS NiMh batteries in it. The trucks are modified New Bright with streamline fairings. 








The Hartland block fit into the old friction motor housing-with some drilling/grinding. I re-attached it with the bent metal tabs. The rear axle assembly I made fit into the old hole for the rear wheel. 








The finished car. 
















First outside run went well. 








A youTUbe movie of the first run. The lens got a little cloudy, since the humidity was 100% outside and the camera just came out of the air conditioning.


----------



## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

Very very cool, but Snoopy says he could easily kick his tin butt.../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue2.gif 

Keith


----------



## Guest (Jul 22, 2008)

cool!


----------



## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

You're taking life too serious, lighten up a little! Enjoyed the video.


----------



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

NEATO!!!!! 

Snoopy may win the speed prize, but his rocket car is powered by a fan, NOT the wheels. 


This reminds me of Donald Campbell's "BLUEBIRD". Donald Campbell was a speed enthusiast that built a high speed car he called BLUEBIRD. The car was 


powered by the conventional POWER to the WHEELS method. A few years later, Craig Breedlove comes along and breaks the land speed record set by 


Campbell of 394 +/- miles per hour. The only problem was the Breedlove's car was nothing more than a rocket with wheels. To me, not a true test of 


the mechanical ability of a motor car to reach it's ultimate speed.


----------



## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Very awesome!! Now _there_ is an item to bring to shows to run on some layouts!!


----------



## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

Snoopy may win the speed prize, but his rocket car is powered by a fan, NOT the wheels. 


You just gave me an idea, Dan. It might be cool to make an electric air turbine that DOES drive the wheels. That would mean enclosing the propeller (safer) and then directing the air flow over a sort of waterwheel on the axle. To reverse there would maybe have to be a redirection of the air flow to the opposite side of the 'waterwheel'. Hmmm...


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Cool!


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

You realize that you have utterly *DESTROYED* the original fabric of a Myron Fondran original tin toy released in July of 1942?  (See that "MF-742" on the tail fin?) Fondran tin toys are extremely rare and quite sought after by tin toy collectors the world over... Top prices are paid for those that appear as nice as the one you "HAD", with, from what I see in the photos, no scratches in the paint. A similar Myron Fondran tin toy (the "MF-943") sold for well over $75,000 at an auction a couple of years ago. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif 

Oh wait, I've been watching "Antique's Roadshow" too often... well that, and "Red Green" when Dalton Humphrey (of "Humphrey's Everything Store") explained why he wanted the case of the broken radio back after Red had caniblized the innards... he made it all up, just like I just did! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Nah, it was just a cheap Chinese knock-off Charlie. They had 3 of them there in the flea market store in Cheyenne. So, I did not lose all that money. Sure had fun making it. Jerry


----------



## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Posted By Cougar Rock Rail on 07/23/2008 8:52 AM
Snoopy may win the speed prize, but his rocket car is powered by a fan, NOT the wheels. 

You just gave me an idea, Dan. It might be cool to make an electric air turbine that DOES drive the wheels. That would mean enclosing the propeller (safer) and then directing the air flow over a sort of waterwheel on the axle. To reverse there would maybe have to be a redirection of the air flow to the opposite side of the 'waterwheel'. Hmmm...




How about a Tesla turbine, maybe geared down a little to drive the wheels... heck, it could even be live steam!


----------



## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

Jerry you always come up with the neatest stuff, good job once again. ^^ 

-Will


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Will, 
I just have a STRANGE mind! Thanks!


----------



## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

Just need to find a way to make sparks and smoke come out the rear like the buck rogers rockets.


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Gee SL, you have a strange brain also-neat idea! Was gonna do a blinking red LED, but never got to it. TOO many projects!


----------



## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

put a cheap smoke unit in the tail.


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Hmmm, good idea. Just took two units out of old Pacifics, but the Rocket Car is battery power, not sure my 9.6 battery pack would run smoke.


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Put a dead short on the battery and it'll smoke pretty good for a while!







Probably get lots of loud noise and some sparks and flame too.


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Semper Vaporo on 07/23/2008 1:50 PM
You realize that you have utterly *DESTROYED* the original fabric of a Myron Fondran original tin toy released in July of 1942? " align="absmiddle" border="0" /> (See that "MF-742" on the tail fin?) Fondran tin toys are extremely rare and quite sought after by tin toy collectors the world over... Top prices are paid for those that appear as nice as the one you "HAD", with, from what I see in the photos, no scratches in the paint. A similar Myron Fondran tin toy (the "MF-943") sold for well over $75,000 at an auction a couple of years ago.







" align="absmiddle" border="0" /> 

Oh wait, I've been watching "Antique's Roadshow" too often... well that, and "Red Green" when Dalton Humphrey (of "Humphrey's Everything Store") explained why he wanted the case of the broken radio back after Red had caniblized the innards... he made it all up, just like I just did!







" align="absmiddle" border="0" />







" align="absmiddle" border="0" /> 


I used to sell repro stuff. I had this cast iron stove out for $25, lady talks me down to $18 or something. Then asks "What is the provenance on this piece?" I explain it's made in China, and she says "Would you mind if I didn't take it? I saw last night on the antiques road show, blah, blah, $350 blah, blah, blah..." 

No ma'am all sales are final. I'm sorry that you thought you were screwing me and are now upset because you got what you paid for.


----------



## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Mik on 01/20/2009 2:30 PM
I used to sell repro stuff. I had this cast iron stove out for $25, lady talks me down to $18 or something. Then asks "What is the provenance on this piece?" I explain it's made in China, and she says "Would you mind if I didn't take it? I saw last night on the antiques road show, blah, blah, $350 blah, blah, blah..." 

No ma'am all sales are final. I'm sorry that you thought you were screwing me and are now upset because you got what you paid for. 




Mik 

Thanks to the Roadshow, which I do watch and enjoy, there are alot of armchair antique "experts" out there. I would likely have said, "Ingorance on your part, does not constitute a refund on my part" if she was too uneducated to know what she's looking at, or to turn it over and look for a "Made in China" sticker or anything obvious like that, *before* haggling you down to $18, thats her problem, not yours.I agree- all sale are final, have a nice day.
BTW, When it comes to cast iron, I assume _everything _is a repro, its up to the seller to prove its authenticity to me. For the most part, if I see something that says $25, it's 99 out of 100 time actually worth $25, and its not some rare Amish cast iron toy from 1870 hand made in firey forges from old broken horseshoes by bearded craftsmen.









Jerry, Your having too much fun, stop it and get back to work on that Challenger.


----------



## MikeK (Jan 3, 2008)

Whoa! Now, that is neat!


----------

