A deeper flange may help for uneven track, but on a two axel hand car that most likely will have a longer wheelbase then a truck the tip of the deeper flange is going to be trying to pick any bad joints on a curve and climb over the rail. If you increase the angle on a deeper flange that will help but then the tip gets narrower with a smaller radius which again makes it easer to pick a bad joint. Increasing the fillet radius at the tread can help keep the flange from rubbing on the rail head.
A centrifugal brake shouldn't be that hard to make by you folks that are so adept at machining stuff!
I took an old telephone rotary dial apart and geared the innards to one axle of a Gauge 1 car.
I have to add quite a bit of weight to the car to get any sort of actual braking action...
that axle just slides along at 1/8th speed of the rest of the train but it definately provides a dynamic weight behind the Loco!
Granted, you would want something a bit bigger, but the design should not be too hard to scale up a bit.
The dial innards is just basically a "fly-ball" governor built inside a ring and the "balls" rub against the inside of the ring instead of lifting a disk against something stationary.
A centrifugal gocart clutch mounted on the axle with the out side diameter held stationary to the frame should do the trick.
Here is one listed at NH Northern for $26. With a 3/4" bore. The center comes apart with a simple od ring, and the weights are held in place with a long spring. Getting a softer spring would let the rotor come out at slower speeds (maybe remove spring all the way).
A centrifugal clutch for riding mowers, go karts, etc. might be the ticket, Fred.
Or it might not, depending upon the expected/desired maximum rpm's for the axle.
eBay item 4543935117 is an example. I've also seen versions with V-belt rather than sprocket output. In either event, fasten the output to the frame and the axle to the shaft and you have a sudden brake. Or, fasten the output to a drag pulley for a less drastic stop. The better clutches can be adjusted for engagement by purchasing springs of various strengths. Or you could grind the springs for a lighter touch.
If I were going this route I would look for a V-belt clutch and set the belt to drag around a fixed pulley when the clutch engaged.
For a simple hand brake..... Place a vbelt pulley on the shaft. Take an old vbelt that has been cut making it a long rope. Attach one end of the vbelt to the frame, and the other wrap half a turn around the pulley to a rod with a hinge on the end. Then simply push (or pull) the rod to tighten the belt on the pulley.
Good idea Willy simple and it will work. Rope? The belts on my Tiawanese Jet mill had "First Rope" printed on them!! Prolly had a poor Chinese/English dictionary and meant to say "First quality belt".
BTW: Wullah is a French word and properly spelled "Voila' ", but them Frenchies sort of pronounce it like wullah. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif"%20alt="[/img]
Unka(Trying to promote an international incident here [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img])Jesse
"The same hammer that breaks the glass, forges the steel" Russian proverb
