hand car plans

[Fred_V]

at Wales West we would like to build a hand car for kids to play with. anyone out there have any drawings for one? i hate to have to start from scratch and design one. i've seen them at tracks so i know they are available.
thanks,
fred v

[UnkaJesse]

Fred I have a nice set of plans that was sent to me by Ed H. last year. This is for a full size hand car so it might or might not work for Wales West. I am sure it would work for the 2 foot gauge, but since the kids will be standing up they will be sure to see how fast they can go and overturn which ain't good. A one seater sit down model would work aw'right. Ottaway made one that ran on 15" track and it had some sort of ratchet that wasn't a ratchet and it turned the axle directly. I would think that a crank on a countershaft with a pump handle would work out OK. Kids would be seated low, almost on the rail so it should be stable. Isn't Will Jordon working on something like you want??

Unka(Looks like work to me)Jesse

[pattiandruss]

This looks pretty easy to build. Russell

[mrb37211]

There was a how-to with some plans in Live Steam a number of years ago. Used part of a bicycle frame where the big gear with foot petals goes. I think the hand motion required was push-pull rather than round and round. Charles

[SZuiderveen]

Look here:

Handcar.net

[UnkaJesse]

I would suggest that no matter what type handcar Fred builds that it incorporate some sort of governor to keep kids from going too fast. The Ottaway hand cars that I have seen at the Memphis model railroad shows were operated on special take apart rails. The guy sets, or did set them up and sold rides to the kids at 2 dollars a head. He had 5 or 6 cars and always there was one or two kids running up behind the younger slower ones and trying to push them faster. Only having one hand car would eliminate the "bully factor" but still if they could go too fast there would be a problem.

With the crank type handcar that Russ shows, it might be possible to use such a high gear ratio that the kids would not try to go too fast because they couldn't crank fast enough to cause a problem.

Fred hasn't told us if he plans on running the hand cars on the 2 foot or the 7-1/2" gauge rails.

Unka(Think governor activated brakes like a centrifugal clutch in reverse.)Jesse

[mrb37211]

FWIW, Fred, the plans which I mentioned are in Live Steam April 1991 "Armstrong Service Car." A followup "Letter" in the November issue had pictures of a couple of others. Charles

[Fred_V]

brakes would be a good idea since we have an abundance of 2% grades. i had thought about it getting away from you and it's a concern. i like the pic Russ showed rather than a push/pull type. it would be nice to have a back pedel brake like a bicycle but you couldn't back up then.
fred v
oh, it is for the 7.5" ga. i've seen an out rigger bicycle to run on std. ga.

[UnkaJesse]

Fred, I like the hand pedal type the best too as it would be easy to gear it so no one could overspeed it without burning out their arm muscles. As to a brake, a simple band around a drum would work fine in case the rider's hands slipped off the pedals. That overspeed device I suggested made from a centrifugal clutch would also keep downhill speeds under control. There will always be some kids who will see how fast they can go so a speed limiter would be desirable in my humble estimation.

Unka(Those who know me know I am very humble [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif"%20alt="[/img])Jesse

[Fred_V]

"There will always be some kids who will see how fast they can go so a speed limiter would be desirable in my humble estimation."

you are right about that. when riding kids they always ask how fast the engine will go. maybe some deeper flanges on the wheels would be a good idea too.
fred v

[UnkaJesse]

Deeper flanges would certainly help about preventing derailments, but I am more worried about the speed demons flipping over on curves. The lower the seat, the better off you will be in that respect.

Unka(I still like the centrfugal brake idea [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif"%20alt="[/img])Jesse

[srrl5]

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.

Dave