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In the February 2010 issue Model Railroader Publisher Terry Thompson shows how he used Faller’s motorized vehicle system to add realistic animation to the city scene on his HO German layout. In this video Terry gives you a tour of his model railroad, and you can watch an HO scale bus and truck that actually obey traffic signals.
I watched this video and would like to find out the name of control panel Terry is using and more information about his layout?
Check out my Echo Mountain layout where I incorporate the Faller Car System. Every layout should have at least one route animated by this system plus at train exhibitions kids and adults are fascinated by it.
http://m.youtube.com/#/user/klatchco56
Are you being sarcastic? There's a plethora of S scale vehicles.
As for slots, I thought that H0 scale slot cars were actually closer to Sscale, in model railroad terms.
I too was taken back by the moving vehicles in this layout. I've done slot cars from HO to 1/24th over the years. I have a huge amount of Aurora "model motoring" (old style), back before "racing" sets.
Since I'm doing the "Redheaded Stepchild" of model railroading (S-gauge) I find limited amounts of 1/64 stock vehicles. Forget any scale slot cars and track.
I was interested in exactly the Faller offering works, looks like magnetic movement under the streets. Just a guess……It also looked like 0-27 gauge, too large for my use.
Iave been wanting to do something like tis with my layout.
What did you use for the roads? Did you use the slt car track?
Please, tl me so I might be able to duplicate.
Thank you,
Roger Phillips
Very nice article on European Model Railroading. I enjoying seeing these articles.
very interesting article please have more in the future.
Fantastic,Did any one notice the working traffic light?
In the new issue, just arrived yesterdy on New Year's Eve, the article on Terry's layout and especially its Faller moving vehicle feature really caught my attention. Forever, on most model railroads of all scales, one nagging source of unreality has always been that resident non-railroad vehicles are virtually always static. Traditionally, this drawback has been effectively hidden because still photography always rendered everything, trains and all, motionless. The unrealism is only revealed once we observe the layout in person with trains delightfully running, but all else frozen in place. This may partially account for the popularity of still photography as an adjunct to our hobby!
Now that videography of layouts has become increasingly common on so many internet forums, the static nature of modelling non-railroad human activity has become even more painfully obvious. When it comes to past attempts to animate vehicular road traffic, most of us are familiar with the marginally successful techniques of sympathetic magnetic movement where a motorized unit on a loop of track beneath the scenery moves a vessel or vehicle on the surface of the layout above, or the "conveyor illusion" created when model vehicles are attached to a continuously moving, looped belt which can be exposed between the portals of two tunnels, etc. These techniques attempt to create the illusion of moving vehicular or vessel traffic but seldom do it convincingly.
In the 3-rail "hi railer" world, K-Line by Lionel offers the Super Street product of 3-rail O gauge track imbedded in sectional, simulated concrete paving components. A companion line of motorized O scale vehicles is offered which operate on the pavement-imbedded track. This may be marginally more effective than the sympathetic magnet or conveyor belt systems, but it still leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the realism of scale operating locomotives and rolling stock on detailed roadbed and trackage.
This is why Terry's incorporation of the Faller hidden-wire guidance vehicular traffic system into his German-themed layout was such an attention getter for me. I had only once seen this technique used on an HO modular layout at a train show in Denver, but until now, I was not aware of who manufactured the components or exactly how the system worked.
Now if only someone will manufacture North American-styled vehicles to operate on the Faller or similar system, we may finally have the fulfillment of our long suffering desire for realistically operating vehicles on train layouts! I know that while I'm daydreaming about that, it is probably overly selfish to want such a system to be available in O scale as well as the more popular HO and N genres! Nonetheless, hope springs eternal in the free enterprise system that a manufacturer will discern our need and happily fill it!
Thanks for featuring the Faller moving vehicle system and Terry's evocative German-themed layout in the magazine. This could trigger a whole new wave of realism in model railroading.
Bear Owen
Superior, CO
I agree with other posters and it would be cool to have domestic vehicles manufactured for layouts based here in the USA. Adds a complete new level of authenticity!
Brian Olson
Colorado
It was an interesting video but way too little was said about how the traffic works.
Terry, your article is very interesting and the system you setup is really nice. However a minor comment is that the epoch of the buses and trucks does not fit well with the locomotives and trains on your layout. I wonder if Faller has also vintage road vehicles available (fifties or early sixties in your case.)
Obviously, there is a considerable interest in animated vehicles. Possibly as popular as the advent of back drops or building lighting many moons ago. A substantial (latent at least) market; but, to what extent as not everyone requires museum like realism.
I just read the hard copy article and admit to be fuzzy on the apparatus that requires the table to be cut out for. In addition and without much research on the subject I still feel compelled to offer my comments and reaction to the "faller" article:
– A "guidance" wire close to the road surface seems to tightly control a vehicle allowing ninety degree corners as apposed to rail like constraints. It seems to be a good conduit for possibilities. Groves in a road are unnecessary.
– Magnets seem to leave open the vulnerability to vehicle skewing, crabbing or otherwise promoting realism failure if done without a focus on this.
– Battery power is in general less than appealing….especially when you may have a couple dozen vehicles to tend to.
– As mentioned, model rail road technology is required and available to control lights, sound and allow computer speed, stop and start.
– Slow, gradual starts and stops are necessary to provide realism.
While not highlighted strongly enough on the cover of the magazine I feel, the reaction seems strong, but look how long it took to be brought apparently to American awareness.
My other two cents worth…. if a solid vendor doesn't emerge then perhaps a focus group could be loosely formed to toss out ideas and develop something that could be presented to a component builder….take what's been tried and with a clean piece of paper come up with a commercially viable end product….diy or not.
How does the Faller system work? Is It now dependent on a Marklin format? Why are there only two vehicles "allowed"?? What a wonderful addition to a layout, imagine an entire freeway and/or city alive with slow "soft starting" vehicles of all types.
This is a beautiful example of animation. Great work and I understand it is also fairly easy to install. I hope to see more in the future!
Reference my previous post – I've found the Active website for Faller Car System ( http://www.faller.de ) and their site states that Walthers is the U.S. rep for their products. Walthers has 10 Faller Car System starter sets with extra vehicles available, in N-Scale. More Car System items are available in HO scale.
I've heard that Faller has filed bankruptcy and that Tomytec has picked up the license. I'm unable to verify this info. Again, a German product goes to Japan/Asia. Tomytec's scale is 1:150 while N-Scale is 1:160 – a slight difference but should work well in N-scale. I don't have further info on the HO product line. It may be covered in the license acquired by Tomytec – don't know. Tomix (Japan) has a street system for trolley's/trams which is adaptable to N or HO scales. The Faller System has been adapted and used with rail, and the 'vehicles' cross the tracks at a grade crossing. I've seen it operate with only a slight – very slight – hesitation when the 'vehicle' crosses the tracks. Still looks great! 🙂 I would like to include this system in my layout, but not sure of product support or availability.
Good article and video. Would be interested in a follow-on on Terry's German layout. I've had a Marklin set for years and would be interested in how Terry designed the layout.
Ted Ross – Check out Euro Rail Hobbies on the net. Just bought a starter set from them today!! I'm building an urban switching layout, and the interplay of the busses and the trains should be captivating!
It was good to see an article covering a German based layout along with the moving vehicles. I think Model Railroader should have more articles about European layouts; German,Austrian, Swiss,Italian, French. As a member of the European Train Enthusiasts I have learned a lot about such layouts and have been
encouraged by the positive reaction whenever ETE displays its'
modular layout at train shows. Isn't it time for Model Railroader to have a stringer based in Europe and start publishing articles about
European layouts? How about a special issue once a year devoted
to such a topic?
I've been looking for a car system like this.I like it much better than the slot car type.Where can I purchase this Faller set up?
This is a very good video, and I truly enjoyed the article in this issue.
like to see more information on the operating vehicle system
A very intriguing introduction to this system! It's nice to see it in action, and I would like to see another video with a bit more detail on the vehicle system.
Thanks!
Cody, you get to do such cool field trips!!
Nice work…