Review of Playmobil shuttle unit

[playmofire]

As I'm thinking of an automatic shuttle layout, Walter Turner very kindly loaned me a Playmobil shuttle unit to try and as these are rare items, I thought I'd post some photos here.

The units were used in shops to operate a shuttle train from end of a length of display track to another. Whether they were also available to the general public, I don't know but I'm sure Walter can provide the answer.

Like the LGB version, the electrics (at this date not really electronics) were fitted into a buffer stop. The first photo shows this. There were two versions of the buffer stop, the first being an open-framed one, a later one having closed sides. The shuttle unit uses the earlier open-sided version, but the sides are "filled in" by the cardboard casing housing the electrics.



Inside the cardboard cover are the electrics, plus in this case following long storage a dead spider rear left.



Here's a closer view, which also shows the date of manufacture, 29th August, 1984.



At this point, I'll create the thread just to see all is working.

[playmofire]

Well, all is working, so I'll continue if you're sitting comfortably.

The unit has two pairs of blue and red wires coming from it. One pair goes to the controller and one pair to the track. You find out which is which by trial and error. I added labels to each pair so trial and error was only necessary once. (In fact, I got them right first time, but purely by luck and not electrical skill.)







For connection to the track, I used a block connector between the wires from the shuttle unit to the end of the wires from a pair of track power terminals:

[playmofire]

The unit uses the usual system of a diode towards each end of the shuttle line and a split rail. The split side of the rail must be on the same side of the track at each end.





At each end of the shuttle line, you need to make sure that there is enough length of line between the split track and the buffers for the train to stop short of the buffer:





And you need to remember, too, that the length of track between the split track and the buffers at the end of the shuttle line where the rolling stock is leading needs to be long enough to accommodate the maximum length of the train.

[playmofire]

The whole system is quite basic, for example, there is no means to adjust the pause time at each end of the shuttle, but works very effectively as you can see:

http://vid704.photobucket.com/albums/ww48/playmofire/Playmobil/Playmobil%20shuttle/DSCF0955.mp4

I hope you found this interesting and thank you for your time in reading this topic.

[Tiermann]

Oh that's wonderful Gordon! I wish this sort of thing we're more common. I would guess there are units out there commercially available  for use with G gauge trains?  Still an actual Playmo one is great to see.

[playmofire]

Oh that's wonderful Gordon! I wish this sort of thing we're more common. I would guess there are units out there commercially available  for use with G gauge trains?  Still an actual Playmo one is great to see.

Thanks, Tim.

There are commercially available units, some very sophisticated.

[Knight Train]

LGB made a couple of units.  The simplest is the LGB 901031.  They also made one that fits in a bumper and a much more sophisticated one that slows the train down as it nears the end.  All these work with playmobil trains as they are not integrated into the LGB MCS / DCS system.  The MCS/DCS systems have reserving loop systems as well.

 

[GrahamB]

I couldn't get your video link to work, playmofire!
Thanks for a glimpse of a part of the PM world of which I am totally ignorant!

[playmofire]

I couldn't get your video link to work, playmofire!
Thanks for a glimpse of a part of the PM world of which I am totally ignorant!

It wouldn't work for me either when I tried it after reading your post so I've reloaded the link and it now works once more. 

This is one of the many problems with using Photobucket, you can never be sure it will work.  I suspect that much of the time it appears not to work because the site is so busy loading all the entirely irrelevant adverts it plasters your albums with unless you're willing to pay $2.99 a month to get rid of them.  What Photobucket don't understand is that if you're going to get people to pay to use your site the free version has to be half decent too.

As for me, I use Photobucket so little because it's so bad I can't be bothered to move everything elsewhere.

[Junker Jörg]

So eine Pendelsteuerung ist klasse! Das Video geht bloß leider (wieder?) nicht  . Erkennt die Steuerung, wann der Zug den Halteabschnitt erreicht hat? Oder polt sie`immer nach einer fest eingestellt Zeit um?

Shuttel units really are great! Just the vid's failing  . Would the electric detect wether the train has reached the other end or does it reverse according to a fixed time scheme?

jj:

P.S.

At this point, I'll create the thread just to see all is working.

I daresay the spider isn't doing too well any more... die Aktivität Spinne läßt ein wenig zu wünschen übrig.