Photos of my model coaster

I put some photos of my model roller coaster up at
http://hometown.aol.com/jimwolg/myhomepage/photo.html

Jim Wolgamuth
President & Owner of WGCGTI (Wolgamuth's Great Custom Gravity Toboggans International )

Very impressive so far. Nice to see such a large scale model. I love the trains, very good renditions of PTC's.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Wow very nice, im in the process of making a model of my own too(of a steel coaster). Keep up the good work, it looks great.

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Final Deja Vu Count for the 2002 Season: 52
http://www.SFGAmWorld.com

That's tight man, i like that and it looks good too :)

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Zero-Gravity

Nice work. Will it be to scale or actually run?

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

Awesome job! Keep us updated. I'm glad you're using bearings. You'll thank yourself down the road....er...track!
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Brad Sherman
Arrowed!
Model coasters and rides

ApolloAndy - yes it will be a working model. The scale is 1:22.5, roughly 1/2" = 1', but the coaster will not be an exact scale model of a real coaster.

Arrow Guy - bearings are the only way to go. Had to cram every available nook of the train full of lead to get the train to coast nicely.

CoasterDude316 - good luck on your steel project. You get some photos be sure to get them where you can share them with us. Maybe we need a model roller coaster website. Place to post pictures, ask questions, share hints, tips and techniques.

Jim Wolgamuth
WGCGTI

Ooooh.... i wanna work on my own full scale rollercoaster wood or steel, preferably steel :) yeah wood seems easier :)

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Zero-Gravity

Wow...nice work, Jim. When it's finally working I wanna come by your house and see it ;)

Moosh

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Welcome to the New & Improved Coasterbuzz...tomfoolery allowed!

Great..... im gonna make mine outside... with a nice little lake under the drop :)

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Zero-Gravity

Heres a picture of my model coaster, I know it doesn't look as nice as yours but I still find it cool.
http://tpmodels.sfgamworld.com/DavesModels/RoadRage.htm

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Final Deja Vu Count for the 2002 Season: 52
http://www.SFGAmWorld.com

ColossusHennesay said:
Ooooh.... i wanna work on my own full scale rollercoaster wood or steel, preferably steel yeah wood seems easier
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Zero-Gravity

No you don't... trust me, no you don't...

I have my own questions!!! Maybe you can help me, heh. I plan to work on my own model (as soon as I have time and space to put it in!) but have no idea what kind of wood to use to make the intricate curves and such. I've found some thin balsa wood, but it still doesn't give as much as I'd like.

I also know that you can steam the wood to make it more flexible. What did you do to get yours so easily bent?

Keep at it. I would love to see the finished product!

Coasterman Mike

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My 2002 Coaster Season Video Review is now available here: http://www.geocities.com/coasterman_mike

That's incredible. I've always thought about making a model amusement park, kind of like model trains, except with coasters and flats.

What are you using to construct the coaster and how? Do you mind me asking how much money you've invested into it so far?

Keep us posted as you progress.

Danimlea : You need to obtain the Fahler catalogue of amusement park models. They have a log flume and several roller coasters, in HO scale, all of which work. They also offer an octopus, ferris wheel, double wheel, giant wheel, pirate ship, two dark rides, a flying carpet, merry go round, bumper cars, several of the circular flat rides, a whip, wild mouse, wave swinger, giant drop, and several others. The coasters cost about $150 each including the electric motor. The others cost from $75-100 including the motor. Lights are optional on each model. Fahler also offers games, concessions, ticket booths, entrances, and even rest rooms, benches, little vending carts, fences, hedges and trees.

If you invested a couple of thousand dollars, a year's time, and a whole room, you could create a pretty impressive model amusement park.

Using HO model train equipment, you could add an open air passenger train, a Disney style monorail, an overhead ski lift like Disney (open chairs) used to have and Busch Gardens (enclosed cars) still runs, a trolley or a paddlewheel steamboat (like Carowinds operates).

From other companies you can also get Disney's Haunted Mansion, Kennywood's Noah's Ark, Idlewild's Circus Tent, and several kiddie rides.

Coasterfreakbailes - I am using basswood for the majority of the structure. Basswood is harder than balsawood which I believe would be to light weight and break easy. Might switch to spruce for the rest of the track as it is harder than bass and should hold up better to the train running on it and a harder wood may make the train coast a little better. Bending wood for the track curves and such is easy. All you have to do is soak the wood in hot water for a while and then clamp it to something round. I have a coffee table with round ends that I form the wood around and clamp it in place till it dries. You make extreme bends by soaking the wood in household ammonia until the wood softens and then clamp to a form till it dries. Be sure to ventalate the room though because the ammonia stinks up a place. I choose a wooden coaster because I build RC airplanes and am comfortable working with wood plus I really like wood coasters.

Jim Wolgamuth WGCGTI

does this "Fahler catalogue of amusement park models" have a website or something that i can view?

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Zero-Gravity

I'm with ColossusHennesay! More info needed! Website? Catalogue?

Did you mean Faller, not Fahler?

100% i want one of thesee models! :)

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Zero-Gravity