Could it be done?

[Dorsetmike]

Following on from a discussion of a pic on our Zoom meet last evening, I can see that a static version could be modelled, but any ideas on motorising?



Another alternative could be this



The second looks almost doable if a motorised van is included, adding a motor to the shunting vehicle might be a problem.

[Gordon]

Following on from a discussion of a pic on our Zoom meet last evening, I can see that a static version could be modelled, but any ideas on motorising?

I'm a proponent of 'tromp l'oeil' modelling in small scales (and not just because I'm a francophile by upbringing and the phrase comes from French!)  and have created a few items in French N gauge over the years using motorised coaches and wagons, so the obvious one is to motorise the coach using one of the various Japanese chassis available, and live with the fact that the horses legs remain fixed.

I have motorised a Del Prado Swiss narrow gauge Crocodile electric. It should have moving con rods, but it's too small for an 'amateur' job on moving con rods so I live with the fact that the rods are still static even though the loco can now run on the layout and haul trains 

[RailGooner]

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As you suggest for the 2nd, so for the 1st, you could motorize the wagon. But once you've propelled it forward, what then? It's going to look very odd going in reverse! 

[AlexanderJesse]

You could move the horse like the ice-skaters on the christmas cracker and attach the wagon using a simple couling maybe even a standard n gauge coupling

[joe cassidy]

Or you could stick a track pin to one of the horse's front hooves and cut a groove alongside the rails to guide it ?

[Southerngooner]

Surely the horse would look a bit silly moving forward without moving its legs? Too difficult I feel, but ready to eat my hat (and everyone else's) if someone makes a true to scale 2mm horse with working legs!

Dave

[Capri_sam]

First picture - Motorising the horse box is doable, for sure. You might need a 3D print adapted to suit the wheelbase of a Japanese chassis.

For the horse, thinking out loud I would have it rigidly attached to the wagon via its 'harness', but with the lower leg hinged at the knee (good luck!), possibly using links of very fine chain as a frame, covered in clay. That would allow the legs to 'move'. Have them hang to just below sleeper level so the horse 'steps' as the legs knock on the sleepers. No idea how you'd get the rest of the animal to move though! Maybe the harness would have enough flexibility to bounce a little if it were made of copper wire. Alternatively the head could be seperate and attached to the harness with an old farish carriage spring. Bobbly head, wobbly legs. The horse would look pretty drunk, but they quite often were!

NB I don't think this would actually look very good, but it would be an interesting experiment!

[daffy]

You could always combine the horse power with a treadmill on wheels:

https://railroadtreasures.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/cycloped-horse-powered-train/

with the real motive power in a wagon/van behind, as others have suggested. Then the lack of leg movement and a seemingly "hovering" horse are not issues.

[railsquid]

Following on from a discussion of a pic on our Zoom meet last evening, I can see that a static version could be modelled, but any ideas on motorising?

"In the early days of the Mk1 horse box, there was frequent confusion about the role of the horse".

[jpendle]

First picture - Motorising the horse box is doable, for sure.

I always thought horseboxes had the horses on the inside 

@railsquid  beat me to it

John P

[RailGooner]

Surely the horse would look a bit silly moving forward without moving its legs? Too difficult I feel, but ready to eat my hat (and everyone else's) if someone makes a true to scale 2mm horse with working legs!

Dave

Challenge accepted! 

[zwilnik]

Surely the horse would look a bit silly moving forward without moving its legs? Too difficult I feel, but ready to eat my hat (and everyone else's) if someone makes a true to scale 2mm horse with working legs!

Dave

Challenge accepted! 

Make the horse's legs out of 'string' (probably cotton thread) with a tiny amount of weight at the bottom, so that they're flexible and hang down from the body. Fix the body to the wagon with a rigid wire harness so it's levitating above the ground with the 'legs' hanging down.
Now mark out the path the feet take along the side of your track and add smooth bumps at regular intervals that'll make the legs on that side go up and down. It probably won't be the exact gait of a horse walking, but assuming you get the frequency of the bumps correct (and the rear and front legs don't end up going up and down at the same time ) it might fool someone at viewing distance.

[Steven B]

Perhaps a variation in the Magorail system would give moving legs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1n2eKqxEDk

Steven B

[chrism]

Surely the horse would look a bit silly moving forward without moving its legs? Too difficult I feel, but ready to eat my hat (and everyone else's) if someone makes a true to scale 2mm horse with working legs!

Challenge accepted! 

Make the horse's legs out of 'string' (probably cotton thread) with a tiny amount of weight at the bottom, so that they're flexible and hang down from the body. Fix the body to the wagon with a rigid wire harness so it's levitating above the ground with the 'legs' hanging down.
Now mark out the path the feet take along the side of your track and add smooth bumps at regular intervals that'll make the legs on that side go up and down. It probably won't be the exact gait of a horse walking, but assuming you get the frequency of the bumps correct (and the rear and front legs don't end up going up and down at the same time ) it might fool someone at viewing distance.

That's not a bad idea.

I'll point a colleague from the Club at it since he wants to make the horse-drawn narrow-gauge tramway from the gunpowder works to Haverthwaite work, by hiding a z-gauge loco chassis under a wagon.

He still hasn't come clean about how he plans to get Dobbin to the other end of the wagon to take it back, though.

[zwilnik]

That's not a bad idea.

I'll point a colleague from the Club at it since he wants to make the horse-drawn narrow-gauge tramway from the gunpowder works to Haverthwaite work, by hiding a z-gauge loco chassis under a wagon.

He still hasn't come clean about how he plans to get Dobbin to the other end of the wagon to take it back, though.

Easy, shed at each end and 2 wagon/horse combinations