One Method of Motorising Your
Vienna 5/7 Section Low Floor Tram

Those of you familiar with this plastic model (Fig 1.) will know that it is very light in weight, so traction capabilities have to be improved. I started with the following:
  1. Disassembled the entire vehicle and removed the plastic wheels housed in the articulation.

  2. Measured up the sections and selected the centre section for motorising with either a vertical spinner motor, or a lateral spinner. Decided on the lateral spinner as there would be room available for the decoder. Also the height dictated that this would be the correct method to follow (Fig 2.).

  3. Because the front ends are fixed, the overhang around corners is quite substantial, so the pantograph could have problems around sharp corners. It would therefore make sense to move the pantograph also to the centre section, where the motor will be housed, so all mechanics are in one section of the vehicle. The pantograph had to be replaced with a metal workable panto off course.

 

Constructing the Drive Unit

  • I selected the same 15mm Sagami double shafted motor, that was used for the motorising of the "Combino" (Fig 3.).

  • Cut the standard channeling that was used for the Combino to accommodate a 20mm wheelbase truck, using 9mm nickel silver wheels, to fit into the selected centre section of tram. I have not tried to fit this motorized unit into another section of the tram, but I am sure this can be done without any problem.

  • Once the channeling has been cleaned up, a 2mm thick piece of brass gets soldered on both sides of the channeling (Fig 5.). One can solder or use small brass nuts and bolts for finer adjustments, when complete. The front end being higher then the rear end. The front has to accommodate the motor. The height of this piece of brass depends on the size motor used. The rear end only houses the axle and worm gear driving the rear axle. It would be wise to have this brass plate to be adjustable for fine tuning. There is a similar worm gear over the first set of wheels.

  • Before the final fixing of the brass walls, both front and rear, holes should be drilled to accommodate the wheel axles. Both walls also have to be drilled with holes in the right position to hold the motor in position. Should you choose to bolt both the walls in position, then holes for these would have to be drilled. As mentioned, the rear brass wall should be adjustable. The wall holding the motor can be firmly in place (Fig 6.).

Fig 6.                  
  

Fig 1.




Fig 2.




Fig 3.




Fig 4.




Fig 5.




Fig 7.
    The bogie is one that our late member Rokus Schelling developed in the early 1990's, which I have adopted in a lot of my tram drives. Each tram is so different, which means adaptations have to be made.
    Once the bogie is completely assembled, it should be tests run on the bench, to make sure the bogie runs completely freely on its axles, make the necessary adjustments on the back wall of the bogie and give it some lubrication.


    Attaching the bogie into the cabin: I used brass screws, screwed into a brass square rod, glued on the inside of the cabin. This gives me easy access to the bogie for servicing.
 

Fig 8.

Constructing the Trailing 2-Axle Bogies

  • Using the same channeling as used for the motor bogie, but this time cut down to the correct height, so that the side of the tram does not exceed more than 2mm from rail height. Drill the holes for the axles, to accommodate the wheel sets (Fig. 9.).

  • Drill two holes on either side of the channeling, to accommodate two brass screws to hold truck in place. This is screwed to a 2mm brass base cut to size to fit the cabin. This also gives this section of the tram more weight, for better traction.

  • This process is repeated for the other trailing bogie, situated at the other end of the car.
 

Fig 9.





Fig 10.

A few things to watch out for:

  • Weight in the car: this might have to be increased or decreased, depending on the material used. I used brass, but nothing stops you from using, maybe alluminium or some sort of alloy, which could be heavier or lighter.

  • Make sure that all three bogies are centrally situated, in their respective car sections. You do not want crabbing to take place.

Enjoy the ride!