Owing to the fact that small gyroscopes cannot bal-
ance a weight of over two pounds, the possibility of driv-
ing a car two feet long with dry batteries becomes very
remote. By arranging an improvised trolley on this
model, quite a heavy current can be carried to the motors
without any addition in weight. To do this, a wire is
suspended directly over the rail or wire upon which the
car is to nm. Each wire is connected to the source of
current and the current is led into the car by a small
cord which runs to a little pulley or trolley that runs
along the copper wire. An ordinary trolley cannot be
used, as this would tend to prevent the car from tipping
and the gyroscopic effect would be lost. The small flexi-



Model Engineering




A Model Gyroscope Railroad 363

ble cord permits the gyroscope to do its "work, and in
this manner unlimited power may be provided for the
motors. If it is desired to run the car on a rail in place
of a suspended wire, a method of making rails from




Fig. 291 — Top Of tbe gyroacope, abowlng tbe pr«cesEion fork

heavy wire and mounting them on ties is shown in the
drawing. In making cars of this type, the following facts
should be kept in mind by the builder ;

The center of gravity should be kept as low as pos-
sible.
Fig. 292— Details of tbe gyroscope



The car should be perfectly balanced.
The weight should be reduced to a minimum.
If these instructions are carefully carried out the



364



Model Engineering



builder should have no trouble in producing a successful
gyroscope model.
