Robert L Miller Laboratory Locomotive | Diesels | Mechanical

Robert L Miller Laboratory

Locomotive

Diesels

Mechanical

Drive System

You can kind of visualize the Robert L Miller Laboratory truck system as something similar to the NorthWest ShortLine Stanton Drive, in that the entire workings are captured in the truck itself.

The Robert L Miller Laboratory trucks were free-rolling, so reverse current needed to be applied to properly slow-down or stop the engine.

The model contained a lot of weight for great tractive effort.

The kit could be bought with no trucks, with one powered truck, or with both trucks powered.

The power trucks had only two operational modes, accelerate (forward or reverse) or coast, no matter what you did with the throttle. This was because the armature was wound around the axle and the segmented wheel treads were the commutators. No gears. So you had to give the engine a lot of juice just to start it. The faster the motor ran, the less current was required.

The large lead weight that filled the entire hood provided an overabundance of inertia, thus overcoming any tendency for power-off regenerative braking to have any noticeable effect.