schuco monorails

ANAHEIM GREAT TRAIN EXPO

2010-01-02T16:48:00.001-08:00

Today we went to the Anaheim Convention Center for the Great Train Expo.
There was a lot of vendors selling every kind of train stuff. I bought a great Marx signal that I did not have. I also bought some track and a lot of different light bulbs for trains. The best part was that Doug Burwell was there with his Schuco Monorails.
Doug really enjoys telling people about the history of Schuco Monorails.
Here is the layout that Doug set up for people at the show to watch.
Doug explains that a movie on DVD was made of him demonstrating his monorails and telling the history. That movie is available on his website.
There were several monorail sets on display for sale. These sets are rare and to see these was fun. To find Doug's website click on the link for Collecting Schuco Monorails above and on the right.

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH DOUG'S LAYOUT IN ACTION AT THE ANAHEIM SHOW.

PIRATE SHIP FOR MONORAIL LAYOUT

2009-02-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest addition to the Monorail layout. It's the Jolly Roger. Stephen put it together and I added the paint. The Monorail crosses it twice on it's trip above the Magic Kingdom. Along with the pirate ship there is a Mike fink keel boat and two submarines. Ariel the Mermaid sits on the rocks in the center. I am now looking for the Mark Twain river boat. My Train and Monorail room is my "Happiest Place On Earth"

I hope I have enough room for all the rides I want to add. It sure looks like a fun place.

New ride for my Disneyland Monorail layout.

2009-01-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. First I made the form out of foam rubber. I made sure that my Schuco Monorail would clear. I always cover my rail before using plaster or paints. I covered the foam with plaster of paris.

Dinosaurs at Thunder Mountain

2009-01-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here I made the peaks of the weathered sandstone mountains out of plaster of paris. I dripped the plaster on to wood skewers. Can you see the Dinosaur bones exposed by the desert winds?

Finally I am working on my Monorail layout.

2009-01-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

Here is my Thunder Mountain with my Monorail passing by. I made the train out of a plastic train that I had to cut down. I removed the car bodies and replaced them with ride cars made out of popsicle sticks.

Las Vegas Monorail

2008-04-12T15:21:00.001-07:00

The monorail in Las Vegas Is public transportation that runs for 2 miles along Las Vegas Blvd. It makes several stops at popular casinos.

We spent too much time shopping and did not ride this one. The cost is $5.00 or $9.00 all day pass.

Monorail between Primm Valley and Wiskey Petes

2008-04-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

The monorail between Primm Valley and Wiskey Petes is a small monorail with just one car.

It is still a fun ride that takes you over a six lane freeway. It is a pretty view at night as the casinos are all lit up with bright lights. This monorail is a free ride provided to transport guests between casinos. This Monorail was built in Austria.

Monorail between Primm valley and Buffalo Bills

2008-04-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

The Monorail between Primm Valley and Buffalo Bills is great. It makes a short trip over the parking lot between the two casinos. The ride is free and worth every penny.

Our Monorail Vacation

2008-04-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

This last week Jerri and I went on a little vacation to Primm Nevada. There are two monorails operating between the three casinos.

Two at a time

2008-03-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got my figure eight done. As you can see the red monorail will go over where the blue one has just passed by. If you look closely you can see the Marx o gauge steam train just crossing the bridge over the submarine ride. On the display shelf is some of my train collection. Top: Marx steam train 1930 middle: Ives electric train 1925 bottom Marlines steam train 1930.

Rebuild motor day

2008-03-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

This is a happy day. I bought a front car from Doug Burwell and put the entire chassis into my body. It runs perfect. I'm off to play in the train room. Soon I will have to call it the monorail room.

Submarine ride

2008-02-25T22:26:00.000-08:00

Here my blue monorail passes the submarine ride. Is that a mermaid I see? You can see a tee pee in the indian village to the left.

TUNE-UP DAY

2008-01-30T23:41:00.000-08:00

My blue monorail had been running a lot slower than my red one. I decided it was a time for me to find out why. I took it apart and cleaned everything with rubbing alcohol. I cleaned the gears and even took out the brushes and cleaned them. When I put it back together It would hardly move at all. I started to panic. I was thinking I would have to send it to Doug Burwell and admit that he was the expert. I have cleaned a lot of model trains that way. After hours of trying to run it I realized that I had dried out everything and had not lubricated anything. One drop of WD40 to the shaft where the brushes ride and it ran as fast as my red one. Sorry Doug, maybe next time.

2008-01-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun with this area of the park. I got sleeping beauty's castle from a 99 cent store and painted it. The fireworks were done with stencils and chalk. The rocket to the moon was made by hand with card stock. The rocket is a real estes model rocket that you could really shoot in the sky. The people are "little hommies" from the gum machines. YOU CAN CLICK ON THE COMMENT LINK BELOW TO LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS. PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOU WERE HERE.

Matterhorn Bobsled entrance

2008-01-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

I have been busy working on my layout again. How could you have a Disneyland monorail without a bobsled ride. Don't you wish the lines were this short at Disneyland? As you can see, the bobsleds come out of the matterhorn and stop for new riders to get on. If you look closely you can see sleeping Beauty's castle in the upper right. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU.

2008-01-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

My Matterhorn now has 3 seperate bobsleds. As you can see there is a blue monorail circling the mountain. If you look closely you can see the sky way to the left.

2008-01-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my Matterhorn. There are 3 seperate bobsleds comming out of the mountain and going back in. The blue monorail circles the Matterhorn. If you look closely you can see the mountain climers reaching the top.

Great Train Expo

2007-12-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 12-29-07 Jerri Sue and I went to the Great Train Expo in Anaheim. I had been waiting to go to that show for several years. I found some great things to add to my train layout. The best part was I met Doug Burwell. Doug is the leading expert in Schuco Monorails and is an operator himself. Doug lives in Colorado so this was a rare opportunity for me. Doug gave me some great advice on monorail operation and repair. I really enjoyed watching his layout in operation. I bought some much needed parts for my layout and was lucky that Doug had some parts that were missing on my red monorail. Now both of my monorails work great.

2007-12-30T22:34:00.000-08:00

Check out my bobsleds. They really work. Now I have to build up the ledge under the path of the sleds.

My Monorail history.

2007-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

I have only been a Schuco monorail operator for barely a year. I have been working on a 10'x10' train layout for about 4 years. I had always wanted a monorail but I wanted a real single rail system. One day I found a web site about collecting Schuco Monorails by Doug Burwell and I was hooked. I spent A year looking in E-bay but these monorails were too expensive for me. One day I found out that my son had a friend who's Father had two monorails. After begging for months he finally agreed to sell the entire collection to me. I now have a red one and a blue one. I quickly added the monorail to my already congested layout. I needed a matterhorn so I am building it over what was the train yard. This is the bottom stage. I had to make tunnels for one O gauge and six HO gauge tracks. The two tunnels in the upper front of the Matterhorn are going to be for an operating bobsled ride.