For those who don’t know what that is, Galaxy Express is a Japanese movie (Anime) about a train that travels through outer space (don’t ask) as if it was a spaceship. The story is actually kind’a sad. I guess you gotta be into Japanese Weirdness to appreciate it, lol.
Northern Virginia Model Railroaders built a version of the train using a Tenshodo C62. There’s a description on YouTube.
Micro Ace had a set (engine numbered C6250 to match the number in the tender emblem) which I only see at high collector prices. There are other toys from Tomica and some other makers.
The most dramatic is the ‘magnetic levitation’ locomotive and coach sold to be displayed on your desk. It ‘flies’ at just the right dramatic angle…
More than once I’ve considered jiggering some kind of maglev setup that would be able to run above (modified) O Gauge track.
If you look around on YouTube you’ll find a number of experimental maglev model trains, some of which negotiate relatively sharp curves. I see problems in getting significant repulsion and stable guiding with ‘tinplate’ track in the structure, though.
That’d probably be the difficulty. I dunno; just an idea I’ve tossed around every now and then.
Yes, I’ve seen that! It’s not something you can run on your layout, just a display like a figurine. But it’s still cool to see the train hovering above the track as it’s taking off like an airplane from a runway like the train in the movie! Maybe I’ll get it as a substitute for a real HO model train…
And if it’s close to HO scale, I can put it on my layout as if it’s launching itself off a branch line on my layout…