On and under the track

The builders had taken an imaginative leap as their contraption used vehicles that could move over a closed track on both ways, something that had never been seen before. It was a rather frivolous idea of a people carrier for mountainous areas, which still never ceases to impress the children.

RENAULT ABJ

The marvellous track is 84cms long and 38cms tall, which can be put apart for storage. The full metal track is hung up on a central pylon, supporting both the cog wheel as well as the cable railway. The set comes with two small trains (suspiciously resembling the Renault ABJ autorail of the same time) and on its roof a removable flag, decorated with an ‘R’ through pad printing. Both trains come with a powerful mechanical wind-up engine. The engine stops running automatically as soon as the wheels come off the track. On both sides of their bodies a Renault-logo is printed lithographically.

BASE STATION

When the engine of the first train is wound up, it only needs to be placed at the base station, from where it moves itself over the track up to the top station. Once there, the two brass wheels on top of the train move themselves up on the guide rail and force of gravity makes the train move downwards again to the lower station, where it – once again – climbs up on to the track... The second train follows its tracks from the base station as soon as the track is free to run. This constant coming and going of the little trains captivates budding mechanics to this day. You do have to be careful though, as there is no synchronisation between the movements of the two rail cars.