…with a long aerial? A bumper car! Europe was full of Škoda jokes back in the 1980s and 1990s, partly because the cars were crap, but probably mostly because of communistic xenophobia. Before the poison of Communism took hold though, Škoda built perfectly reasonable vehicles. This is one of them, from their electric truck division, a glorious 1951 7Tr2 trolleybus.
This brilliant Model Team recreation of the 7Tr2 has been built Flickr’s Vilém Šustr for display at the Museum of South Moravia in Zlín, and it’s a wonderfully accurate replica of the real trolleybus. Hop on board at Vilém’s photostream via the link above.
Looking like a normal bus, but powered by electricity via overhead cables (just like a dodgem), the Trolleybus is a very smart solution for emissions-free urban transport. With the current focus on air quality and global warming it seems very strange that the humble trolleybus is now completely extinct in TLCB’s home nation.
However trolleybuses do still exist in other parts of the world, and in Ukraine amongst other countries they’re still a reasonably common sight. This ZiU-9, a remnant from the extensive Soviet trolleybus system constructed in the 1960s, is the work of previous bloggee paave, and it’s packed with functionality.
Hidden within the realistic bodywork are three Power Functions motors, five linear actuators, a LiPo battery, two IR receivers, and a set of LED lights. An XL motor takes care of the drive whilst a Medium motor controls the steering, and a Large motor completes the set providing power to each of the automatic opening doors. All of this is remotely controlled via LEGO’s excellent Power Functions infrared system.
There’s lots more to see, including a video of the trolleybus in action, at several of the key creation-sharing platforms; click on a link to climb on-board: MOCpages, Brickshelf, Eurobricks.
