Hi, can anyone tell me if this fountain can be fitted with a pump and work with real water?

Martin

hi martin, i do not know the pump, maybe a link or a picture. i have read all over the net that you should stay away from water when dealing with electrics. i have also been told that you cannot scale down water:shock::shock: a ripple or splash would be 1.1 scale and not 4mm scale. have you thought about using an alternative to water, i have scene a tube of water that can be made to look like falling water. even pva glue around fibre optics to a white flashing LED.

Matt & Martin, real running water with a pump is OK on a model railway as long as the area where the water runs is sealed. Fish ponds that have a water feature has the pump submerged without problems.  One of South Aust's good layouts, Terowie North in H0, used a water feature to represent a trickling creek with good visual results.

Now that said, a fountain is only a means of spurting the water usually upwards, it is the collection & reuse that takes a bit of effort.

Thanks guys - I know Faller do one type of fountain that you can fit a pump to, but didn't know if this is the one. I emailed Faller who have told me it isn't, but I have also reconsidered the practicalities of having water (even controlled water) on the layout and decided that it probably isn't the best of ideas!

Martin

Some years ago, I went to an exhibition where there was a superb layout with real water.

There was a dockside, with trains running down to the quay and then onto a ferry that was moored up alongside. The loco was then detached and the ferry sailed away across the bay on real water. It was a real show stopper, especially when the waggons were unloaded at the other end of the layout and the ferry sailed back with another load.

However there was one real problem with the layout, the water looked most unrealistic !!! 

 On a 4mm model real water just didn't look right and the group who were showing the layout were experimenting, looking for alternative liquids that would look more "natural" !! 

It is funny how water just does not scale down at all!

You can always tell on old films when they were using smaller models in shipwreck scenes or whatever because the water was always out of scale.  Really hard to explain but totally obvious the minute you seen real water on a model…

exactly . . . the same applies to air molecules acting on model aircraft.  That's why models need over scale control surfaces . . .

Faller do a water pump.



 

Or Veissmann do this water fountain which has simulated water.  This may be a better option.