Bowls Of Joy Model Marble Run

Recently, Theme Park Crazy's video on unknown extinct coasters featured the Bowls Of Joy at the #1 spot. It was a roller coaster from the 1910's that used a giant paddle to move small cars up a large spiral, over a bridge and down a second spiral. As the paddles slowly accelerated the cars up to around 51km/h (30mph), it has been considered the world's first launch coaster, 6 decades before the Arrow and Schwarzkopf shuttle loops. The ride suffered numerous technical faults and did not last very long.

As no video of the ride exists, Peter (the creator behind Theme Park Crazy) requested for fans to create models of the ride, similar to the models used in Coaster College's "What Really Happened" series. I am not particularly good at using NoLimits 2 of unusual ideas, but I am proficient at using Tinkercad to design small 3D printable models, such as a box for my Robotics project and more notably, Custom LEGO roller coaster track pieces. So I took on the challenge of creating a working model of the Bowls Of Joy Roller Coaster in the form of a marble run.

I used both a spiral and a corkscrew for the two spirals, and designed the paddle to be able to spin and push the marbles up through the spiral. The model comes with a miniature station for the marbles (complete with skid brakes) and a storage space for 4 marbles. The top of the lift spiral has 16 LEGO holes, allowing for an axle to be inserted through the top of the paddle. An assortment of gears (not included) can be used to either crank the model by hand or have it motorised. The entire machine is designed to run with as many as 14 13mm (1/2 inch) steel ball bearings (also not included). Note: It is posible for the balls to valley in the small uphill after the downward spiral.

The model is to be printed in 3 parts (Upward Spiral, Downward Spiral and Paddle). The spirals can each be printed with medium-level infill (30-45%) whilst the paddle can use a much lower infill (10-30%). Raft is optional for all parts. The 2 spirals will meet the limit for a 140mm printer. Connections between the two spirals is provided with built-in joints (glue optional for a permanent fix) with 0.25mm tolerance. This is not intended to be a perfect recreation of the original, some artistic and logistical license was taken when designing.

Here's a link to an updated paddle designed by holydisk_8901: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6725350