Electric Wheelchair Converted Into a Remote Control Steampunk Train

Halloween is only a little over a month away, which means it’s time to start putting your skills to use in order to make props, decorations, and costumes that make your neighbors and peers look like lazy party poopers. The coronavirus pandemic may limit the festivities this year (as if things weren’t bad enough already), but that’s no excuse to shirk your spooking duties. How you decide to express your ghoulish creativity is, of course, completely up to you. But Halstaff’s fantastic remote control steampunk train, which was built from an electric wheelchair, should serve as great inspiration.

Electric wheelchairs vary wildly in price and features. The most basic models have limited power and range, but higher-end models can have a range of approximately 10 miles and beefy motors. If you can get your hands on one of these, you’ll find that they’re a great source of electric motors, batteries, and other expensive components. In this case, Halstaff started with the base of a Jazzy electric wheelchair that was given to him by a friend. It was missing the actual seat and the controls, but still contained the drive wheels, motors, and batteries. In this case, those are two 12V automotive or marine-style batteries wired in series to reach 24V.

The most important component Halstaff had to purchase was a Sabertooth Dual 32A Motor Driver. That can handle between 6-30V and a peak of 64A per channel. It also has a synchronous regenerative drive, which is a nice bonus feature. To add remote control, Halstaff used a Hitec Auroro 9X transmitter and receiver pair. Sound effects come from a Mighty Tiny Audio Player, which receives power through a 24V to 12V step-down converter. The rest of the project was focused on converting the Jazzy wheelchair base into a “locomotive.” This was largely a cosmetic process, and Halstaff got creative when it came to steampunk accents. Some of those are 3D-printed, but even a painted trash bin made it into the build. The final step was to add a “train car,” which was actually a pull cart purchased from Harbor Freight. The result is an awesome looking steampunk train that Halstaff can drive remotely around his neighborhood this Halloween.