EDWIN DROOD bL{ O ver the last fifteen years, professional productions of musicals have set a new standard of spectacle. Towadays, audiences for college and university productions of musicals like Into the Jl7oods, Big River, and Grand Hotel expect to see technical feats similar to what was done in the Broadway productions. Such was the case in the tah State University Theatre production of The MJlstelJI ojEdwin Drood. The designer and director agreed to use one of the Broadway production scenic devices-a treadmill which carried several actors twenty feet across the set in both directions and at varying speeds. Buildillg this professionallooking device on our less-than-professional budget was the challenge given to the technical director and shop staff. Our research into the engineering of treadmjlJs began with a look at exercise treadmills. We first contacted Weslo Industries whose exercise treadmills employ a rubber conveyor belt running over a specially coated and uniquely fabricated under-belt surface. Weslo's engineers connected us with a source for conveyor belts, Mol Belting. One of Mol Belting's engineers suggested a belt 18 inches \vide and forty feet long to meet our design requirements and limited funds. As it turned out, the $450.00 factory-spliced belting loop would be the most expensive part of the project. Our best source of information for figuring out the mechanics of the Drood treadmjlJ carne from the farming community. Study of potato piler conveyor systems determined many of the construction techniques and materials we used. The treadmill frame employed three inch channel iron for side rails to support the several hundred pounds of actor weight the belt would transport. The channel iron rails were supported with 11h-inch 12 gauge square steel BrULe Duerden tubing cut to a four inch length creating an eight inch step up onto the platform. 11h-inch square tube was also used to span between the channel iron and support a structural deck of 3/4-inch plywood. One of the key elements in engineering an efficient treadmill is providillg a very low-friction surface on the horizontal decking that supports the weight of the transported actors as they move horizontally on the belt. Keeping friction to a minimum between the weighted moving belt and the under-belt decking keeps the power demands on the motor at sensible levels and also keeps the treadmill moving smoothly. The specialized under-belt surface used in Weslo's exercise treadmills was prohibitively expensive given our budget, but as we discovered, it was also unnecessary. We found an adequately slick, yet inexpensive under-belt material in white 1/4-inch tile board. This Masonite product is available at most "-1'\tt>.D~ILL No-re'. ~ IHt 'Bfl;.f c»T'AWAy Al"tJq WI011l-rt' S\IO'N co~0cnorJ. TD&T F ALL I 9 9 6 47