I saw a small article in Model Railroader magezine and I was just wondering how you can convert an HO scale engine and convert it to a Radio controlled, battery powered one? I think it would be the most realistic way of operating one, because they run under their own power, and you probably wont have to worry about fancy wiring, I guess.
I read a similiar article, or maybe the same one. It is a good idea, but the article I read pointed out that advances are needed in battery and receiver size to make it work the way most would want. It said that at this point in time, you would need a dedicated car-boxcar, b-unit, etc- to always trail the engine to house either the battery or the receiver.
Of course, as I read this article about a year ago, by now they could have all of that taken care of and more!
What I would like to see is a battery pack shaped like a fuel tank that snapped into the bottom of the loco. That would add the realism of needing to stop for re-fueling.
And wouldn’t it be nice to NEVER need to worry about cleaning track, reverse loops, or wiring the track at all!
Yeah that would be cool, but I think you probably would still have to clean the track because I’ve read that it could cause derailments. But not as often though.
Berk- Yeah, you’re right, but still…sigh. I can dream.
While it may be feasible, a battery that snaps into the fuel tank wouldn’t supply much power for very long considering the power demands of most HO locos. I have on occasion used two lantern batteries connected in series to get my trains back around to the front of the layout during a power failure and they put quite a drain on those big batteries. I have seen demonstration layouts that run for hours on battery power but those were car batteries, often up to six to ten batteries connected in parrallel. So where do you put a battery big enough to keep the loco going for more than fifteen minutes without putting power through the track? Maybe in a car permanantly coupled to the loco? That would make the car pretty heavy meaning that the loco would have to have sufficient weight and power to pull a descent train and again, that would require a lot of battery power.
Besides the HO layout with DCC in the basement, I run G gauge in the back yard, using radio control/battery power, no electronics on the rail at all. Works like a champ. The receivers are mounted inside the diesels, I have a charging jack under the fuel tanks, also plugs in the diesel to allow running a battery car along with the train if needed. All the diesels (USA Brand) have two battery packs installed, a simple switch to change between the packs, gives me a good 6 hours of running time.
Obviously G is larger than HO, but I certainly could see the day when both receivers and a new style battery pack could come along for HO.
As for keeping track clean, since the railroad is in the backyard, I still contend with leaves, squirrel droppings, other unidentified objects, plus twigs on the rails. So I do “clean track” before each running session.
Bob
I wonder if a trick used during the construction of the Hoover Dam might bypass the problem of low battery capacity.
The locos that moved the concrete buckets from the Lomix to the dam site were modified mine locos, with on-board batteries and third rail pickup. There was no third rail in the Lomix area or at the unloading zone. All of the third rail was on the connecting section, most of it in a tunnel.
Why not try the same thing with the R/C-battery scheme. Put power on the ‘simple’ track, and let the batteries power movement through specialwork (or in places where somebody might short themselves across the rails.) AC power to the rails and an on-board charger circuit would negate polarity problems.
Not my cup of o-cha, but somebody might have fun playing with it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Don Fiehmann - I apologize if I have that spelled incorrectly - did a radio controlled stunt using a couple of F units back in the early '70s. He mounted a model airplane receiver and a rechargable battery in the ‘B’ unit and ran a hookup to the ‘A’ unit. If I remember the story correctly he used to set this outfit on a table during a ‘club’ breakfast and then activate it; everyone at the table would inevitable launch into a search for hidden wires or some kind of under-the-table magnet. He did it to point out that we shouldn’t get locked in to a status quo mentality but rather ought to be looking for alternate ways of doing things.
I have two comments on this subject: The first would be that I think this is a very good idea, but batteries, all types, are usually pretty heavy even on a small scale like HO. I suppose the O and G’s might be able to hold a large enough battery to power up the loco. The other idea would be to setup sort of a hybrid configuration where you have battery power on the loco but the track is still powered so that when the loco isn’t running and is still sitting on a live track that it has a chance to recharge too. This would still eliminate the need for DC Blocks or DCC Zones. I also agree that we shouldn’t be pigeon holed into what has always been the status-quo. Let’s think outside the box a little eh? I actually dred having to wire my layout for all that it is. Battery operated R/C controlled railroads would be just as fun if you could work out the technology.
As I posted above, there is no suppose or “might” as far as G gauge. A large number of other G gaugers are already doing it as am I. The battery packs are getting more refined and the normal G gauge diesel will hold two sets of batteries as I stated. I simply flip a toggle on the undersideof the diesel when the first set gets low and the second set goes on line. Also the receiver, which is from RCS out of Australia fits nicely inside a hood unit.
Also we have freight cars equipped with additional battery packs, that are placed behind a diesel and connected by a wire to allow the engine to draw from the car battery pack when the engine pack is down.
When you experience the freedom of radio control/battery power, with no wiring problems with track, switches, etc. you know that DCC in its present state still doesn’t match up. I use NCE on the HO and like it very much, but I still have to do all the fussiness of polarity, track switch wiring/ gapping, etc. Outdoors, I use # 6 an
We as humans on this planet are currently not smart enough “yet” to have devised the kind of stored energy you are requesting.
Our current technology is neither robust enough, long lasting enough, and small enough to do the job correctly. (Regarding HO or N scale). G scale is better, but I want a form of stored energy that will last a year without recharging. And when recharged only takes 10 seconds to complete. Where is that technology?
50 years away???
You can find something similar inside the nose cone of any ICBM. Unfortunately, it can’t be recharged once used.[}:)]
Your 10 second recharger would have to be capable of handling nuclear explosion energy levels![:O]
OTOH, there is a Science Fiction device called a ‘mass converter,’ which can (theoretically) convert ANYTHING to AC electricity at whatever voltage and frequency is desired. Empty the cat box droppings into it and it will run your house for a year, including charging the battery of your ‘run around town’ oversize golf cart. According to the information I have, it should hit the market early in the 22nd century…[:-^]
Maybe a miniature version could be developed for model locomotives. A pinch of pickup from the Dust Buster…[(-D] Holdeth not thy breath!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
LOL [:D] So until then shuddap and enjoy DCC…
The batteries are here!!!
freerails.com has an extensive forum dedicated to R/C battery powered trains. Mostly for larger scales, but there is more than enough information for those who wish to get involved…
Mike
Liquid polymer batteries can be small enough to fit in an HO B-unit and some hoods while providing several hours of run time. With the introduction of the Kato HO P42 with truck-mounted motors, we see the initial stages of open bodies where batteries and transceiver might be installed.
Demand will drive the development of improved battery power.
I believe the technology is already here to power an HO loco with a battery (recharged daily) located in the fuel tank. I also believe the industry has been experimenting with the idea for years. The only reason it is now unavailable to modelers is that the industry makes more money with the status quo.
Jerry
Jim Thorpe, PA (The Switzerland of America)
Today you can buy a Lithium C-cell that boasts a electrical capacity of 18 watt hours. An HO locomotive with a good can motor needs about 0.1 amp at maybe 8 volts, or 0.8 watts. In principle that battery would run a single locomotive for 22.5 hours. That’s ideal, no losses converting battery voltage to motor voltage. Conversion efficiency for that kind of circuit is like 90%. Granted, a C-cell is a little big to squeeze into an HO locomotive, but it could be done. The electronics would be no more difficult to make than today’s DCC receivers.
Bringing such a product to market would be tricky. The vendor would have to offer the radio controlled locomotive with the needed R/C throttle for a price about the same as a good BLI model locomotive. Tooling costs could be substantial. As in “bet-the-company” substantial. And nobody knows if they would sell.
You don’t need anything near that large. Fiqure a max run time of 6 hr, lets face it though, the most you proubly will ever need is 4 hr and I am sure most would be happy with 2 constant but do you even need that as it could patk on charging stations.
MR or RMC ran a article on R/C powered HO locomotives back in the 60s…It can be done.
The author used a regular R/C controller.