We always can learn from studying other scales. Lets look at G-scale.
Some G-scale trains are run via rechargeable battery, meaning, no power from the track. RC cars and planes operate this way. Isn’t it possible for O scale trains to run remotely with battery power? This would do several things:
virtually no more track cleaning
you could choose whether or not to run on 2 or 3-rail track; an increasingly important option
you could actually weather branchline rails a rust color without worrying about electrical pickup problems
no need for wiring; even command control has wiring for power districts
no more worries about track joiners, drop lines, voltage drop
I’m sure it’s possible, but you’d need pretty darn strong batteries to power a layout.[:D] In garden railroading, all you need to power are the trains; the accessories are usually static.
K-Line has a remote-controlled, battery operated O gauge set priced at $40. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow their lead. It comes with a diesel locomotive, two cars and a caboose.
Room inside shells. G is larger and thus more room for bigger batteries or a battery pack. Batteries and their length of power have always been the problem. In vehicles, straight electric ones are heavy and have to be recharged every 30 miles or so [thus the hybrid came out and the straight electric vehicles are basicly gone]. Fishing boats and their trolling motors [now they carry 3 trolling motor batteries and 36 volts].
Some R/C cars don’t look much bigger than trains. Might be a problem with an 0-4-0. Hopefully, battery technology would advance. Actually, think it has, we just ain’t caught up yet.
If you ran energized overhead catenary on an outside layout (another idea stolen from G scale) you could get all the benifits of battery powered trains as mentioned above, given of course the rails were not corroded enough as to prevent a proper ground. Stainless steel track and frequent use would prevent this problem. Of course you would be limited to electric traction only, but to have nothing but GG1’s, E33’s, and “jets” on a layout isn’t the worst idea…
OK, I went web surfing and discovered something called “mini-R/C”, as small as 1/43 and in the case below, S scale or 1/64, showing that R/C can be put into small stuff. Of course that doesn’t probably include smoke units, sounds, speed control, etc.
Interesting, tho
G scale battery powered trains usually carry their battery inside a large, empty car, like a boxcar directly behind the engine. Allows you to put the largest battery possible in, while reserving the tender (or the shell of a diesel) for the electronics .
I have some experience with R/C cars (I own about a half dozen cars & trucks).
The batteries used to power the motor in an electric 1/10 scale R/C car are all the size of standard C cells, and there are 6 or more batteries in a pack. Nominal voltag for a standard pack is 7.2 volts (6 x 1.2 V per cell). New Nickel - Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries have 3000 mAh capacities (they can put out 3 amps for 1 hour, or 30 amps for 1/10 hour, or 0.3 amps for 10 hours, etc.)
The packs are about the length of a single scale O gauge car. How long a pack would last is dependent upon current draw in the application. Most 1/10 scale R/C cars I own, using 1700 mAh batteries, get about 10 minutes of run time. The motors in these things are not that much bigger than the motors in O gauge trains.
The mini R/C cars (we have about 4 of these) are tiny & don’t get any more run time. The batteries wouldn’t run a 1/10 car for more than a minute or so.
I don’t know how long people get out of the batteries in a G scale train, but they do have a lot more room for battery storage than an O gauge train has.
