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Video: Inside the May 2015 Model Railroader
Cannot wait!
Always look forward to articles by Lance Mindheim!
May issue sounds like a great, Neal. April issue on Ed Swain’s PRR Middle division was very much appreciated as I model PRR. Many thanks to Lou Sassi who is a fine writer.
I just read the May Model Railroader article on running trains on battery power and radio control. Very exciting! A great article and one I hope that vendors take note. After having been away from the hobby for 10 to 15 years due to the pain of having to constantly clean tracks and deal with other electrical annoyances, I recently renewed my MR subscription to fully expecting that battery power would have advanced in the hobby. I was disappointed to discover it had not, but this article gives me great hope that the hobby is moving in this direction. The amount of time I spent keeping things electrically functioning would have been much more enjoyably spent on layout expansion/remodeling, operations and model building. The fact that you have to intermittently recharge a battery is not so much unlike the need for the prototype to refuel. It would add a great deal of interest to an operating session. For now, I’m planning to move into garden railroading where there are a few more options for battery power and also live steam. Just a personal opinion but continuing to develop and advance new rail-powered technologies in this day and age of increasingly miniaturized electronics and compact, long-life rechargeable batteries seems a bit analogous to developing an electronic sundial capable of adjusting for daylight savings time, i.e., thoroughly modernized but obsolete technology. My encouragement and support to any “Dead Rail Society” members and to any vendor planning to move in the direction of ready-to-run out of the box battery/radio controlled products. I will definitely be a customer!
Jerome has a good point about the smaller scales just starting to discover the fun using battery radio control. I have been installing “G” scale battery systems for 20 years. I see a clash of opinions coming, as in G scale we use a system designed to be rugged and not using DCC. I hope to create a discussion to present to new users on your options. As I represent a vendor your feedback is very important. We know one size does not fit all locos but you deserve a complete turnkey system to meet your expectations. We can provide this now in large scale and “O” scale.
Two issues to resolve in the smaller scales is safe battery usage and compatible wiring inside the loco.
- I doubt you will see the major manufacturer’s selling separate batteries to be installed at a later time. The liability is enormous. So why can installers sell the batteries? Because a qualified installer works directly with the customer to assure safe and good operation. They provide the battery and a matching charger and a 12 month warranty.
- DCC wiring does offer the means for easy access to all the wiring. Bachmann and Aristo Craft have provided a 1st generation large scale socket to reduce complex wiring. Now we need to reduce the size of these throttles for the smaller scales. Remember our throttles include the radio gear not adding a separate radio board.
Let’s keep the conversation going for all of us.
Well this is interesting! I am the Project Manager for a Model Railroad relocation.
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How do you move a museum quality model railroad that took some one 45-50 years to build? That is what I got myself involved with.
Will advise how it is done as we are producing a video of the entire process. The layout is some 150 feet long, convoluted in shape, in the basement of a home, beams in the wall to secure and support a free standing layout. Owned by a retired lawyer, modeller and true artist. The builder has one many awards from NMRA and other groups. Now it is to be relocated at the brand new McMaster University Medical Arts Building in Downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Will become the center piece of an indoor garden, overlooked by medical staff from their teleconferencing center one floor above, Sound interesting, let me know if you are interested in the video, and pictures.
Sounds cool