Seems to me that someone discussed this here, a few months ago? I wonder if a G Scale message archives search would bring it up?
FAR cheaper, easier to bend (don't need a railbender).....however, depending on your specific locale, you can get some corrosion which will adversely affect track power. I have a small outdoor railroad, been on the ground over 20 years now. Everything outside the shed is aluminium. All of it....well, two turnouts given to me, hand built from NS rail aren't.... I have been all radio/battery since about two months onto this, when I gave up trying to keep the Let's Go Broke track and connectors clean. Brass is in the shed, yard, storage, roundhouse leads, that kind of stuff. Aluminium works well, everyone I know uses it. Dave
I've been using one type of radio control system for over 20 years. Started with NiCads, of which some are still in use. Started going to NiMH, which the rest are. I used to do this professionally...and won't touch a Lithium pack for any reason at all. There have been incidents...and all I tell folks is "787". I use up to 4500MAH in NiMH, can run engines for a long, long time. I had track power on LGB track when I started, gave up after two months. No track power since. Dave
Got waylaid towards the end of the last posting. I have about 1500 feet of track, never can keep track of the number of switches, but around 90. We do wayfreight ops twice a month between clock changes. Last night, not counting rug rats, I think we had 18 operators. Started cleanup and setout about 1000, cleaned up and locked the doors at 2115. Long day. Off to a club meet today...dug my Magnus K-27 out last night, charged it up, taking it to run. Hope to remember my camera. Dave
Ah, one ended up an attachment. No idea. Anyway, photos of the metal box it came in with tags. Heavy thing. At the Ice Station Zebra....approaching tunnel 1 on River Rock sub..taking on water at the tank at Malfunction Junction...the point where the main line comes in from Laurel, River Rock Sub enters, Lilac Branch splits off, and the old switchback line that was built before the Stevens Canyon Trestle went in. Intact and maintained, but lightly used. Most often for holding of helpers after the climb up the new grade on the Gorge Line Sub. Malfunction has water, but no fuel...fuel is located at Laurel Yard, and at the southern end of the Lilac Branch. Dave
How long is "a long time"? Where can I get the batteries and radio control stuff? Is this similar to what Bachmann used in their original 4-6-0? Where does the battery go?
Boy..that Bachmann stuff was really, really bad. I have a box of old chassis, both 27 and 49MC. Fluorescent lighting would cause rapid back-and-forth movement.... No...nothing like it. Batteries usually go in the tender. Caveats being if there is no or minimal tender, they go in the boiler or side tanks. My guess is I've converted a thousand in 20 years. But that's just a guess. Shays, for instance....I had done countless Shays, then one day, oh, 8 years or so ago, I decided to save the bracket under the tender shell that has to come out. No good purpose for it. I saved them. I have 70 of them, I think. Climaxes.....I've done a bunch...2100MAH NiMH in the boiler, radio and sound. All on-board. Charge jack in end beam. Doubles as an auxilliary battery jack. Calculate the run time. LGB Moguls drew .6A. Figure that with 14.4v of 4500MAH cells, and you get 8+ hours. Most of my locos, my legs give out long before I reach the end of the charge cycle. I use the engines, without recharging, during the off times for visitors and work trains, and they run fine. I have a friend, was a customer before I retired, bought all Nickle Silver Llagas track...indoors...I said why spend that money when you know what radio/battery does? He had visions of doing computer controlled track power.....and all these years later, scenery getting done, he asks me why I let him buy NS versus aluminium, when he could have converted three locomotives for the cost difference. We have snow plows, and they get used regularly....tried it that first year, the ice under the wheels made it impossible on track power. We have special ops sessions when it snows..the guys all show up and we clear it out. One year we had 30" in three days, I was up one night until 0300 keeping the main line clear. There are many places to get radio gear, many who can install it for you. I have my preference...as do all the guys here...but I won't get into brands on this forum. Dave
