OK, knowing 2/3 of 3/8 of FA about garden railroading, I have a noob question for y'all. I know there are various forms of motive power for garden railroads, but this is aimed at G scale, not any of the others (though it would be nice to sit on em and drive arnd the garden...till you got to the tunnel!). What motive power is preferred, and if its electric what sort of current requirements does a G scale loco have? I'm assuming its significantly higher than 'lil trains'. Is this power generally to the rails, or can the locos be self powered? (nice to not have to worry about 400 Amps @ 12v frying critters) How do you control your locos? I'm thinking remote control would be the go, but what method of remote control? RC aircraft / car type for self propelled units? DCC for rail powered? Can you combine the 2 (2 DCC throttles controlled by an RC unit). I'm just thinking along the lines of distance from the power source, size of the layout, the capability to run 2 trains with one RC unit (2 sticks, both configured as throttles!!) while maintaining direct control over both simultaneously (so you can speed up to catch the cat while staging with another loco).
boah...lot's of questions. let me try to answer some of them. there are to kind of motive power : - electric (nice modern locos start at $200) - live steam (nice locos are way beyond $1000) electric loco run from power applied to tracks. however, it is possible do modify the locos to run from batteries. current draw depends on the size and numbers of motors a loco has. for example an aristo sd45 (or dash-9) will draw from 2 to 4 amps as these large locos have four motors. a power supply should be able to deliver 10 amps at 24 volts thus giving 240 VA. i run my trains by using an aristo craft train engineer. this is a handheld wireless throttle. there are other wireless systems available. check out www.mylargescale.com hundreds of crazy guys (including me) just waiting to answer your questions
OK, if the rails are powered, whats the chance of a short when its raining? Sorta like dropping your coffee cup on your HO layout.... Then again, who runs their train in the rain? The reason I ask these questions, really, is because I'm thinking along the lines of operating using airplace RC equipment. You get 1000 yards range, and multiple LIVE functions on one unit (eg, can run 4 trains at once varying speeds independently at the same time if your dextrous with the sticks). Could you use a Rheostat type controller for that sort of current, and would that be cheaper than buying a wireless handheld (I already have 4 sets of RC equipment from my earlier, rich, days). Will the wireless handheld permit controlling more than 1 unit concurrently? Basically, I want a 'large scale DCC' cheap
It's against FCC laws for railroaders to use model airplane frequencies to power their trains. Most outdoor model railroaders seem to think 10 amp power packs are suitable for their railroads. I've never heard anyone getting "juiced" from operating their trains in the rain/snow. Keeping the rails clean is the biggest headache from operating with track power. Many outdoor largescale railroaders are turning to radio control battery operated trains. Each system has its own set of pros & cons. I use both types on my outdoor railroad. Like it was already suggested, check out wwwmylargescale.com for additional help.l
It's Stuart, isn't it? Phil in Adelaide here. Probably the best R/C system made for LS trains in the world is made by Tony Walsham in Melbourne, RCS R/C systems. Tony is in our ozLSgroup and is a fount of info on all aspects of train R/C and not just his own equipment. Regarding using aircraft R/C frequencies, that is NOT illegal here in Oz although as FRed says it is a no-no in USA. I run my live-steamer Bantam on air R/C, as do dozens of others. Outdoor track-power, 18volts minimum, preferably 24v. and 10 amps if you want to plan for future expansion. The wave of the future is battery and R/C though, you only have to sweep the tracks, not polish them. In the 8 years I've had the Toenail Ridge operational I've tried everything and have now gone strictly battery R/C, haven't had track power hooked up for the last 3 years. Post this question on our ozLSgroup list and get drowned in the advice you get Phil
wow...lots of aussies here in large scale land. OK, why is it against FCC regs to use aircraft RC for trains? Surely people are running RC cars and boats for hours at a time, along with planes, so I dont see the reasoning behind that reg....besides, you hafta get caught Whats the battery life like on one of these locos, and whats one of those batteries cost? G scale would almost be large enough to carry 2 motorcycle batteries I guess, but they arent big on sustained amperage and dont like to be flattened often (unlike deep cycle batteries). What batteries do you guys use, where do you get em from, and what do they cost? As to mylargscale.com, I cant find anything in there...the layout is rather poor for finding out new stuff. Phil, where do I find the ozLSgroup?
As mentioned above, the FCC rules don't apply here in Oz. the ozLSgroup is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ozLSgroup/ Have a look and give some thought to joining up. Because I want to keep spammers out I won't approve membership on just a nickname, I need a proper name and aprrox. location
