Resistance is Futile…
I can’t disagree with Tony. My track is still wired, but hasn’t seen an electron in over a year.
Shawn if your like me I have set up two locos for both batt/track and have two more to do. I will always have track power at my house for the sole reason I run for 5 to 7 hours or more at times and have not found a batt that will let me do that yet. If I am doing ops on my railroad then I will run batt other then that its track power. The cookies on the dark side arn’t that good anyway. 
Jon Radder said:I take this back. Yesterday's plow extra ran out of 'fuel' a on West Escape` bridge while returning from duty. With no spare charged battery on-hand it was simply a matter of flipping the track/battery switches and disconnecting the trail car from the train-line. I was then able to run the train inside without having to wait for a battery to charge.
I can't disagree with Tony. My track is still wired, but hasn't seen an electron in over a year.
Geoff George said:I plan on still running track power most of the times. I never really had issues with track power and it takes a few mintes to clean the track. Im like you I like to just let the trains run. My track power has the train engineer where the battery is only using the critter control. The battery is mainly for when I run on track that does not have electric, when the rails are wet and snow covered, and as a backup if I ever run into a problem with the track power.
Shawn if your like me I have set up two locos for both batt/track and have two more to do. I will always have track power at my house for the sole reason I run for 5 to 7 hours or more at times and have not found a batt that will let me do that yet. If I am doing ops on my railroad then I will run batt other then that its track power. The cookies on the dark side arn't that good anyway. :)
Jon Radder said:Jon, If you wired the battery charge jack the way I recommend, you would simply plug in an extra set of batteries carried in a trail car and keep on plowing. ;)
SNIP. I take this back. Yesterday's plow extra ran out of 'fuel' a on West Escape` bridge while returning from duty. With no spare charged battery on-hand it was simply a matter of flipping the track/battery switches and disconnecting the trail car from the train-line. I was then able to run the train inside without having to wait for a battery to charge.
Geoff George said:Simple solution for you Geoff. The battery charge jack circuit I use doubles as an external port for allowing extra batteries in a trail car to be switched into the loco. This will extend run times indefinitely.
Shawn if your like me I have set up two locos for both batt/track and have two more to do. I will always have track power at my house for the sole reason I run for 5 to 7 hours or more at times and have not found a batt that will let me do that yet. If I am doing ops on my railroad then I will run batt other then that its track power. The cookies on the dark side arn't that good anyway. :)
I finalley got all the wiring hooked up and everything tested. The good news is I didnt blow anything up. Everything worked the first time aroud. For the battery car I made a flat car from scratch. This going to house the battery, critter control and charging switch. Its also going to serve as a log car. Im still working on the details for the flat. Im going to hide the critter control and switch in a tool box with a cover that will be located up front. The charging plug will be hide under the trucks. I also have a switch under the engine so I can go from track power to battery power.
(http://i53.tinypic.com/vmtd0o.jpg)
(http://i51.tinypic.com/rtj713.jpg)
Nice looking loco and flat car Shawn. If it were mine, I’d snip off that huge Tamyia battery connector and use a JST or other smaller connector. Those Tamyia connectors are intended for use with R/C cars and airplanes that draw huge amounts of current compared to our little locos.
Although you could connect the wires directly to the Simple Critter Control, I always like to see a connector in between to allow safe disconnects with no sparks!
Shawn, I use a 2 pin deans connector, they are slim and look good too.
Thanks guys. That large connector is for the battery charger. I made a spot under the flat car it tucks into. Then when I need to charge I just pull it out. For the battery to train I used one of those small two pin deals.
Nice work. I love the battery pack hidden under the deck idea. Nice low center-of-gravity too!
Del Tapparo said:Amazing that they still use that style connector. However very smart as well..... if it works stick with it! The automotive industry just cannot figure this out or maybe doesn't want too. I bought my first RC car 25+ yrs ago. Still have all of them and the batteries as well...hehe ;)
Those Tamyia connectors are intended for use with R/C cars and airplanes that draw huge amounts of current compared to our little locos.
Jon Radder said:Me too Jon..... Well thought engineering !
Nice work. I love the battery pack hidden under the deck idea. Nice low center-of-gravity too!
Those two way “Tamiya” connectors are actually the same design as those used in my 1976 Ford door window electrics. The Ford ones just have many more connections.
They are robust and provide a very reliable connection even if they are gargantuan by our standards.
TonyWalsham said:Those are the connectors that came with the charger for the Li-ion batteries. I figured they put that size on for a reason so why mess with it. I would rather play it safe and not blow my hand off LOL. The only time it is visible is when charging. I like robust especially sice I tend to break things easly.
Those two way "Tamiya" connectors are actually the same design as those used in my 1976 Ford door window electrics. The Ford ones just have many more connections. They are robust and provide a very reliable connection even if they are gargantuan by our standards.