I built this Class A Climax over 15 years ago. It has never run well on track power. However, now with this latest conversion to dead rail using the Poor Man’s Throttle (PMT) it run smoothly, especially at slow speeds.
Nice. Smooth running, especially at slow speeds, is what sold me on battery. My first conversion was an RS-3 using a drill battery and an Aristo Train Engineer track side unit in a trail car. That RS-3 ran so smooth it convinced me to convert a few more. Eventually that trail car went away in favor of on-board LiIons. When the trail car resurfaced it had on-board sound and a more advanced control system.
Yeah, I should have clarified that. I could never get this loco to run smoothly at low prototypical speeds on track power. I had to really juice it to keep it from stalling and stuttering. But now with battery power I can run it as slow as I want. I love it!
I really applaud your persuing this, figuring it out, and proving its utility. Nice work.