It must be time to take a poll.
My layout is currently rc/battery only. I’m considering wiring it. Why? In my club I’m the only one who is battery/rc and I’m p;anning an open house in the spring.
I’m in the process of digging the trench to put in power and for lighting for the buildings. What do you think?
Hooray for you!!! There’s still of alot of us that run track power because we can’t afford batteries let a lone remote control.
Doug,
I use primarily battery - r/c, however, I do have areas where the track is powered. As time has past more and more guys have obtained at least one battery powered engine and for the last 2 or 3 operating sessions the only track powered used has been in the basement. We have two blocks or zones for switching in the basement and they are absolutely isolated from each other by about 2 feet of unpowerd track. Of course, a battery powered engine can proceed right past these dead track areas. Wyes, reverse loops and turntables are uninhibited by track that has no power.
I don’t have any pwr to the tracks, can’t afford a pack to power it and do not have a need to- no one close but Ralph (sorry Bud!), I do batteries, it’s been cost effective for me, but that is me.
cale
Doug,
I wouldn’t wire it for just a club meet.
Let them see the advantages of Batt/RC.
Doug.
It would be a good idea to do what you plan.
If successful you will please many of your club members.
If not successful we can all say we told you so.
Perhaps emulating Tom, by trying to convert your club, will be the simplest way in the end.
You could just hard solder all the rail together and run MUed diesels for hours pulling a scale 1/4 mile train. Or you can stop to charge. Wait why not pull a battery train…now that’s the answer;)
Uh OH battery/trackpower debate AGAIN!! I have both, use what I want when I want. Have two complete TE setups, and Airwire QSI/Gwire for either track power or battery RC. Cover all the bases, and run what ya wants whenever ya wants!!! Regal
Oh and a MRC transformer too!!!
C. Nelson said:
I don't have any pwr to the tracks, can't afford a pack to power it and do not have a need to- no one close but Ralph (sorry Bud!), I do batteries, it's been cost effective for me, but that is me.cale
That’s OK, Cale.
You can always bring your trains over here.
I have no bias against the “Battery Mafia”.
I run an equal opportunity railroad
Ralph
Ralph Berg said:Me too! I'm not biased one way or the other. ;)
I run an equal opportunity railroad :) Ralph
Jerry,
I have an MRC Trainpower 6200 that I may power the tracks with! How much track might it power?
I would personally wire for track power. It does no harm. I run track power because enjoy just letting the trains run on and off all day long. If I had battery I would have to change or recharge every 2 hours or so. Not for me. Plus for me to convert 4 engines to battery would cost more than a power pack and throttle. Plus im a spur of the moment type. I never plan on when I run trains’ I just run whenever. With battery I would have to make sure the batteries are charged always. Im not good at remembering things like that LOL. Of course I hope to convert one engine to battery that way I dont have to worry about iced up tracks in winter.
Personally I’m thinking 3 phase with catenary on section of my NE Corridor
Doug Arnold said:I have an MRC 6200 that I was using to power 120 feet. It worked OK with one engine. I bought a much larger power supply and am now using the 6200 to power the yard. Ralph
Jerry, I have an MRC Trainpower 6200 that I may power the tracks with! How much track might it power?
Thanks Ralph. I was thinking I would need to block wire and I’m right. Besides it would make the club members work harder remembering to turn blocks on and off. Then I’ll be sure to mention that I don’t have to do that!=)
I run track and battery power on my main layout. I think its a good idea to have both especially when you have the buds over. There are a few battery only layouts in my club it turns into a geek fest. 
-Brian
I run track power and have one batt loco. I love the track because anyone can come over and run at my place. Also at Christmas time I will run my trains for 5 to 7 hours non stop. I would have trouble doing that with just Batt power.
You 6200 should work fine. I have two of them as my back ups if my power Gs go down. I have had very good luck with them even running my big 2-8-8-2 and my sd-70.
Doug, if you power your track, try laying conduit in the ground, then you can pull wires and use thinner, cheaper wire, I use 10 gauge so I won’t run out of power, but I run long trains and up to 6 locos per consist.
10 gauge solid wire is very cheap as opposed to the heavy jacketed landscape wire which is 12 gauge if you are lucky…
I like track power for several reasons, but I do not want battery cars, and I like running for hours, so batteries would be a pain for me…
I had a 6200, but it won’t handle lots of locos or high speeds, but for that cool shay you have it will be fine.
Regards, Greg
Doug,
I run track power and at one time considered a single R/C locomotive to run at a neighbouring battery only railroad circuit. I decided the cost was too high for a single locomotive. My ‘refusal’ to not supply a ‘battery only’ locomotive resulted in me not receiving further invitations from the battery-converted owner of the railroad. Similarly, members who use track power only, may decide to not use your railroad, on club days, as the cost to them may outweigh the advantages of an R/C locomotive.
That said, I would only apply basic power circuits only to your track. My railroad has numerous relays and hundreds of metres of wiring to enable operation. The effort involved in block control, etc, is not worth it for the use that you would subject your road. This would necessitate single use operation only per loop. Of cause battery users could still intermingle with the track power operators, assuming correct wiring protocol used in converting their equipment.
This is not a track power/battery issue and I applaud you for taking the effort to investigate the provision of track power for those who have not yet been 'converted'.