Large Scale Central

Pulling the plug

Electronics Power and Sound
#1

With the sale of my last Trackside TE I am finally pulling the plug on track power at the C.V.S.Ry.

I don’t think I’ve used track power to do much more than move a train indoors around the yard in over two years. Even that is very difficult now that I’ve stopped maintaining the shine on the brass track indoors.

I still have a number of locos that are track power only. None of them have been run in a very long time either. This winter I’ll set a few of them up to run from my R/C Power & Sound trail car.

I’m undecided as what what to do with my first engine; a USA GP9. It would be simple to set it up for the trail car, but it already has a Phoenix Big Sound '97 in it so the sound in the trail car would be redundant. I’m not really in need of a self-contained 1:29 loco, so dedicating a receiver and ESC to the Geep wouldn’t be a good use of limited resources. Maybe I should pull the '97 board and have it reprogrammed for steam and set my Connie up as a self-contained R/C loco. Guess that means I should swap the gear while I have it open too.

Anyone else said farewell to track power this year?

#2

Coming real close to it Jon.

We only ran track power once this year, for the club meet, and that was only because of the guest locomotives.

Slowly converting to an all battery powered roster, doing this will sure make a person look closely at the number of locomotives “ya’ just gotta have”. Six under battery/RC and about 4 more to do in the future, ouch!

#3

Twenty years of being the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
It warms the cockles o’ me heart, boys.

TOC

#4

For me it has been just over 10 years since I went to all battery power. Have never regretted it. There are good and bad points for any power/control source, but for me, and I emphasize the ME, it was the right decision to make.

Ed

#5

Whatever year the first Aristo 27Mh onboard receiver came out…two years before that, was the last track power I used…I am not good on dates. I never looked back…of course, like many others, I also “Played” with the original B’mann R/C battery train sets…

…been having great fun ever since…

#6

Curmudgeon mcneely said:

Twenty years of being the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
It warms the cockles o’ me heart, boys.

TOC

Dave - You are probably the one who most influenced my decision. I was nearly ready to plunk down a wad of cash on a DCC system and you and a few others convinced me not to. I was quite satisfied with my early trail car experiments using Aristo’s battery ready locos, a trackside TE RX and a drill battery in a trail car. This lead to a more functional (RailBoss) system in a trail car with sound that I now have two of; one for 1:29 and one for 1:20. My first self-contained conversion of a Porter led to another in a reconditioned Shay.

Funds from the sale of my last TE will finance another Rx/ESC. Trying to decide on what loco to make self contained next. My underused Connie is looking like the leading contender.

#7

Im getting close Jon. I think once we move my next layout will be battery or live steam. The only time track power gets used is when my 4 year old wantes to run electric train or during clb meets. My goal is to get my indy and forney switched over to battery, then the plug will be pulled…

#8

My first battery set up was an old DeWalt 18 V drill battery in an open gon with an Aristo 75 mhz TE plugged into an Aristo SD-45. I haven’t looked back, since.

#9

Steve Featherkile said:

My first battery set up was an old DeWalt 18 V drill battery in an open gon with an Aristo 75 mhz TE plugged into an Aristo SD-45. I haven’t looked back, since.

Somthin’ like this huh? Exactly how I started.

(http://photo.cvsry.com/RCX-6400.jpg)

#10

Upgraded to a Ryobi 18V batt with the base from a Ryobi flashlight…

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/DeepCutTunnel-88-800.JPG)

Added a 1:20.3 gon a few years later…

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post/45T_BatConv_02-800.JPG)

Replaced both Gons with trail cars including sound. 1:29…

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/Post2/CheesySoundV3-09.jpg)

And 1:20.3. I don’t seem to have any photos of this one with the roof off…

(http://lsc.cvsry.com/WoodBoxcar/Up-Scale_87.JPG)

#11

Outside is all un-powered track like the big boys. Dave and Fred have been leading me astray since 1996. Inside, we play with some toy trains and track power. But I’ve been doing that since 1953. The TE 27 did change it all in 1996. Love radio control, track or battery power.

#12

I started in this hobby in 1985 and built a small layout (100 feet) in 1986. Track power using an LGB Jumbo Pack. The annoyance of constantly cleaning track, checking rail joiners for proper conductivity AND wiring reverse loops, I just lost interest. Came back to the hobby in 2006 and decided RC and battery was the way to go. Been using Airwire/battery since then and will never go back to track power.

#13

That is why when I had the chance I sold off all my brass and went stainless, before I built my first layout. Best decision I made.

#14

Jon Radder said:

Steve Featherkile said:

My first battery set up was an old DeWalt 18 V drill battery in an open gon with an Aristo 75 mhz TE plugged into an Aristo SD-45. I haven’t looked back, since.

Somthin’ like this huh? Exactly how I started.

(http://photo.cvsry.com/RCX-6400.jpg)

That looks a lot like it, except that I just had the battery in the gon. Ran some wires to the pig tail on the SD-45. Later on, I had a set up like that, after I decided that battery power was here to stay. The Drill battery was soon replaced by some sub-C batteries, all in a box car. I even tried the Ryobi, but couldn’t make that work to my satisfaction.

#15

Nico Corbo said:

That is why when I had the chance I sold off all my brass and went stainless, before I built my first layout. Best decision I made.

I don’t disagree with that Nico - My layout is 100% stainless outdoors and about 30% stainless indoors. I never had any real problems with track power; just found battery to be much smoother and better control.

#16

I use my stainless on the flats, and brass for sidings. Aluminum I use for grades, because as it oxidizes, it gains some “tooth.” Haven’t had any problem with electrolysis.

#17

I started with Batt from the beginning (only 3 years ago) because I hated cleaning track on my HO track. I definitely wasn’t going to mess with it in the great outdoors!!

#18

A little less than two years since I started this thread - Today I cut the cord.

One of the track sections that needed to come up for re-leveling was the polarity change for my wye tail. Rather than fight to get the wires connected again for no real reason, I yanked the wires and dug out the power switch box. The concrete base for the electrical box was dated 2006. It functioned as designed for about 4 years, then lay dormant for another 4. Now it’s gone.

With this step I have insured that track power will never return to the C.V.S.Ry.

#19

#20

Gee, um, ah, congratulations?

I am cheap, so I will stay with track power for the time being.