Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Stacy Krausmann said:
David Maynard said:
Hans, you funny
Funny?
or
Sarcastic?
Generally referred to as: acerbic wit. With tongue very firmly in cheek.
Now back to the regularly scheduled program.
Wit?
Perhaps you need to learn that wit should not be used as a means to demean others. Being funny is one thing, being sarcastic is an altogether different matter.
Maybe you need to pluck that tongue from your cheek.
Stacy,
Funny: Causing laughter or amusement; humorous:
Wit: A natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour:
I rest my case. 
Back to the garden to install Styrofoam.
Fred Mills, BSc, BS, SD said:
ā¦erā¦shouldnāt that beā¦āHans, you are funnyāā¦?
Fred, if I was writing an article, yes that would be the proper way of saying it. But in conversation I donāt talks that way. Maybe its cause I spent too many years hearin and speakin Ebonics. Ya see, I worked in a school distrik where Ebonics was the predominant language. Ya just gotta love public schools. 
Stacy, I have learned to laugh at myself over the years. It has saved me many hours of stress, and frustration. Just saying.
I believe it is Cordless Renovations is experimenting with a solar charging car to accompany their battery line. I also believe there was another person/vendor doing the same. Last I looked (some time ago) there was insufficient energy density in the solar cells to make it practical. Great if you had two or three parked on a sidings somewhere to allow the attached battery car to charge, but internal/onboard not so much.
I will not address the proposal of perpetual motion.
Bob C.
You can just run off solar power itself, no batteries needed, if you have sun
Jeeze, did you notice the size of the solar panel wired to the track?
Greg
umm, just 'cause they used a big one in that video doesnāt mean there isnāt smaller ones that would work,
Stacey is planning on an intermodial set I believe, 3 or 4 containers with solar roofs could probably power a 2 motor train easily
and it can be prototypical
Well, the UK is not noted as being the sunniest place on earth, but many homes and structures do have solar panels on their roofs and energy savings are made it is said. Cloudy days will still give a small yield apparently.
All this talk about solar, has anyone considered nuclear, or maybe a miniature cold fusion reactor?
A few yeas back Harbor Freight had a 45 watt solar power kit. The panels were rather large. Now 45 watts would easily run my railroad, but then I am not having 3 dash whatevers pull a few dozen intermodeals around a few acres of land neither.
With nuclear, iād be worried about the plastic melting with the heat transfer and what do you do with the waste?
Reminds me I have to go fix my hyperdrive on my spaceship
Several years ago, at the South East Garden Railroad Show (before they folded up their tent), the club I belong to went up and made our presence known. One of our members did a display/workshop/demo using one of the Harbor Freight units. He was able to run the then new Bachmann Thomas all day on it. I have honestly considered using good ole fashion deep cycle batteries and a couple of solar panels to power the railroad. Simple, and not too expensive.
Bob C.
Some of my early outdoor experiments were powered with a deep cycle 12V battery driving an Aristo trackside Train Engineer. It worked OK until the battery voltage started to fall off. The TE doesnāt run well on anything less than about 12.5V.
If I were going to try this Iād use three 6V golf cart batteries. Solar charging is very feasible if you have the sunlight.
Guys, it takes a large solar panel to even generate an amp. A 2 motor loco will use a couple of amps.
Go ahead and try it with a loco bigger than an LGB Stainz and post your results.
Also, go to the cordless renovations siteā¦ there is a battery under one of the solar panelsā¦ I talked to Rick about one panel would be insufficient to recharge the battery in any reasonable time, he agreed and told me it took 3 cars with panels to do any kind of recharge.
It can work, but if you want to run the train entirely from solar, it will take more square inches of panel than you realize.
Instead of arguing further, prove it to me by making one and posting a video.
Greg
I agree with Greg.
Until there are solar panels available that can generate 18-20 volts at 3-5 amps the size of a cab roof of a Large Scale steam loco, solar charging/power is nothing but a pipe dream for self contained on board power. Although there is no doubt it will happen eventually.
Where will they come from?
Quad copters for the current, if not the voltage.
Jon Radder said:
Some of my early outdoor experiments were powered with a deep cycle 12V battery driving an Aristo trackside Train Engineer. It worked OK until the battery voltage started to fall off. The TE doesnāt run well on anything less than about 12.5V.
If I were going to try this Iād use three 6V golf cart batteries in series for 18V. Solar charging of a battery bank is very feasible if you have the sunlight.
EDIT For Greg: Iām talking about trickle charging a deep cycle battery with a stationary solar panel. RV and Boat guys do it all the time. Yes; the panel(s) are much larger than could be accommodate attached to a train in our scales.
Greg, I am not "arguingā. I am enjoying the whimsy of the discussion. The Harbor Freight solar panel kit was huge. And it only āgeneratedā 45 watts. I donāt know how long of a charge for how long of a supply. It was something I wouldnāt do, so I didnāt read and remember the specs. As for using solar to trickle charge a car battery, that is feasible, and is being done. But thatās just a trickle charge to keep a charged battery charged, not charging a drained battery.
āLight bulb.ā
Jon:
Regarding battery and solar power, checkout the Garden Railways from April 2011. There was an article āBuild a solar-powered garden railroadā by Mark A. Mamros doing just that.
http://trc.trains.com/Train%20Magazine%20Index.aspx?view=ViewIssue&issueId=6772
