1 loco Battery RC - RCS
Converting 3 more to Battery DCC with Airwire sloooowwly.
Others are track power only
Track (brass) powered, DC from a pair of 15a Bridgewerks controllers
I started in 2002 with DC powered by the 27mhz Aristo 10 amp unit. I added the 55475 to control switches.
In 2010 I added DCC to my layout but added a DPDT switch to select DC or DCC both indoors and outside. Then in 2017 I upgraded to the latest Zimo system, 12 amps to my layouts.
Since my switches have always worked on the Aristo and were hard wires, I never changed them to DCC, just my track is DC and DCC.
One interesting note is I placed a 55475 in my celler layout and found that track power is OK with these with DCC, plus if there is 6 volts DC on the track the DC operation will work also when I use DC to run trains.
Battery Power and RC with RailPro
Battery/RC, Airwire, Phoenix sound
I use DCC track Power with the Piko Central Station.
The only difference in the photo above is I use the Massoth Dimax Navigator as the controller.
Battery Power, 14.8 volt Lithium Ion, R/C with Revolution transmitters & receivers…
96% Diesel Power (run in 2 unit sets), 4% steam power.
4 diesels with battery & RCS and 4 diesels with battery & Rail Pro
Hard soldered 332 brass rail in 15’ to 20’ sections with split jaws connecting them. Crest power supply and a few Aristo TE’s all picking up power from the track.
I run wirelessly, old smartphone to raspberry pi to NCE dcc to stainless track.
Steve
John Lenheiser said:
I’d like to see one of those surveys set up on this forum so we could see how we run our trains, be it, standard rail power, DCC, or battery power.
John, If your intention is to use the information to make decisions, more questions are needed. I find the answers are purely anecdotal without knowing other factors such as type and amount of track, Size of locos and typical consist, indoor or outdoor and climate, raised or on ground etc.
I see some folks who responded felt the need to offer additional info.
FYI: I’m laying ~500 of brass track to run GP and SD USAT and ARISTO locos (double headed) 18.5v battery in each with Railpro wireless pulling 20-30 cars, Outdoors in RI (zone 5a), Mostly ground level.
-Dan
Dan Gilchrist said:
I see some folks who responded felt the need to offer additional info.
I only added “on aluminum rails” assuming everyone knows aluminum is less costlier then other alloys and never needs to be cleaned when using batteries.
Adam
Dan Gilchrist said:
John Lenheiser said:
I’d like to see one of those surveys set up on this forum so we could see how we run our trains, be it, standard rail power, DCC, or battery power.
John, If your intention is to use the information to make decisions, more questions are needed. I find the answers are purely anecdotal without knowing other factors such as type and amount of track, Size of locos and typical consist, indoor or outdoor and climate, raised or on ground etc.
I see some folks who responded felt the need to offer additional info.
FYI: I’m laying ~500 of brass track to run GP and SD USAT and ARISTO locos (double headed) 18.5v battery in each with Railpro wireless pulling 20-30 cars, Outdoors in RI (zone 5a), Mostly ground level.
-Dan
My question was posted for a general survey like some forums offer and not knowing if this forum offers such an option to do this. I totally understand each persons way of running trains and your answers will not weight my decision on which way I go to run my trains, I was just looking for percentages of each way that is done, Standard Track Power, DCC Powered, Battery Powered, or Other. Thus you would get a percentage of each and show somewhat which way the hobby is moving toward. If this forum doesn’t offer this software then maybe it could be added and that’s if the administrator wants to offer it, it’s just a way to consolidate information to the people on this forum.
trainman
Battery & R/C using old-school Rail Boss Plus and Phoenix sound, Several self contained locos plus a trail car for multiple locos. Might move on some day; probably to Airwire or Railpro.
Current set up:
ESU V5 Lol sound decoder with Martin Sant’s Protothrottle receiver and a Protothrottle. Battery.
Older setup getting replaced with above:
Old RCS elite TX and Rx, battery and sierra sound.
There are so many complicated, often expensive methods of controlling your trains these days, that going back in time, might just be the answer to a lot of our problems.
With this in mind, and having an old Aristo FA1 unit in hand; I’m taking the motors out of the trucks, attaching a three foot cord to the front coupler, and while walking along beside the tracks, getting exercise, I’ll pull it along with me.
Simple…good for my health, and rather inexpensive. I have an old whistle I can blow for sound, and an old flashlight for light at night.
I hope this is not too humorous, to be posted in this thread…if for some reason anyone is offended; I offer my sincere apologies.
Fred Mills
Battery using Airwire RC and Phoenix Sound
Rooster said:
Hard soldered 332 brass rail in 15’ to 20’ sections with split jaws connecting them. Crest power supply and a few Aristo TE’s all picking up power from the track.
Make up your mind: are you a rooster or a dinosaur?
I run on batteries, but I prefer to call it “on-board power” because that sounds more grown-up.
Battery powered using (new school) Railboss 4 system in 5 of my locos. Some older locos still use Bridgewerks remote track power.
Doc
4 locos with battery RCS and now 4 battery with RailPro