@New Haven Joe posted:Another advantage of having a few battery engines is that they can be used to pull track cleaning cars. I usually have trouble getting a track cleaning train to run when the layout has been idle for a month or two.
NH Joe
Very good point.
I think it's a terrible idea to put everything under battery power just because it might be possible to operate it powered by a battery! Why then don't we put all the AC powered equipment under Lionel Transformers?
I read the Forum in the "all topics" view, so I'll find the posts no matter where they end up. However... If OGR does create a new sub-forum, I would prefer that the posts there ONLY deal with the battery selection / installation / charging aspect of BPRC (which itself is significant.)
IMO, posts discussing control systems which might be used in a BPRC installation, such as Blunami, Airwire, and RailPro belong in the "LionChief and Other R/C Systems" subforum. With the addition of a buck converter / regulator, these systems can easily be used with track power. My $.02, respectfully.
So when those perennial topics like “are O-gauge & O-scale model railroading dying out ?”, the answer can be “no, it is just evolving into Dead Rail - BPRC”.
I am still building my 3-Rail layout with Ross sectional track. With carpet running as my only option over the last 27 years, it made no sense to invest in TMCC or DCS. I plan to run in conventional mode with the MTH remote commander.
However, if I ever get any DR-BPRC locomotives, I will probably run them on my Ross 3-Rail track and preserve the ability to also run my 3-Rail engines with my Z-4000 transformer.
Most prototype RRs had their steam to diesel locomotive transition period from the 1930s through the 1950s. Some RRs also had electric locomotive to diesel transition. Some commuter RRs still have electric locomotives.
So O-gauge & O-Scale RR layouts may have the track power to DR-BPRC transition periods.
I am looking forward to OGR’s DR-BPRC column & developments in this aspect of our hobby.
CB&Q Bill
Are DR-BPRC locomotives & their circuit boards prone to damage from voltage spikes and/or over current in the same way as transformer powered locomotives ?
If no, then would DR-BPRC locomotives not need all of the TVS, fuses, and circuit breakers that are typically used with transformer powered locomotives ?
Thanks in advance !!!
CB&Q Bill
@CBQ_Bill posted:Are DR-BPRC locomotives & their circuit boards prone to damage from voltage spikes and/or over current in the same way as transformer powered locomotives ?
If no, then would DR-BPRC locomotives not need all of the TVS, fuses, and circuit breakers that are typically used with transformer powered locomotives ?
Thanks in advance !!!
CB&Q Bill
Bill- short answer...no.
BP-DR engines get their power from the on board battery so there would be no shorts and/or voltage surges normally associated with derailments, etc. Not to say that a battery couldn't have a spike, but far less likely.
Bob
You still have transients from stuff as simple as turning them on and off, so don't discount it totally. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:You still have transients from stuff as simple as turning them on and off, so don't discount it totally.
Agreed. But 18 v + being pushed from a ZW is ruled out so the risk is lessened. 
I don't have the tech experience or knowledge to comment on the elec side of this, but I sure am interested how this plays out. Seems like a good idea if it works.
My major issue with full battery power is managing the charging of a hundred battery powered locomotives! I think I'd need a charging assistant to keep up with the task. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:My major issue with full battery power is managing the charging of a hundred battery powered locomotives! I think I'd need a charging assistant to keep up with the task.
I have a friend who has 60 battery powered O gauge locomotives. He only charges the ones that he intends to run during an operating session. This may only be 4 to 5 engines.
He has also found that the batteries tend to hold their charges for a long time. He is usually able to run an engine that was charged 6 months ago for an hour or more without charging it first.
I seldom run an engine for more than an hour unless it is running during my club's train show. NH Joe
My experience with NHJoe's is quite similar, long term battery capacity between recharge cycles. I am working on an automatic spur track based recharging setup. All the current activity on Lithium batteries will mean that they become even better and safer.
Read through the current article in April/May O Gauge magazine regarding adding battery power to a modern can style locomotive. Now if someone figures out how to convert older Postwar Lionel engines with open frame motors from the late 40's and early 50's
Using batteries just seems backwards to me. Seems like a lot of extra steps.
@AlanOGauge posted:Now if someone figures out how to convert older Postwar Lionel engines with open frame motors from the late 40's and early 50's
Batteries or not, I've been hoping for YEARS that someone would come up with a high-quality bolt-in replacement chassis for Lionel's postwar 4- and 6-wheeled steam locos. There are TENS OF THOUSANDS of them out there, that's a large potential market. To my way of thinking, such an upgrade would include a high-quality can motor and back-drivable worm gearing in a ball-bearing gearbox.
I've seen one-off conversions like this for the Standard Gauge Bild-a-Loco chassis, using a Pittman 9000-series motor. The photos I saw weren't detailed enough for me to discern how the motor was connected to the wheels. I'm pretty sure that a Pittman 8600-series motor would fit between, or in place of the frame sides of an O-gauge loco like the 2034. Another example: In the early '90s, Maury Klein commissioned Al Ruocchio to develop a new chassis for the reissued Marx 333. He did a great job! The K-3000 4-6-2 is a smooth runner with good slow-speed performance, except that it lacks any provision for a flywheel.
Bottom line, it's theoretically possible to convert a postwar loco to a can motor, and ultimately dead rail battery R/C. Thirty-five years ago this would have been a stone winner, but I suppose much demand has been soaked up by RailKing and LionChief Plus offerings, as well as the hobby's movement toward "scale" trains. One can still hope!
Here is a basic how to using the guts from a rc car.
Lionel open frame motors will run on DC.
Open frame universal motors will run on DC like a can motor when wired with the often cited bridge rectifier modification circuit.
DeadRail, not interested. I’ll pass on the new category. I’m just too old school, and I enjoy fooling around with wiring my layout.
I avoid battery operated anything. I see dozens of battery operated drills, saws and tools etc. at garage sale every year. The average home handy man rarely uses his tools and when he needs the drill, the batteries are dead. The cost to replace most batteries after a few years is more than buying a new tool with the battery. The same thing goes for battery powered lawn tools which I also see often.
Dead rail trains may suit model railroaders that use their trains very often and do not own but a few engines. As GRJ said those of us that run several trains and have dozens of engines and passenger cars could never keep up with charging and the cost of new batteries. I have recently found out my 10 year old NI-MH Panasonic Eneloop Pro batteries, used in my digital cameras, all will not hold or take a charge. Wait a few more years to hear about the cost to replace the lithium ion battery packs in older Tesla vehicles. These battery packs are made up of thousands of D cell sized lithium ion batteries soldered together.
I have dozens of hand operated hand 110 volt tools and could only have afforded them by buying inexpensively at garage sales, quality ones like Dremel, Skill, Craftsman and even Porter Cable and Milwaukee. I have hundreds of feet of extension cords for the use of electric hand garden tools and other tools outside, and of course for running power from my portable gasoline generator during hurricanes in south Louisiana.
I have enough problems keeping the portable phones, cell phones, portable radios and Walkmen and my digital camera rechargeable battery's charged now.
Charlie
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