Help selecting model to convert

Industrial Rail products tend to be semi-scale and not true O-scale.

Yessir!  Just like Lionel and MTH traditional scale, at least that is what my research leads me to understand.

You got it.

You could convert a Williams steam engine to battery power, make sure it has the can motor. The Crown Edition and newer have the can motor, however if it is an older Williams(21 years old or older) it may have the old style Lionel AC motor.

Lee Fritz

Do you already have the battery and electronics for the conversion? I would be looking at the size of those components and figure how big a space you will need in the tender. Will you maybe need an auxiliary tender for additional battery space?

An MTH PS1 loco with a large tender and dead electronics could be a good candidate. They have a 4-pin connector between loco and tender. If you can fit your battery and electronics in the tender, you have the potential to easily swap the tender to use with other PS1 locos.

Would you be using fixed-voltage track power to help keep the battery charged? That would extend the range a lot.

Thx.  I do not have them yet, I was going to do the other way around.    see what space I have and select electronics to fit.

But my intention is to have the track powered in the "engine shed" (roundhouse, whatever) as well as have powered 'fueling stations' in the layout (coal bunker, water towers).

I will keep an eye out for one of those MTH locos.  I think I need to learn patience through - I want to get going now.

Have you figured out scale and gauge are not the same thing?

Ho is a bit over 16. mm gauge ( width between rails)

S gauge would be 22.5mm, 7/8 inch

O gauge 32mm 1.25".

Full O scale in America is 1:48, but can vary from 1:43-1:64. 1:64 is S scale

Representing narrow gauge there is On30, O scale on narrow gauge HO track.

OO is run on HO track but the stock is modeled at a different scale.1/76

10mm / Fn3 are 1:55 if your looking at something other than the above! !??

I have a RK 2-8-0 that was gutted of the electronics but motor is good. Cosmetically nice. Would that work?

Adriatic,

yes.  I am clear on Gauge and Scale.  I am looking for O gauge, semi scale.  Lionel or MTH Traditional scale or Atlas Industrial Rail.  Maybe there are others that make semi-scale O gauge stuff too?

Dgauss,

sent you an email.  thx!

Dgauss,

did not hear back from you, maybe my email did not get through?  If you want to email me my email is in my profile, or let me know if I should try emailing you again.

Thx!

I don't know much about trains but I do know you don't want to go with Atlas Industrial because they have very limited pieces and have no plans for manufacturing any. this is according to an email I received from Atlas. I wish I would have researched it before I bought my train set. I thought I was getting a good deal at 50% off.  Since I like having the roadbed attached and the O gauge size for my village display, I decided to go with Fastrack. 

Welcome to the growing group of modellers interested in battery power. Also, nice to see another Californian on the forum. I've converted several locos to battery power using both my own RC control system and the new BlueRail Trains bluetooth system. Any loco with a single DC can motor would be a good first choice with a dual can motor loco second. Battery selection is important for size and running time. NiMH and LiPO batteries are the two obvious choices. One advantage of steam over diesel is you always have the tender to put stuff into if it won't fit in the loco body.

Bob,

Thx!  Can I ask why Bluerails over others?  I have been thinking S-CAB but am definitely open.  My fear with bluetooth is lack of range outside.

The BlueRail app on iPads/iPhones is easy and a delight to use with lots of control options. I tested range on my BlueRail loco in my backyard and got over 100 feet. This is the latest bluetooth version. In comparison, I got 50 feet with my 49MHZ R/C system.

Thx Bob.  While my wife has an iPad I just cannot get along with that Operating System.  I will definitely look at Bluerails, hopefully they have windoze and android as well.

I have 13 engines (12 O and 1 G) using battery power.

Your cheapest bet is to find an older engine in which the electronics no longer work (except the motor), in other words a shelf queen.

I have a Williams 4-6-2 and E7, a Weaver RS3 converted to use the BlueRail board.

I also have 5 Williams brass steamers, 3 MTH Railking steamers, and 1 Weaver steamer converted to use the Deltang UK/RCS Australia systems.

Finally I have a Bachmann G scale 4-6-0 Annie, using the Deltang/RCS system.

All run great, but I don't use smoke or (as of yet) sound, except in the Bachmann 4-6-0 Annie.

What I like about BPRC is there are NO WIRES to my layout.  You can run multiple engines, separately, at the same time with BlueRail on a single device (Ipad), but you'll need a separate transmitter for the Deltang/RCS systems unless you want to run all the engines separately, otherwise they'll all respond to the single Tx.  If you never plan on running more than 1 or a couple of engines that's no problem.  I have 2 Txs for my O-scale layout and 1 Tx for my G-scale train.  I usually run a train around the mainline while switching the industries.

Normally 2+ hours run time on a 2000Mah battery pack.  I'm using 9.6v, 11.1v, and 12v packs.

I would guess the normal initial setup would run $175-$250 for a single engine, but once you get one the rest aren't as expensive, unless you buy a charger and Tx for each engine.

There's a number of topics and posts on BPRC, do a search and see what's happening.  There's also a couple of online forums on battery powered trains.

Bob D,

Thanks much.  How much run time do you get on the G scale?  still 2+ hours?

Yes, the G-scale 4-6-0 looks almost effortless as it runs around the circle of track I have.

I haven't weighed the 4-6-0, but I have a Williams brass 4-8-4 N&W J and it weighs 14+lbs and I still get over 2 hours of run time on the 11.1v 2200Mah LiPo battery I have in the tender.

Also don't know the gear ratio of the 4-6-0, but it must be good as it can slowly creep when I just crack the throttle open.

IMO 2 hours of run time is plenty.  I try to jot down how long I run each battery-powered engine I have so I know when I'm coming up on the 2 hour mark, but most of the time I let them run until I see the LED flicker (or the engine stops completely), then it's time to recharge.

I think battery-power, remote-control for trains is still relatively new and most comments I see made are derived from experience with RC cars or planes, some of which does not apply, at least from my experience (and I also used to fly RC planes and helped my son maintain his RC truck, aka foot the bill for repairs).

I've been running BPRC since May of 2015 and have had no failures, problems, or malfunctions yet.  The only problems I've had were non-gear related, only problems with trying to understand what was going on or how something should be connected or how I could change something in the programming to make the engine do what I wanted.

Bob D,

Thank you.  I checked the Big Hauler transformer/controller and it is in fact 1A.  Those big haulers do not suck a lot of juice it seems.

Helmut, 1amp is nothing, some of these older O-scale engines hog the amps!!!  Most new can motors are pretty efficient for what we want.  The old DC can motor in my Williams/Samhongsa brass 4-8-4 N&W J measured 2.5 amps if I recall correctly.

Yeah that was kinda my point, very low power draw.  I would have expected the G scale stuff to need more or maybe the Big Haulers are particularly efficient.

For a diesel, it should be an f3. The most space and between the postwar, mpc, lti, and the recent reproduction, you have a plethora of road names and motor types to use.

Thx but I am focused on steam although I *might* consider a early diesel or gasoline switcher/yard loco.