RailScope.....just another conventional engine....rides again in 2019!

Here are some pics.....

My motive power table of conventional engines brought to the Fair:

It pulled pretty well, too:

One other thought.......this engine is all set up for a video camera.....how hard would it be to switch it out for a GoPro with Blue Tooth technology......it already has the hole on the short hood section of the engine. I may have to open it up to see what kind of room it has.....anyone have any thoughts?

Peter

I had the GP engine and it ran well but I thought the colors were drab so I traded it for a PW 2020.

I've got one and it's never been on the tracks.  It's sort of amazing that RailScope pre-dates Apple's first digital camera (circa 1996) and a host of other electronic devices.

The only time I saw one in operation was at Boyd Mason's Hazlet Train Stop (NJ) layout.  It was really something to see, back in the day.

I also recall that there was a good article in another toy trains magazine -- with detailed plans/electronic schematics -- for converting the unit from battery power to track power, i.e., thus eliminating the issue of lackluster and unacceptable battery life.

When I finish my layout, I'm likely to use the track-power method to show the thing off, mostly as a period piece.  I think hanging that black and white television with its red plastic case will be an interesting thing to look at all by itself.

Fun.

Steven J. Serenska

RailScope was just way ahead of its time, much like the postwar Electronic Set. Had it been made today, it probably would've worked a lot better. Still, like most of Dick Kughn's ideas like RailSounds and TMCC, it was a good one and the engine is still pretty darn attractive.

I've never thought of purchasing one, but if I did, I would've tried to fully update it with modern camera electronics. I guess no Lionel Trains Inc. collection is complete without it.

When I worked in television MPC sent me one to show how if worked on TV. It was a very big deal at the time. We showed it and it worked fine. It soon lost many peoples interest when they heard how fast it ate batteries and you could use any TV set to show it. Also you had to rewire your layout to get the signal back to the TV. The layout we used had cuts in the rail for signal operation. Well that didn't work with RailScope. As others have said, great idea but ahead of it's time. They never asked for it back. I sold it a few years ago for $35. don

I think you had to keep the track really clean to avoid static noise on the TV screen.  I saw one on a layout in Dallas and for its time, it was impressive.

The best way to correct the issues are small spy cameras that transmit in the air to a monitor.

OK, fast forward almost 20 years to where digital cameras are sharp and inexpensive.  Maybe it's time for Lionel to do it over again, only this time it will deliver and hold interest and excitement.  I'd like to see it with the camera hidden as much as possible.  I've seen cameras mounted on tenders and flat cars, but the obvious sight of the camera just never sat well with me.   I hope the manufacturers read this and come up with an updated version.   Maybe something you can watch on a smart phone?

I would be interested in a modern version of RailScope, maybe one that could connect to your I Pad or tablet via Wi-Fi and run off track power. 

I thought this was the coolest thing ever when I was a kid. I was so enamored with the whole system.  I wanted one so bad, now I can put a camera in a loco for less than $100.

I've got the GP RailScope locomotive - haven't really done anythign with it, mostly because I don't have the base station. I would love to try it out with the original technology if I could acquire it extremely inexpensively.

I don't have the engine/caboose, but I did purchase a Rail Scope TV from a dealer at a Greenberg show probably about 10 years ago.  He had a few, I think they were either warehouse finds or maybe a case of them from a private collection he might have bought.

Like Matt, I thought this was a really cool thing when I heard about it when it came out.  I wasn't at the time active in O Gauge trains, since I was finishing up high school and was soon to be headed to college (probably read about it in an ad in Model Railroader or similar).  I was into HO, but the HO Rail Scope engines were also more expensive than any other HO engine I had.

I still occasionally think about getting one when I see them for sale on tables at train meets.  I have probably resisted a little due to the special wiring you need to deal with for the signal to propagate along the rails.  As others have said, it's difficult or impossible to set it up properly f you have a layout with gaps for blocks. 

Lionel took this to the next level privately for at least a few engines when Niel Young was bringing his Horde layout to various events (including York in I think October 1998 or maybe 1999).  there were a few Dash-9's (maybe Dash-8's?) with color cameras installed and the signal was routed to the giant Diamond Vision display he also brought with the layout.  Watching those engines travel along the layout on the big screen was quite a sight to see.  Unfortunately, they never mass produced these engines to offer them for sale to the public.

I may still decide to get an original Rail Scope set one day, we'll see.

-Dave

Yeah Peter, Railscope was the bomb when it first came out. I still have my engine, but don't have any use for it anymore. I never bought the monitor, just hooked it up to an old B&W TV. It took a fair amount of "futzing" to get a mediocre picture.

Maybe in another 50 years there will be a collector market for it.

I bought the GP loco and caboose when it came out.  I don't remember buying the red TV, I think I just used an old B&W TV.  I tried it on a simple, well-connected circle of track and still had the same mediocre results as everyone else.  It went on the shelf pretty soon after that.

But I noticed in this post that the engine has dual motors.  For some reason I had always thought that it had only one motor.  So yes, it would be worthwhile to dig it out of the box and run it as a conventional classic.

Thanks for all the interesting responses......as I said......the vision was way ahead of the available technology at the time!

Peter

Serenska posted:

 

I also recall that there was a good article in another toy trains magazine -- with detailed plans/electronic schematics -- for converting the unit from battery power to track power, i.e., thus eliminating the issue of lackluster and unacceptable battery life.

Normally, replying to one's own post = "get a life", but in this case it's = "prematurely senile dude should have asked the question below to begin with...".

My collection of toy trains magazines is the opposite of "well-organized and well-stored".  While we're on this topic, can any one dig out the article mentioned above and post the schematic?  I believe it was from the early 1990s.

I'd love to have that schematic saved somewhere so that I can actually do the conversion at some point.  If I recall correctly, the circuit could be made from a handful of off-the-shelf parts you could get at Radio Shack.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Steven J. Serenska

I bought the loco and caboose  way back in the day. Didn't get the TV since I already had access to a similar unit sold for the Fischer-Price PXL-2000 camcorder.

The battery drain problem was well-known. The precise reason for it was not--the camera would only operate at 8.4v and above. So your 9V battery would only need to lose a volt or so before the camera stopped working. Lionel later supplied a battery holder that allowed you to hook up 6AA cells to power the camera. With greater capacity (MAh) RailScope could transmit much longer (although would still poop out when the pack voltage dropped below 8.4)

(It's not known if anyone experimented with a 9.6v NiCD arrangement. Such a pack would put out its rated voltage until it was almost completely exhausted, then suddenly fall off.)

Lionel intended users to put the battery pack in a boxcar or similar enclosed car coupled behind the loco. In my case, I found a surplus RailScope shell at a train show, and over time equipped it with a chassis, fuel tank and trucks, making it a fitting companion to the original loco, that also held the battery pack (never did address the inconvenience of removing the shell in order to change out the batteries, nor did I equip the two units with a proper plug connector. Last time I ran them I pulled some 20-ish MPC autoracks with it, which was pretty much its limit if the wobbling was any indication

I still have my two units, they await their turn on my test track behind a whole pile of newer stuff.  

---PCJ

Very interesting thread and info! I considered buying it, but saw it demonstrated and wasn't impressed with the picture. I rather liked the dark livery...the loco and caboose made an attractive combination, IMHO. I don't recall that livery on any other Lionel locos.

This was one of my few attempts to be an early adopter of technology.  I think I only used it as intended once.  Mine was repainted in CNJ colors and still sits on the layout.  It is a bit lightweight so pulling power is limited but since it is used in passenger service, my self imposed three car max works fine.

I have one of these.  It was a gimmicky item.  The trucks if I remember are powered by smaller can type motors.  It's been so long.  It will be a conversation piece if nothing else.  Being in broadcasting it was a fun "had to have" item.  But being in broadcasting I quickly realized it was pretty lame as far as the quality and concept were concerned.

What would be the best option today for a camera unit that is:

Small (mountable on any flatcar)

Battery powered

Wifi or blutooth enabled

Can send HD video straight to an iPad in full 30fps 

I think Kline did do a flat car with a small camera and a RR company truck vehicle as the load.   I think it was wireless.

Steve,

Yes, I recall the Kline offering. I assumed that the tech has improved greatly since then and full HD over wireless should be easily achievable. 

Still have mine, the whole 9 yards, GP9, TV, receiver, cables, etc.. Never really used it much more than just goofing around with it. 2 Yorks ago on a Saturday  a guy had the G scale locomotive for $30, after hemming and hawing over it he said, "Gimme $15 for the set so I don't have to keep trying to sell it.". To which my 10 year old grandson said, "You can't beat that with a stick, let's get it!". So we bought it, of course we then had to get some track and cars for it to pull, that $15 "deal" wound up costing me almost $100 when it was all said and done.

Jerry

Wow! It's fun to see how many of us actually had one.....and, all the responses are pretty similar.....

Peter

Regarding the Activeon - Is is possible to send the live signal directly to the iPad? Rather than recording, tethering and transferring?

Thanks,

Mike

Fast forward 3 years.....back at the Chesterfield County Fair with our modular group for the 1st time since 2016.......and, my dual can motor RailScope geep was taken out again and performed admirably....

C

Clearly, RailScope was a vision that was about 20 years too early for the technology..........now, we have camera cars!

Peter

Peter;

Did you just run the engine or did you hook up the camera???

I was reading some of the comments and thinking "Wait a minute, Lionel does have a modern version of RailScope; the theater car and the cabin car. Why go through the effort of drilling holes, etc.". Then I noticed the date on the thread!!!

Apples55 posted:

Peter;

Did you just run the engine or did you hook up the camera???

Yes........I just run it as a conventional engine..........it runs well......

Peter

PRRMP54 posted:

I was reading some of the comments and thinking "Wait a minute, Lionel does have a modern version of RailScope; the theater car and the cabin car. Why go through the effort of drilling holes, etc.". Then I noticed the date on the thread!!!

Agreed......a lot has changed in 3 years.....I’m just saying that rather than let your RailScope rot on the self, it runs nicely as a conventional engine when you need one...

I will be getting one of the modern Lionel versions, when it’s in a road name I like.....

Peter

Maybe they will release a Railscope F9 or F40PH to run with the theatre car. They could do an SD40 to run with the coupla cam

Anybody have pictures of the inside of these? I imagine with the change in technology the past twenty years there has to be room inside to upgrade the camera?

Peter, great job bringing back this post. I have memories of York when I was probably 9 or 10 years old staring in amazement at that screen when Lionel was doing a demo. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe they were set up in the Purple hall?

I think it would be a fun project to modernize one with a small  enough camera and Bluetooth  enabled. 

JAMESZZ and Chris........interesting idea......I will take mine apart and post some pics.....that would be a real kick......modernize one of the original RailScopes with a new digital color bluetooth camera!

Peter

Peter. Plenty of small spy type Bluetooth camera's on Amazon. I think it would be a very doable project.  Think how cool that would be at one of the venues you guys do during the year!

I also have the works including the battery pack and TV but haven't used it for years.  The TV has an analog tuner so it is no longer useful as a TV.

Has anyone ever seen the HO version in action?

I posted this before on a Railscope thread,but here is the video again for anyone interested that missed it previously. Lionel had a contest for the best video using the Railscope engine. My entry was disqualified because they thought it was professionally done,which it wasn't. 

DAN.........fabulous!

Peter