A friend found this neat review of the Lionel Railscope on YouTube:
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Ah, yes! Railscope! Still have the O gauge version (including the matching caboose and the Lionel TV) and once also had the Large Scale version, which was a big hit at train shows when I lived in Hawaii.
I never had the problems that the TV reviewers did, but sure did have the problem--which all original owners initially experienced--of the engines eating batteries like crazy. Fortunately, some industrious hobbyist came up with a solution that involved a separate battery car. Today, the battery longevity thing would not be a problem at all, and the video could be in full color. Too bad Lionel doesn't do a 2025 updated version with Bluetooth capability, etc.
It would be nice if they issued recalls on all the cabooses & theater cars and updated them too!
It would be REAL nice if the released the software for the Android Latest version for those cameras in the theater and caboose cars. Then I could use them again.
@CurtisH posted:It would be REAL nice if the released the software for the Android Latest version for those cameras in the theater and caboose cars. Then I could use them again.
I think this is what you are looking for: http://www.lionel.com/articles...wnload-Instructions/
@H1000 posted:I think this is what you are looking for: http://www.lionel.com/articles...wnload-Instructions/
Nope . The camera app has not been updated as of today. If you try to use that app it will stop saying it is not the correct version.
@CurtisH posted:Nope . The camera app has not been updated as of today. If you try to use that app it will stop saying it is not the correct version.
Glad I returned my caboose cam early on. Unless someone finds or builds an alternative app, the caboose cam too will become a part of archival history like the app.
When the TV show 'That 70's Show' was new, in one episode, Red was playing with his O gauge train set from his youth. I learned that when things like model trains, slot cars, etc are in motion, even though the actor is at the controls, union rules dictate that the special effects guy is the only one that has control. Maybe the union guy got mad and pulled the plug on Siskel and Ebert back then.
That's a good find on YouTube.
I didn't have Railscope, but I had the K-Line camera car, and that camera swiveled 360 degrees, manually, and transmitted to a simple to hookup receive that attached to the tv.
I still have my RailScope...and the external battery pack.
As I remember it described, the issue with the RailScope camera is that it needs at least 7.2 volts to function. It probably has a high current draw, so the distance from 9.0v to 7.2v would be a pretty short one, explaining the short operational life of batteries in RailScope service. They're plenty good enough for other 9V applications once they're too pooped for the camera. Modern rechargeables would no doubt last longer with their greater MaH,...if they started at 9V and not 7.2v like most rechargeable batteries in that form factor.
In my case I made the most stylish "battery car" possible...by finding a surplus RailScope Geep shell at a train show, and pieced together a dummy unit from parts. Ironically, it weighs more than the RS since I was only able to find die-cast GP trucks for it. While I had fashioned a crude tether to get power to the 9V connector in the fuel tank, if I were to get the thing out nowadays, I'd install a decent two-pin connector and wiring so the connection looks more like a MU connector than the crude uninsulated male/female pin+socket fished out of a Radio Shack DB-9 connector kit that I used back then.
---PCJ
