Hi:
I think that we may eventually see the use of holograms to animate people and even smoke. What ideas do others have?
Bob C.
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To see the "engineer" pull the throttle forward on a steamer. And the levers on s diesel. Or maybe pull the horn chord on a diesel.
Either as stated above or someone sycronizes the smoke units with the infamous alco turbo lag!
Brushless motors and brushless motor smoke units.
Pete, that wold be nice to have a woofer assist.
Here are a few of my ideas:
1) A station with sounds and lighting via the command control
2) Continued smoke effects on steamers
3) Battery controlled trains
4) Lighting effects for the layout
5) Background sounds via command control
6) Command control un-coupling in head end cars
7) Crossing gates with sounds that are dependable and easy to hook up, banjo signals too.
8) Operating Coal tower with sounds
9) Operating mine with sounds
10) Semaphores that work and are reliable
A universal control system that will operate all the features of your loco, be it ps1/2/3, Legacy, DCC, conventional, whatever.
Simply black smoke fluid
On board power. Battery ?
3D Passenger car interiors, holograms or ?
The point above about battery-powered trains is REALLY intriguing. Our hobby has such a legacy (pun intended) and installed-base from the electro-mechanical era where track is powered. It's hard to imagine a day without this model but, instead, with track (plastic?) that doesn't have to conduct power. Engines by Tesla? Does anyone know if Elon Musk is an O-Gauge hobbyist?
Elon Musk is doing rocket science right now. Maybe he will move up to O gauge trains next?
Nothing, do you think LIONEL has issues putting locos together when something might go wrong in the production stage?
rtr12 posted:Elon Musk is doing rocket science right now. Maybe he will move up to O gauge trains next?
I can see it now...
Rusty
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The "Dead rail" movement in HO is increasing which is the use of batteries +DCC instead of track power. Radio-control battery power is the preferred way to use for garden railways as the outside environment is hard on electrical conductivity. O-gauge is definitely big enough to hold the batteries with the possibility, in some cases, that the batteries could be in the locomotive instead of having a trailing battery car. So, the next big thing could be not needing the center rail anymore or any metal rails either.
Peter
To continue with PDX1955's vision, 
battery charging will be performed on special tracks (+) with an adjacent charging accessory similar to a sanding, fuel, water or coal tower or station providing a magnetized connection to the locomotive for the (-) side of the charge. For example; a diesel locomotive is positioned on special tracks adjacent to an animated figure with his Shell Oil Tanker who leans over and puts the fuel hose with a magnetized nozzle on the underslung fuel tank making the power connection to recharge the onboard batteries. 
I was really hoping to see nano diesel engines, generators and traction motors for O scale by now. 
I agree with the battery opinions. Battery technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, and if this hobby has enough life in it by then, onboard battery power will make big inroads. The overlap of AC as a primary source for new 3-rail might disappear, (and the 3rd rail itself) but there may be a rail connection for quick-charge purposes.
There will always be the additional gimmicks, but I see expansion in wireless/radio/smartphone control and there could also be a decent after-market demand for dead electronics re-fits.
I'm not into heavy electronics, so any re-fits for me will probably be gutting used engines back to straight DC and old-fashioned cab control. It's my comfort zone.
With WiFi now integrated and CCD camera Technology small and inexpensive, I see cameras built into engines in the very near future
2.4 GHz radio control digital spread spectrum (more reliable communications as in LionChief/LC+) Battery power. First person view video cameras in the loco. Customized rolling stock and buildings at reasonable prices due to technical advances. Better speakers in locomotives for higher fidelity sounds.
How about scale sized electrocouplers?
How about the engineer waving his hand.
"Engines by Tesla?"
Tesla v. Edison Tesla wins,
Tesla v. Einstein Tesla loses.
I'd like to see wireless sensor-track sensors that can fit between gargraves ties and are inexpensive.
How about trains that PAY FOR THEMSELVES!?!
Think how many marriages would be saved with that innovation!
Think how many marriages would be saved with that innovation!How about voice recogntion control on our WIFI apps
Battery-powered O gauge trains, for sure.....someday.
Also predicting: Lionel will be the absolute LAST to venture hither.
In fact, there's a good chance this will sweep into the broad HO realm before being widely accepted among the current O3R crowd. Paradigms die hard....moreso the investments therein. That third rail not only becomes useless, but an embarrassment in the BP/RC realm.
If you want to experience the battery-powered, R/C applications into the hobby industry, find a hobby shop that caters to this crowd....in planes, boats, cars/trucks, battle tanks, drones, 'copters. Spend some time there. (EVERY day seems to be a busy day in that department at our store!) Better yet would be that demo's were occurring...indoors and outdoors. Check the battery size, run-time duration of some of the micro-mini's. Talk to the sellers and buyers. Check the enthusiasm.
As said above, it's THE gorilla in the backyard re G scale trains nowadays. Track cleanliness, power continuity? Water/weather-proof wiring running hither and yon? Headaches of yore. Heck, the battery-powered, R/C LGB mogul I converted?.....I demonstrated at our store (LHS) running on the trackless carpet!
At home, the wife and I laid down a bunch of track on the mulch of a berm in haphazard fashion ...no wires, no extension cords, no power packs...for a quick run, which never had a hiccup! If there's a local tour of garden railways with battery-powered, R/C featured......take the time to visit and talk/listen.
BTW....the purveyors have been at York meets for some time, now.
Still waiting for a dedicated OGR Forum category in the Control Systems group to capture this segment.
But, this is just an opinion/thought per the OP's question.
KD
Battery powered. What a great idea. We can get the batteries from the hoverboard manufacturers.
Gerry
Bill_R posted:With WiFi now integrated and CCD camera Technology small and inexpensive, I see cameras built into engines in the very near future
I'm with Bill. We have been operating our trains "outside looking in" for way too long. I vision a day when we operate our trains "inside looking out." Video dash cameras pointing out over the hood of our SD, Dash, etc. so that we can see the upcoming crossing, turnout, siding, industry, etc. Many of us enjoy watching u-Tube videos where people have put their GoPro on a flatcar in front of their train. We like that view and what it has to offer. Now just imagine having that view on your iPad with the throttle, horn, bell and brakes at your fingertips.
Just hope this wasn't my calling to patent this and make it rich. If somebody does, at least give me one of the prototypes for the idea.
Tiny video cameras (with audio) mounted for an engineer's cab view from locomotives - with receiving monitor in remote control - even 3" x 2" screen would be neat - with diagnostics displayed on top and bottom of screen. Drive the train like your inside the cab around your layout.
Bill_R posted:With WiFi now integrated and CCD camera Technology small and inexpensive, I see cameras built into engines in the very near future
Sounds like a good idea. I could imagine using the cameras in the wifi apps to make running a train something similar to a video game, providing an engineer's view from the train. Sure sounds like something that would also attract more of the younger folks to the hobby?
I just put battery power including sound into a G gauge RDC. This was my first battery conversion. All of my other G gauge engines have track power.
The cost for the conversion of my RDC was about $350 to buy the radio controller, the boards for the engine, the speaker, the battery, and the charger. The cost for me to convert another engine will be in the $150 - $200 range to buy boards, a battery, and a speaker. The rechargeable battery alone is about $80.
Many G gauge modelers use battery power to overcome the dirty track problem. They can afford this because most of the G gauge people that I know have fewer than 5 engines. On the other hand, most O, HO, and N gauge people that I know have many, many engines.
Track power with command control works really well in the smaller scales so I don't see a compelling reason for most people to convert to battery. The biggest advantage of battery power in the smaller scales including O would be the elimination of track wiring. Wiring for switches, signals, etc., would still be needed.
I don't see a mass movement to battery power with radio control until the cost is significantly less than it is today. The cost of electronics coming down all the time so it may become possible.
NH Joe
M J Breen posted:How about trains that PAY FOR THEMSELVES!?!
And continue to generate revenue after they are paid off, so you could pay off the infrastructure costs (layout) as well. I like it!
Trains that will buy themselves off your credit card, deliver themselves, open up their boxes and plop themselves on the track, run around it 3 times, break down, and then ship themselves off for service without any human interaction at all, other than to get the bill.
It was noted that we could have the engineer waving or managing the throttle.
Believe it or not this was done by a gentleman in the O Scale community at least 12-15 years ago. I actually saw the modified engine being demonstrated. The engineer was waving, the fireman was moving, the steam whistle had smoke, the cylinder cocks worked on command plus a whole host of other features. The parts used to accomplish all of this came from................Old VCR players!!!!!!!!! In the tender he had sound unit but also a reservoir which held quite a bit of smoke fluid. It was plumbed directly to the engines smoke unit! The cab was lit and he had fire box glow.
What I'd like to see would real steam being produced and being ejected. Just for show purposes only. Additionally, I'd like to see the clearances under the trailing truck on a steamer to be a lot less noticeable. Some of the scale models made today look like the dickens due to the clearances under the trucks and locomotive body/frame.
Black smoke would require the burning of something rather than the vaporization of a fluid. I'm not sure that we want anything being combusted in our models shells. Heaven knows what could happen if the loco were to derail and fall onto it's side and spilling out that combustible material onto a very dry combustible layout scenery!
The innovations will come as technology advances, I'm just hoping I'll be around long enough to see some real neat innovative features being implemented into our trains.
The future for this hobby will be great if not for my generation (Baby Boomers) at least for the next!
How about lower prices,that would be a great advancememt
Bankruptcy for train purchasers. That is a given.
Marklin in HO has LCD screens that show an image of a closed door as the train travels down the track. At stations, you can digitally play a short GIF, or movie that shows a passenger entering.
Nobody suggested 2-rail track and realistic wheels and couplers? The technology is there, and the 3RS folks are demanding levels of realism unheard of a decade ago.
Battery and R/ C are already possibilities, but if you do that you have zero rationale for the center rail.
Okay, here goes: Perhaps the center rail will be replaced with some type of barely visible fiber optic filament that could somehow conduct current to a receiver located where the roller used to be on the underside of the locomotive truck. No batteies needed. Hopefully, an easy conversion kit will be made available.
1. Universal control
2. A new manufacturer akin to to the old K-line and Williams with realistic moderate pricing.
3. Proximity activated accessories without the need of infrared sensors
Some of that long awaited future is already here. I've been running battery power with recharging on the track for years. Works great. (LCCA did a video on this). Have published two articles on proximity sensor based accessories, a freight loading platform and a refueling depot. Next big move could be servomechanism based accessory animation.
DaveP posted:1. Universal control
2. A new manufacturer akin to to the old K-line and Williams with realistic moderate pricing.
3. Proximity activated accessories without the need of infrared sensors
Regarding Number 2 above, I think Menards has already fulfilled this prediction.
