Batteries in trailing cars

[trammayo]

A little thread drift....... The newest version of the Annie, with the brass gearing and the new pilot truck on a radius arm is a real improvement over the already good Annie that came before it.

I have followed George Schreyer's tips and made my own radius arms for the Annie pilot (instead of the OEM spring system) and, boy, does it make a difference when going through 'sprung' points on reverse loops and on any 'humps' that might be in the track ( I have one right at the summit of my heavy incline where the ground under the trackbed has subsided slightly but the concrete, that comes directly after it, hasn't).
I had weighted the previous style of pilot but it still would buck on one point and also 'hang in the air' and sometimes derail after the 'hump'...now it just takes them in its stride.
http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/big_hauler_tips.html


Here is the new 'Annie' front pilot. It is far more 'solid' and robust.

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Yes that's the type. It is not too happy on R1s (points and reverse curves). That type of pivot goes back many, many decades - Bassett-Lowke used it on a O gauge locos.

 

[5H17]

Just starting out myself with this battery racket.... I found a nice little connection in the e-junk at work. I only had to file out the 'coupler pocket' ever so slightly to get this fit. The male plug leads out from the loco like a brake hose. Nice tight fit, even keeps the train together when the horn/hook coupler fails.

Now that is tidy. That's exactly the kind of thing I had in mind. Liking the way you've done that.

Thanks for all the responses so far. Some definite food for thought here.

 

[PhilP]

Look at the wear on those wheels! - Right through the plating..
No wonder you went battery-powered!

 

[5H17]

Well I went with the JST connectors in the end, largely due to cost and size. I`m fairly happy with the result and have just `finished` my first trailing car conversion. Pics are of it all chucked in for testing, prior to a proper fit of the switches.

 

[5H17]

Note to self:
After a few minutes head scratching when the battery wouldn't charge, yes it DOES matter which way round you put the negative wires on the charge socket.....

 

[5H17]

Finally got around to tidying up the wiring installation a bit, so I don't have to scoop all the gubbins out of the side door to turn it on! It looks a lot better now, and it's also fairly discreet once the roof is in place.

 

[Madman]

I'm thrilled to learn that I am not the only one who is not arid to drill holes into an LGB piece of rolling stock. I've even done it to locos

 

[5H17]

I'm thrilled to learn that I am not the only one who is not arid to drill holes into an LGB piece of rolling stock. I've even done it to locos

I did think long and hard about that before i did it, but to be honest it's only a cheap van that a mate of mine picked up for about 15 quid in some tat shop. I considered having them out of sight underneath, but decided that would just make plugging the charger in a lot of faff so I decided to have them externally. Once the roof is on you can't really tell that they are there anyway, unless you're looking for them.

 

[fridge]

I was considering an alternative placing for switch and socket, on a piece of plastic angle, inside the van and secured by two small screws through the end of the vehicle. It would then be an easy matter to lift off the roof and work switch or insert charging cable.

 

[The Devonian]

If you intend running battery power always, or frequently and you have a reasonable amount of varied stock, then more than one trailing battery car is the best idea.
I have three: one is a coal hopper and runs with coal hopper trains, secondly there is a boxcar, which suits boxcar and mixed stock trains and the third is a covered gondola which runs with gondolas, flat cars and mixed stock.
These cars contain an Aristocraft Train Engineer receiver with the wire antenna taped around the insides of the cars. I use battery packs - 16.8V, 2300MAh NiMH - from Strikealite.**
I do not use sound or smoke so these packs - specifically designed for large scale railway models - and as my locos are Aristocraft (with the pig tail connectors) they serve me very well.

I still maintain track power facilities for three of my locos which are not converted for battery ops.

** http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_type/32/ALL/0/index.asp

 

[5H17]

If you intend running battery power always, or frequently and you have a reasonable amount of varied stock, then more than one trailing battery car is the best idea.
I have three: one is a coal hopper and runs with coal hopper trains, secondly there is a boxcar, which suits boxcar and mixed stock trains and the third is a covered gondola which runs with gondolas, flat cars and mixed stock.

I have two now, both similar style box cars. It is my intention to make a third out of a passenger vehicle and possibly a fourth with a tanker. My railway hasn't spread quite far enough to need that yet, but it's only a matter of time!