Today At The Cfr.

dunnyrail said:
Interesting what you say about the batteries, in the past I have had rechargeable NiMh (not tabbed) batts from a certain well known discount store and found them to be lacking in duration.
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Jon, I have 8 x 4AAA batteries all new. They are all fully charged before use. The batteries are from two different manufacturers. I will be carrying out more trials over he next few days.Another day
 
Another day, another running and testing session.
This afternoon I had two Piko GE 25T switchers running:-
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Red coaches locomotive ran for 45 minutes on a full charge of new batteries.
Blue coaches locomotive ran for 1 hour 20 minutes with third charge batteries.
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Second running session with third charge batteries for both locomotives, 1 hour 20 minutes each.
Final session of the day, both locomotives running light engine powered by fourth charge batteries. 2 hours 22 minutes
 
PhilP said:
Some new batteries, do seem to 'improve', with 4-5 charge-discharge cycles.

PhilP
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I was always told that, and to let the batteries drain before recharging, because if you keep charging them from half full, they lose their memory
 
Paul M said:
I was always told that, and to let the batteries drain before recharging, because if you keep charging them from half full, they lose their memory
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That was NiCad, NiMh are more tolerant, but interesting what Phil says. Some batteries apparently prefer to run between 20-80% charge or thereabouts, this appears to be gen for ecars so still lots to learn from battery technology in practice me thinks.
 
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casey jones snr said:
Another day, another running and testing session.
This afternoon I had two Piko GE 25T switchers running:-
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Red coaches locomotive ran for 45 minutes on a full charge of new batteries.
Blue coaches locomotive ran for 1 hour 20 minutes with third charge batteries.
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Second running session with third charge batteries for both locomotives, 1 hour 20 minutes each.
Final session of the day, both locomotives running light engine powered by fourth charge batteries. 2 hours 22 minutes
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To my small mind, AAA batteries are always going to be light on grunt and, despite the efficiency of the motor, are not going to give long running times.

Thus says the dinosaur of battery-powered locos who still has two that run on Sub-Cs :nerd::nerd:
 
Interesting about batteries, I have two wooden model boats, one I built from a kit when I was 18…….along, long time ago, and one that I built a couple of years ago, both are about 34 inches long and weight about the same.
The original has been through several motors and R/C control equipment but I have finally got them both with the same electric motor. The newer one runs on 12v 3300mh Ni mh but the older one , I have just added the same motor with a 12v 5000mh Ni mh, on a recent day out testing them with my grandsons , the one with the bigger capacity battery went ‘like a rocket’ ( except it is a boat!) . I haven’t had the chance to swap the battery packs over and see if there is any difference. I wasn’t aware that battery ampere capacity could make that much difference but I won’t know till I have a chance to test it.
anyone with better knowledge than me to elaborate on the subject?
cheers
Dave
 
Tanker man said:
Interesting about batteries, I have two wooden model boats, one I built from a kit when I was 18…….along, long time ago, and one that I built a couple of years ago, both are about 34 inches long and weight about the same.
The original has been through several motors and R/C control equipment but I have finally got them both with the same electric motor. The newer one runs on 12v 3300mh Ni mh but the older one , I have just added the same motor with a 12v 5000mh Ni mh, on a recent day out testing them with my grandsons , the one with the bigger capacity battery went ‘like a rocket’ ( except it is a boat!) . I haven’t had the chance to swap the battery packs over and see if there is any difference. I wasn’t aware that battery ampere capacity could make that much difference but I won’t know till I have a chance to test it.
anyone with better knowledge than me to elaborate on the subject?
cheers
Dave
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Usually the mAh rating indicates the potential running time, rather than any difference in power output.

My understanding of boats is that there isn't usually a gear box, but the prop size and pitch would make a difference - but again, I'm not into the technicalities of prop performance.
 
Todays running times were slightly better than on previous occasions. Both locomotives were run for two sessions and each stopped after 1 hour forty minutes. Each locomotive were hauling 5 and 7 Feldbahn wagons:-
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Both GE 25T switchers about to commence duties.
 
Today was spent weeding and carrying out other maintenance, but I had to have a train running during the coffee break:-
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This morning I have been carrying out draw bar tests on a new coupling (Porter House Models)that I have installed on the Piko GE 25T Switcher and on a Feldbahn flat wagon:-
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I started out hauling 8 wagons and increased the amount of wagons after a couple of circuits:-
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From 12 wagons to 19 and finally 25:-
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To say that I am pleased with the results would be an understatement. I will certainly be purchasing more sets of these couplings.
 
One of the CFR volunteers has spent 8 hours spread over 4 days digging out all the debris and weeds from the pond:-
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We are now ready to repair and realign the pond.
 
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Roundhouse Engineering Double Fairlie hauling freight stock through Priory Station.
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Roundhouse Engineering Katie hauling freight stock towards Priory Station.
 
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