I spent $800 on fastrack and a Lionel train only to get bad information and find out it can’t be outside. After treating the rails, I found current couldn’t pass. You just saved my dream.
That’s awesome! There’s hope for O Scale outdoors, mine has been outdoors for over 6 years now. I converted to dead rail a few years ago. Couldn’t be more pleased. Glad I kept your dream alive. Thanks for your comment, reach out if you have further questions. 🚂👍🙂
I went to my local hobby store and they found me a RC car battery with your specs. Battery plus charger and I’m looking at around $100, plus they are going to solder the wires for me. This whole idea has blown their minds. They are old die hard hobby guys and this has never occurred to them.
@@travisrogers8716 That’s great. Yeah even though O Scale operates at 18 v AC, all the lights and motors in side are DC. The rectifier on the PCB normally convert the power to AC, now it just used the DC power it needs from the 14.8v battery. Check out some on my other videos on loco conversions and building battery cars and dummy locos as battery cars. Also have a website to check out too. Skål! 🚂🌴👍🙂
Very cool video I wish I knew how to do all that kind of stuff. Great beginning of the video and speaking of Samson where is the dog been in these videos. Lol
Thanks, I learn by doing and researching the internet and YT. Others are far more talented than me, and I take a little bit from all the very talented folks out in YT world.
Well you’ve definitely answered this for me… dead rail outdoors. I’d be tempted to try a known quick charge battery like Milwaukee distributed over several cars for long run time and quick changeover.
Yeah I'm sure that will work, those batteries may weigh a bit much, but sure worth a try. My 2800 mAh battery gives me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of run time. But 2 or 3 amp tool battery would give you a lot more run time... A good experiment in the making. 👍🚂
🚂 HI Ron: Cool demo - Sorry I missed this video. YT no longer sends out email notifications. I am lost 🌴 Cool dead rail demo. Sounds like a big time upgrade for you garden rail roaders. That Santa Fe is LC + best loco. This is very well done - suggestion: Write a how too article with photos to one of the model train mazazines. Take care: Gary from Michigan on th Detroit & Mackinac Railway. 😎
Hey Gary, my bad for not getting back to you, your comment I just noticed I did not answer to. Thanks for the suggestion on upgrading the loco to battery powered. Yeah with the LC line of locos, Lionel can easily add one more switch and a inlet cable port for battery operations. I've talked to several O scale outdoor modelers about this very same topic. There is definitely a market for this type of operation. Thanks for the tip!! 🌴😎👍
Dead rail is awesome and real life! Been doing it for years in G and love the corrosion on the rails as it gives me more traction. Fun watching what it takes for O. I made my own RC system over 10 years ago and it works perfectly still. Have you looked into fitting batteries into the locomotive. G-scale usually gives enough room but I know that is a premium for O
Yes DR is the way to go with outdoor layouts for sure. Yeah the space in the locos is a bit tight. The F unit locos have the room if you use a flat style battery pack. I have a 040 steam loco I’m working on converting to BP. The tender might have the room. A trailing battery car is the best option in most conversions. Thanks for commenting and tuning in to the channel. 👏🚂🙂
Ron, awsome video!! You even used a santa fe engine that I have been trying to hunt down 😍. Glad you went dead rail bud. Ps....if you find another gp38 santa fe like your please please let me know. 😊
Thanks Tad! you hooked me into dead rail... Thank you. I'll look out for the LC+ Santa Fe GP38 no. 3441. You can do the same for me... I'm looking for the LC+ Southern Pacific GP38 no. 4846. 👍😊
if you can convert a train that runs on track power, then I'm going to guess that the opposite is true for doing this for vintage G scale trains. to convert from battery power to run on Track power.
I imagine this is true, it would depend on the electronics of the vintage loco, most train motors run on DC current. So today’s modern loco have circuits to convert AC current to DC current. Older locos would probably only handle DC current. Good question Gamepad 31. 👏🚂
You are correct, the Lion Chief models are easily converted. The older units with the Pul-Mor motors won’t work. You’d need a DC motor. Older TMCC, Legacy and other DC can motors you’ll need a wireless system like BlueRail or RailPro to control these units by track power or battery. My next endeavor is moving to RailPro. Regards, Ron//
Yup sure can. I’m working on converting my LionChief locos to battery. I should have thought of this long ago. Love just putting a loco on the track and starting my train ops. 🚂😎🌴
I can create one for you no problem, which loco did you plan to convert? When you get into the electronics and the PCB board look for the ground wire and the pick up wire going to the third rail rollers. Follow these to the J connector. This will be the connection to move from track power to battery power. Look at my page on battery conversion for some more info.
@@baldypalmsrailroad I was actually retrofitting a 0-8-0 of Lionels but I was moreso referring to a all around baseline diagram of how to do this to a lionchief locomotive. Thank you for the added information I shall look into it.
@@NowhereMan260 Ok, for the LC+ locos. If you go to the Lionel website and look up the LC loco you want to convert. Find the parts list for the loco and find the PCB part number. Now look up the PCB, many time Lionel has a picture and sometimes a schematic. They usually call out the connections to the board in the photo. 🚂
Love the conversion Ron. I was thinking of using battery power. Wondered what you thought of using G scale v O gauge. Do you know if there is much difference in physical space and battery capacity in the cars or engine. How was using batteries and the conversion for o gauge for you, thanks again, love your layout!
G scale definitely has more space in the loco or car to store the battery. I chose O scale simply because I have more invested in O scale when I had a indoor layout. I’ve converted five locos so far and will probably not go back to powered track. The ease of running the trains battery powered outside is so much better. I get about three hours of run time on a battery. Using the 14.8 battery is a good sized battery to run the o scale trains. If you’re gonna run a smoke unit, you’ll have run times. Cheer! Ron//
@@baldypalmsrailroad Thanks Ron, I was asking because I am trying to decide o scale or G scale. Thought this might tip the balance to just do G scale. I have O scale already. I would have to start new with G scale cars and track.
@@ReFoundEnergy2 If you have a ample investment in O scale, you can stick with o scale. You can have a bigger layout, and won’t have to start from scratch of buying a whole new scale. I don’t leave my locos and rolling stock outdoors when not in use. The o scale equipment is not UV resistant like G scale equipment is. The o scale track I use is the Atlas silver nickel which has UV resistant ties.
Living in AZ I have always wanted to run O scale outside. I have been looking into dead rail but I dont know much about it, your way seems a lot easier than some of the kits ive seen out there. How long will a battery last for?
Joe I've been getting 2 1/2 to 3 hours of run time on the 2800 mAh battery. Yeah getting LC+ loco and converting to battery is real simple. Thanks for commenting.
@@JoeG-firehousewhiskey I bought all on amazon. The JST-EH 2.5 connectors I bought on eBay, couldn't find on Amazon. They're coming from China, and have not arrived yet, but I don't need the yet either. On the 3441 I just cut off the shrink wrap and de-soldered the power wire from the center rail pick up and soldered the positive wire from the battery. That simple. LC+ locos are easy to convert to battery power.
Hi I’m very interested in converting a lionchief to dead rail, but had a few questions: 1. Do you have a link to the battery you used? When I tried looking for 2800 mAh batteries, it kept returning a bunch of overly large looking AA batteries, which I don’t think is right? 2. Once you re-wire the stuff and disable the pickups from the track, can you still run it on powered track for like accessories and stuff?
Hello thanks for you questions. My website shows how to do the conversion. I bought the batteries from rldhobbies.com. They offer different sizes to fit in you loco or trailing car. 2200 mAh is the battery capacity, you can purchase higher capacity batteries, but the cost is more. Below is quotes from my website/conversation page. To answer the second question. You want the loco to be completely isolated from the track power. Some folks remove the center rail pickup rollers, I chose not to remove. But you must make sure the hot wire from the pick up rollers are capped and not way can contact ground when you’re running other locomotives on track power. Also the converted loco will not react to the legacy or TMCC controller. The recommended battery would be the lithium ion battery, 14.8v with at least 2200 mAh. I have used both LiOn and LiPo style batteries. The LiPo batteries require balanced charging, which is an extra set of wires to deal with. On my LiOn batteries, I installed a DPDT switch and 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel port to charge the batteries without removing the battery from the auxiliary car. You can do the same with LiPo, but you’ll need to add an extension balance wire as well. With my experience, the 2200 mAh battery provides about 3 -4 hours of run time. So you may ask, if the track power is 18 volts AC, how does the locomotive run on the 14.8 volts DC? Answer is the PCB board has electronics that convert AC voltage to DC voltage and then reduces the DC voltage to 12 volts to run the locomotive's can motors and lights and sound effects. The conversion process is a convenient way to modify your locomotive to operate battery powered. For older track powered and TMCC and Legacy Locomotives there are other options available, this path requires adding additional electronics and incorporating a different control system such as RailPro and Blue Rail controllers. I’d be glad to answer additional questions. The conversation is pretty easy on the LC+ locos. Ron// 🚂👍🙂
Hi and thanks for the reply! I didn’t see any 2200 mAh batteries on that website (2600 seemed to be the smallest), but it sounds like size gives you more run time anyways (as well as space and weight considerations I guess). I have a basic lionchief I’m looking to convert (the super chief model), it doesn’t sound like it’s any different than the lionchief+ one absent some features like electronic couplers, so hopefully this’ll work still. I’ll be sure to keep in mind any questions I have over the coming weeks and I’ll give the website a view too. Thanks again!
@@swrodgon Your welcome! Should be easy. When you remove the shell, just follow the wires, you’ll soon soon which wire is which. If you have questions don’t hesitate to ask. 🚂🙂
I'm get 2.5 to 3 hours of run time on the 2800 mAh battery. Depends on how much I do, changing speed, direction and what not. Batteries charge up in about a couple of hours. I have spare batteries at the ready. The DC can motors run at 12v DC ( I think ) at less than a 1 amp, so the 14.8v battery is plenty of power. 🚂😊
Best to splice in the battery wire leads, I try not to cut wires, in case I convert back to track power in the future. Also not all locos can be converted, the one with DC can motors are your best ones to convert, the LC+ units are pretty easy to cross over to battery, they are essentially running at 12 DC via the inverter on the PCB board taking the either the AC of DC higher voltage down to operating voltage for the can motors. Thank for your comment.. Ron//
So are you going 100 percent battery power if so seems like a big waste of time for when you first built the layout and spent all the time placing the conduit with the wiring in it.
Yes very true. At the time I started building the railroad, I had no idea battery powered O Scale even existed. I still have several TMCC and Legacy locomotives that may not be cost effective to convert to battery. I'm still leaving the wiring in place to run track power locos as well. With that said, my new locos moving forward will be LC+ 2.0, so I can operate various modes. From TMCC or Lionchief RC. Thanks for your comment.
Ron, the LionChief GP locos has little for a internal battery battery. The pcb board and can motors leave barely any room. The battery car was my most logical solution. Great question. 👍🙂
@@baldypalmsrailroad Interesting. The LC board looked small enough. I did a GP38, SD40 and BL2 with battery onboard. However my control board was RailPro. Must be just a little smaller.
@@ron045 I think so, I’m still using the original LionChief board. I’m looking at going RailPro on some of my older TMCC loco, where I would strip down to just can motors and install the RailPro. Luckey Ranch Railroad has been this on many of his locos.
@@baldypalmsrailroad LLRR and I are friends and have been exchanging many ideas back and forth with RailPro. I have 4 converted now. I also have 4 BlueRail. I have quite a few videos on the subject here as well.🙂
@@ron045 Ron very cool, I checked a lot of you videos on the RailPro. This is something I’m gonna really look into. I have several Lionel legacy locos I’m thinking of converting. I think I’ll convert my Lionel LionChief locos first. I like how you can build lash ups on RailPro. The LC remote does not offer that feature. The sound card sounds superb. Like how you can customize the sounds. From your videos most are on track power? I wonder if I could put switch in to run either battery or track power. Just a thought. I subbed your channel. Glad to meet you.
I’m using Atlas silver nickel track. Either brand is compatible for outside use. The elements of dust, dirt and oxidation will effect any type of track outside. Thanks for your comment. Ron//
@@baldypalmsrailroad I have used Gar Graves 3 rail stainless steel track outside for five years. I never cleaned it and when I want to run trains I just put them on the track and go. But your videos are great always enjoy watching them.
@@DJW701 The great DJW... If i remember correctly I went with Altas track because the supply was more abundant at the time I started my railway. I do see other outdoor layouts using the Gar Graves as well. Cleaning the track only took about 10 minutes anyway, but running dead rail is just a new approach to O Scale outdoor railroading. It always nice to try new things, one never wants to finish their railroad...then what are we gonna do... haha. Glad you enjoy my content. Skål! Ron//
I spent $800 on fastrack and a Lionel train only to get bad information and find out it can’t be outside. After treating the rails, I found current couldn’t pass.
You just saved my dream.
That’s awesome! There’s hope for O Scale outdoors, mine has been outdoors for over 6 years now.
I converted to dead rail a few years ago. Couldn’t be more pleased. Glad I kept your dream alive. Thanks for your comment, reach out if you have further questions. 🚂👍🙂
I went to my local hobby store and they found me a RC car battery with your specs. Battery plus charger and I’m looking at around $100, plus they are going to solder the wires for me.
This whole idea has blown their minds. They are old die hard hobby guys and this has never occurred to them.
@@travisrogers8716 That’s great. Yeah even though O Scale operates at 18 v AC, all the lights and motors in side are DC. The rectifier on the PCB normally convert the power to AC, now it just used the DC power it needs from the 14.8v battery. Check out some on my other videos on loco conversions and building battery cars and dummy locos as battery cars. Also have a website to check out too. Skål! 🚂🌴👍🙂
great conversion grats now the outdoor system will be great well it is great but greater thanks for showing the details...
Thank you, running trains is now 15 minutes faster... And if I learn something new why not share among us all. 🚂😊
Very cool video I wish I knew how to do all that kind of stuff. Great beginning of the video and speaking of Samson where is the dog been in these videos. Lol
Thanks, I learn by doing and researching the internet and YT. Others are far more talented than me, and I take a little bit from all the very talented folks out in YT world.
Well you’ve definitely answered this for me… dead rail outdoors. I’d be tempted to try a known quick charge battery like Milwaukee distributed over several cars for long run time and quick changeover.
Yeah I'm sure that will work, those batteries may weigh a bit much, but sure worth a try. My 2800 mAh battery gives me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of run time. But 2 or 3 amp tool battery would give you a lot more run time... A good experiment in the making. 👍🚂
🚂 HI Ron: Cool demo - Sorry I missed this video. YT no longer sends out email notifications. I am lost 🌴 Cool dead rail demo. Sounds like a big time upgrade for you garden rail roaders. That Santa Fe is LC + best loco. This is very well done - suggestion: Write a how too article with photos to one of the model train mazazines. Take care: Gary from Michigan on th Detroit & Mackinac Railway. 😎
Hey Gary, my bad for not getting back to you, your comment I just noticed I did not answer to. Thanks for the suggestion on upgrading the loco to battery powered. Yeah with the LC line of locos, Lionel can easily add one more switch and a inlet cable port for battery operations. I've talked to several O scale outdoor modelers about this very same topic. There is definitely a market for this type of operation. Thanks for the tip!! 🌴😎👍
Dead rail is awesome and real life! Been doing it for years in G and love the corrosion on the rails as it gives me more traction. Fun watching what it takes for O. I made my own RC system over 10 years ago and it works perfectly still. Have you looked into fitting batteries into the locomotive. G-scale usually gives enough room but I know that is a premium for O
Yes DR is the way to go with outdoor layouts for sure. Yeah the space in the locos is a bit tight. The F unit locos have the room if you use a flat style battery pack. I have a 040 steam loco I’m working on converting to BP. The tender might have the room. A trailing battery car is the best option in most conversions. Thanks for commenting and tuning in to the channel. 👏🚂🙂
Yep did up my old postwar engines the same way but left track power to the smoke units and old lights for max effect.
Awesome! my next try is a 90's era NW2 switcher to convert with a new bluetooth LC+ NW2 pcb, we'll see how this goes. Thanks for comment & watching.
Ron, awsome video!! You even used a santa fe engine that I have been trying to hunt down 😍. Glad you went dead rail bud.
Ps....if you find another gp38 santa fe like your please please let me know. 😊
Thanks Tad! you hooked me into dead rail... Thank you. I'll look out for the LC+ Santa Fe GP38 no. 3441. You can do the same for me... I'm looking for the LC+ Southern Pacific GP38 no. 4846. 👍😊
@@baldypalmsrailroad wait wait they have a sp gp38 as well?????? Do you know the sku number? Is it in the blackwiddow theme??
@@baldypalmsrailroad found it. Sku 6-82827. Ill keep my eye out for you!!
Great video. Do the electro-couplers work on battery power?
Absolutely! All functions work on the battery. Smoke unit, lights and sound all work. 👍🚂
@@baldypalmsrailroad Thank you. It’s pretty wet here, but moving the Lionel outside (and grandkids) would be a welcome change.
if you can convert a train that runs on track power, then I'm going to guess that the opposite is true for doing this for vintage G scale trains. to convert from battery power to run on Track power.
I imagine this is true, it would depend on the electronics of the vintage loco, most train motors run on DC current. So today’s modern loco have circuits to convert AC current to DC current. Older locos would probably only handle DC current. Good question Gamepad 31. 👏🚂
Many older Lionel engines would need some kind of converter from DC to AC otherwise the horn or whistle would constantly be on.
You are correct, the Lion Chief models are easily converted. The older units with the Pul-Mor motors won’t work. You’d need a DC motor. Older TMCC, Legacy and other DC can motors you’ll need a wireless system like BlueRail or RailPro to control these units by track power or battery. My next endeavor is moving to RailPro.
Regards,
Ron//
Yea buddy! Now this is the way to go for outside running. So could you use 2 rail o scale track with battery powered?
Yup sure can. I’m working on converting my LionChief locos to battery. I should have thought of this long ago. Love just putting a loco on the track and starting my train ops. 🚂😎🌴
Do you by chance have a wiring diagram for this conversion? It would be amazingly helpful. Thank you for uploading also.
I can create one for you no problem, which loco did you plan to convert?
When you get into the electronics and the PCB board look for the ground wire and the pick up wire going to the third rail rollers. Follow these to the J connector. This will be the connection to move from track power to battery power.
Look at my page on battery conversion for some more info.
@@baldypalmsrailroad I was actually retrofitting a 0-8-0 of Lionels but I was moreso referring to a all around baseline diagram of how to do this to a lionchief locomotive. Thank you for the added information I shall look into it.
@@NowhereMan260 Ok, for the LC+ locos. If you go to the Lionel website and look up the LC loco you want to convert. Find the parts list for the loco and find the PCB part number. Now look up the PCB, many time Lionel has a picture and sometimes a schematic. They usually call out the connections to the board in the photo. 🚂
Love the conversion Ron. I was thinking of using battery power. Wondered what you thought of using G scale v O gauge. Do you know if there is much difference in physical space and battery capacity in the cars or engine. How was using batteries and the conversion for o gauge for you, thanks again, love your layout!
G scale definitely has more space in the loco or car to store the battery. I chose O scale simply because I have more invested in O scale when I had a indoor layout. I’ve converted five locos so far and will probably not go back to powered track. The ease of running the trains battery powered outside is so much better. I get about three hours of run time on a battery. Using the 14.8 battery is a good sized battery to run the o scale trains. If you’re gonna run a smoke unit, you’ll have run times.
Cheer! Ron//
@@baldypalmsrailroad Thanks Ron, I was asking because I am trying to decide o scale or G scale. Thought this might tip the balance to just do G scale. I have O scale already. I would have to start new with G scale cars and track.
@@ReFoundEnergy2
If you have a ample investment in O scale, you can stick with o scale. You can have a bigger layout, and won’t have to start from scratch of buying a whole new scale. I don’t leave my locos and rolling stock outdoors when not in use. The o scale equipment is not UV resistant like G scale equipment is. The o scale track I use is the Atlas silver nickel which has UV resistant ties.
And a rc controler for train ops
Yup.. I'll use the Lionel universal remote..
Living in AZ I have always wanted to run O scale outside. I have been looking into dead rail but I dont know much about it, your way seems a lot easier than some of the kits ive seen out there.
How long will a battery last for?
Joe I've been getting 2 1/2 to 3 hours of run time on the 2800 mAh battery. Yeah getting LC+ loco and converting to battery is real simple. Thanks for commenting.
@@baldypalmsrailroad Oh thats not bad, where did you buy the battery and wires from?
@@JoeG-firehousewhiskey I bought all on amazon. The JST-EH 2.5 connectors I bought on eBay, couldn't find on Amazon. They're coming from China, and have not arrived yet, but I don't need the yet either. On the 3441 I just cut off the shrink wrap and de-soldered the power wire from the center rail pick up and soldered the positive wire from the battery. That simple. LC+ locos are easy to convert to battery power.
Hi I’m very interested in converting a lionchief to dead rail, but had a few questions:
1. Do you have a link to the battery you used? When I tried looking for 2800 mAh batteries, it kept returning a bunch of overly large looking AA batteries, which I don’t think is right?
2. Once you re-wire the stuff and disable the pickups from the track, can you still run it on powered track for like accessories and stuff?
Hello thanks for you questions. My website shows how to do the conversion. I bought the batteries from rldhobbies.com. They offer different sizes to fit in you loco or trailing car. 2200 mAh is the battery capacity, you can purchase higher capacity batteries, but the cost is more. Below is quotes from my website/conversation page.
To answer the second question. You want the loco to be completely isolated from the track power. Some folks remove the center rail pickup rollers, I chose not to remove. But you must make sure the hot wire from the pick up rollers are capped and not way can contact ground when you’re running other locomotives on track power. Also the converted loco will not react to the legacy or TMCC controller.
The recommended battery would be the lithium ion battery, 14.8v with at least 2200 mAh. I have used both LiOn and LiPo style batteries. The LiPo batteries require balanced charging, which is an extra set of wires to deal with. On my LiOn batteries, I installed a DPDT switch and 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel port to charge the batteries without removing the battery from the auxiliary car. You can do the same with LiPo, but you’ll need to add an extension balance wire as well. With my experience, the 2200 mAh battery provides about 3 -4 hours of run time.
So you may ask, if the track power is 18 volts AC, how does the locomotive run on the 14.8 volts DC? Answer is the PCB board has electronics that convert AC voltage to DC voltage and then reduces the DC voltage to 12 volts to run the locomotive's can motors and lights and sound effects. The conversion process is a convenient way to modify your locomotive to operate battery powered. For older track powered and TMCC and Legacy Locomotives there are other options available, this path requires adding additional electronics and incorporating a different control system such as RailPro and Blue Rail controllers.
I’d be glad to answer additional questions. The conversation is pretty easy on the LC+ locos.
Ron// 🚂👍🙂
Hi and thanks for the reply! I didn’t see any 2200 mAh batteries on that website (2600 seemed to be the smallest), but it sounds like size gives you more run time anyways (as well as space and weight considerations I guess). I have a basic lionchief I’m looking to convert (the super chief model), it doesn’t sound like it’s any different than the lionchief+ one absent some features like electronic couplers, so hopefully this’ll work still. I’ll be sure to keep in mind any questions I have over the coming weeks and I’ll give the website a view too. Thanks again!
@@swrodgon Your welcome! Should be easy. When you remove the shell, just follow the wires, you’ll soon soon which wire is which. If you have questions don’t hesitate to ask. 🚂🙂
What type of run times are you getting? Any problems with the lower voltage that what the power pack gives?
I'm get 2.5 to 3 hours of run time on the 2800 mAh battery. Depends on how much I do, changing speed, direction and what not. Batteries charge up in about a couple of hours. I have spare batteries at the ready. The DC can motors run at 12v DC ( I think ) at less than a 1 amp, so the 14.8v battery is plenty of power. 🚂😊
where are you currently buying your batteries?
I’ve purchased on Amazon and recently on
www.rldhobbies.com/
Thanks for commenting.
I think about doing battery power but the wire are new to me since which wire I have cut off
Best to splice in the battery wire leads, I try not to cut wires, in case I convert back to track power in the future. Also not all locos can be converted, the one with DC can motors are your best ones to convert, the LC+ units are pretty easy to cross over to battery, they are essentially running at 12 DC via the inverter on the PCB board taking the either the AC of DC higher voltage down to operating voltage for the can motors. Thank for your comment.. Ron//
So are you going 100 percent battery power if so seems like a big waste of time for when you first built the layout and spent all the time placing the conduit with the wiring in it.
Yes very true. At the time I started building the railroad, I had no idea battery powered O Scale even existed. I still have several TMCC and Legacy locomotives that may not be cost effective to convert to battery. I'm still leaving the wiring in place to run track power locos as well. With that said, my new locos moving forward will be LC+ 2.0, so I can operate various modes. From TMCC or Lionchief RC. Thanks for your comment.
Why a battery car? Looks like a ton of room to put a battery in the engine shell.
Ron, the LionChief GP locos has little for a internal battery battery. The pcb board and can motors leave barely any room. The battery car was my most logical solution. Great question. 👍🙂
@@baldypalmsrailroad Interesting. The LC board looked small enough. I did a GP38, SD40 and BL2 with battery onboard. However my control board was RailPro. Must be just a little smaller.
@@ron045 I think so, I’m still using the original LionChief board. I’m looking at going RailPro on some of my older TMCC loco, where I would strip down to just can motors and install the RailPro.
Luckey Ranch Railroad has been this on many of his locos.
@@baldypalmsrailroad LLRR and I are friends and have been exchanging many ideas back and forth with RailPro. I have 4 converted now. I also have 4 BlueRail. I have quite a few videos on the subject here as well.🙂
@@ron045 Ron very cool, I checked a lot of you videos on the RailPro. This is something I’m gonna really look into. I have several Lionel legacy locos I’m thinking of converting. I think I’ll convert my Lionel LionChief locos first. I like how you can build lash ups on RailPro. The LC remote does not offer that feature. The sound card sounds superb. Like how you can customize the sounds. From your videos most are on track power? I wonder if I could put switch in to run either battery or track power. Just a thought. I subbed your channel. Glad to meet you.
If you would have used gar graves stainless steel track you would not have to clean the tracks.
I’m using Atlas silver nickel track. Either brand is compatible for outside use. The elements of dust, dirt and oxidation will effect any type of track outside. Thanks for your comment. Ron//
@@baldypalmsrailroad I have used Gar Graves 3 rail stainless steel track outside for five years. I never cleaned it and when I want to run trains I just put them on the track and go. But your videos are great always enjoy watching them.
@@DJW701 The great DJW... If i remember correctly I went with Altas track because the supply was more abundant at the time I started my railway. I do see other outdoor layouts using the Gar Graves as well. Cleaning the track only took about 10 minutes anyway, but running dead rail is just a new approach to O Scale outdoor railroading. It always nice to try new things, one never wants to finish their railroad...then what are we gonna do... haha. Glad you enjoy my content. Skål! Ron//