What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

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What source(s) of power do you use for your locos?

Analogue track power
5
4%
Battery
46
40%
DCC track power
2
2%
Live steam
56
49%
Clockwork
3
3%
Other
3
3%
 
Total votes: 115

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ge_rik
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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by ge_rik » Mon Jan 15, 2018 8:36 pm

Johnnie2sheds wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:41 pm 10(ish) battery "diesels"
1 Battery steam outline
2 Live steam
1 Solar powered
Solar powered? That sounds intriguing.

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by Johnnie2sheds » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:04 pm

Intriguing? I prefer Frustrating :D OK Its on my little web blog thing, but I saw, on youtube this little fella.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfmT8yMpHNc

And I thought, If I copied the idea but made it a boxcab.....Have a look Rik. Its fairly simple stuff, most of the roof is a solar panel
but I did not account for the fact that we in England live in perpetual darkness so charging isnt brilliant to be honest.

DSCF0004 - Copy.JPG
DSCF0004 - Copy.JPG (160 KiB) Viewed 6788 times
THis is about as far as Ive got with it, it works elecrically but need finishing off. Soon.

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by philipy » Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:03 pm

I like the look of that. Be interested in seeing a video when you get it finished.

Just a thought, could you incorporate rechargeable batteries to change over if it runs into a shady patch - rather like solar powered garden lights?
Philip

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by Johnnie2sheds » Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:16 pm

Yass Phil, there are 8 x AA NiMh batteries. The panel charges the batteries (on two days a year)
I don't have a railway at the moment, I'm trying to flog a house and settle into something smaller.
I'd love to bore everyone with a construction thread at some point. So you might have to wait for the video :D

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by ge_rik » Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:19 pm

Presumably, if you leave it in the sun between running sessions, then it should get topped-up without needing to be connected to a charger. It depends on how long you leave it between sessions, maybe?

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by daan » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:01 pm

It's odd to see that track power is far less common in the UK then battery or live steam. I guess if asked on the continent, the analogue and digital track powered users would outnumber battery or live steamers any time.

On my railway 2 live steamlocomotives and 3 battery diesel locomotives, one of them is mainly sucking the life out of 24 batteries at once, transferring it into a little bit of movement, so is not used very much.. :lol:
"En schöne Gruess" from an Alpine railway in Holland.

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by ge_rik » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:37 pm

daan wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:01 pm It's odd to see that track power is far less common in the UK then battery or live steam. I guess if asked on the continent, the analogue and digital track powered users would outnumber battery or live steamers any time.

On my railway 2 live steamlocomotives and 3 battery diesel locomotives, one of them is mainly sucking the life out of 24 batteries at once, transferring it into a little bit of movement, so is not used very much.. :lol:
24 batteries?? Are they 1.2v each? That's a really hungry loco. None of my locos is powered by more than 12v and I run quite heavy trains.

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by FWLR » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:23 pm

I wouldn’t have track power, it’s bad enough indoors without all the hassle of trying to keep the rails clean thank you... :thumbright:

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by Big Jim » Thu Jan 18, 2018 8:47 pm

I'd love to bore everyone with a construction thread at some point. So you might have to wait for the video :D
I would love to see a construction thread about this.
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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by Johnnie2sheds » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:29 pm

Jim I was referring to a new railway. Theres a bit of a write up on the bloggy thing ( link below), with circuit diagrams and stuff :D

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Re: What sorts of power do you use for your locos?

Post by dewintondave » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:24 am

Live diesel. It's the next big thing!
Best wishes,
Dave

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