outdoor electric trains NOT battery rf controlled
#16
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not sure about the rules re hotlinking images- this (minus the `smoky joe' graphitti) is what was used as a testbench

scary- i see the sheep `friends ' over the tasman are up to 70 bucks for that one- I only paid 55 (on special mind you)

one of the reasons I dont indulge myself with a layout these days- the sheer cost is (pardon my french) furkin rediculous....

locally i can drive my car around for around a month- or buy a `hornby 040' loco like that

(true- that loco is close to a full months fuel bill for me.... !!!!!)

the N scale stuff is even more crazy- I can buy a 2nd hand car for less than a single loco!!
poopsie chicken tush
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#17
Very interesting conversation!

I'll leave the electrical issues to the experts.

However, the wind causing derailments would be prototypical. Goldth

The Newfoundland Railway had a section of track that went across a wide windy plain.

Trains could easily be blown off the rails in a "Sou-Easter".

Quote:The Human Wind Gauge

Like most everything else in Newfoundland, Wreckhouse has a rather interesting history attached to it. In the days when trains still ran here, the Wreckhouse miles were a stressful haul for the engineers. In 1939, tired of having the trains blown off the tracks, the rail company hired a local trapper to advise them of the wind conditions. Lockie MacDougall lived at Wreckhouse, and claimed the uncanny ability to ‘smell’ the wind. Given a telephone and twenty dollars a month salary, Lockie sent warning of approaching southeasters. Until his death in 1965, Lockie delayed hundreds of trains and saved as many lives during his employ as a ‘human wind gauge’.

Read more at Suite101: Natural Wonders of Newfoundland: Wreckhouse and the Human Wind Gauge <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://newfoundland-labrador-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_wonders_of_newfoundland#ixzz0mbKaak3k">http://newfoundland-labrador-travel.sui ... z0mbKaak3k</a><!-- m -->
Ron Wm. Hurlbut
Toronto, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Ontario Narrow Gauge Show
Humber Valley & Simcoe Railway Blog
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#18
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so all you need is a `littleone' of these sitting in the appropriate place- and you can run a prototypical layout even!!!

(can't think of what we used to call em on the old place- the `littlemen' had a name its.... (taps fingers..))

can't think of it!!!
poopsie chicken tush
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#19
LPB Which, I think, means: Little Plastic Bodies?
Ron Wm. Hurlbut
Toronto, Ontario, Dominion of Canada
Ontario Narrow Gauge Show
Humber Valley & Simcoe Railway Blog
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#20
snap
poopsie chicken tush
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#21
I am just seeing a 50 carrage long string in HO

its something the n scale guys get to do- load it up until you actually need more locos just to move it!!

not a consist because it looks good- but doing proto- you need a consist to get it moving!!!

I doubt many (if any) could do it in ho

imagine a 50ft long ho train, straining up hill, then fighting the downhill grades

now that would be cool....
poopsie chicken tush
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#22
Boppa, going back a few posts with regard to dcc outside on ho, I don't think it would work. It definitely would not work with sound decoders. ANY disruption of power with sound causes the decoder to shut down and then restart. At the modular club when we set up all of our rails have wire drops to the buss for power, except the 4" long joiner tracks we use between modules. Those rely on the rail joiners making the electrical connection. With our old school dc system, most locomotives would bridge the joiner tracks so either the front or rear truck of a locomotive would pick up power. Steam engines were more finicky, but with flywheels they would coast over the dead spots and pick up power on the other side. Not so with dcc, and interruption of power caused the decoder to "start over." We have also found that the track must be extremely clean for dcc to work. Any dirt or corrosion acts like an open circuit. Large scale is heavy enough to crush through corrosion and crush dirt out of the way. Ho is just too small and light to do the job. I'm not suggesting that it won't work outside, but it will require a lot more maintenance than large scale, and I'm not convinced that dcc is doable at all in ho scale outside. I think On30 with battery powered locomotives and radio control like model airplanes a or rc cars is probably more practical for outdoor use.
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#23
he doesnt want to run dcc outside, just dc

I did buy a cheap (20buck) decoder 2ndhand and used it to find the upper limit before the smoke escaped- I was surprised to find it worked with my `custom pulsed dc' controller up to over 70 volts peak before it went bang....

I am picking up a couple more to try out a couple of new ideas re peak voltage limiting for a dcc board with even higher track peak voltages

the inside layout is currently dc as well but he wants to go dcc, with the outside loop remaining as dc and the dcc locos running in dc mode (I'm not up on dcc controllers, I am assuming this would be ok- from reading a dcc equiped loco should run on a dc track as well, which is what the outside track would basically be- just a `special dc'

I have several meters of `specially prepared track' for testing- dumped it in the ocean and left it uncleaned or washed for a couple of weeks- even with `visible' corrosion happening on the the fishplates the train is still reliable running (and its only a 0-4-0 tank from hornby)
poopsie chicken tush
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