Battery Powered Train Experiment | David Hayes, Nipomo CA
It all began at Mark and Lori Hays’ inaugural Open House in February, 2018. Greg Steinberger, owner of Doc Bernstein’s Ice Cream parlor chain, was explaining his exasperation with trying to maintain his track powered G scale trains in his ice cream shops. These trains had become a trademark at his shops, and he was being forced to abandon them because train maintenance was too expensive.
These trains were being asked to perform every day, for about 10 hours a day, over brass track. Locomotives that had survived this ordeal were vintage LGB. I viewed these trains as an excellent way to promote G scale, and did not want to see that fade away. Being a battery power advocate, I indicated to Greg that maybe I could develop a battery powered train that would alleviate most of his problems. He agreed. It would be a fun project. Now, I can already hear some battery power naysayers rising up about ways to remedy the problems without resorting to battery power. A garden railway professional had been addressing the problems for years. It seems that the food processing that was part of the business was creating an
atmosphere detrimental to maintaining clean track (as well as the salty air off the Pacific Ocean). And the wear on the track, due in part to excessive train speed (to fly over the sections where poor conductivity was the most prevalent) was wearing the track like you wouldn’t believe. I also discovered that stainless rail availability had faded away due to exorbitant cost.
My first approach was to search my inventory of 10 year old (technology)battery powered equipment and see if I could get a feel if my stuff would indicate I was on the right ‘track’. I patched together a couple of old Tenergy Li-Ion batteries and hooked them up to my low current draw LGB Forney and headed over to Walt and Julie Wajda’s ‘test track’. Success – It ran all day and Walt turned it off so they could go to bed.
I did not wish to use old LGB locos that were headed for the graveyard, so my first challenge was to establish that someone still manufactured locomotives that could withstand the riggers of a commercial application. I would concentrate on Buehler motors and German manufacturing, as that combo seemed to have served LGB well. After some discussion with TrainLi, I bought a ProLine DEV V3 Diesel switch engine and some Marklin two-axle gondolas. While gondolas are not typically chosen for battery cars, these would suit my purpose, as the ice cream shop trackage runs 10 feet off the floor preventing a view inside. In addition, they matched the ‘scale’ of the industrial diesel, and would provide easy access for battery swapping, etc.
In a desire to keep my ‘proof of concept’ train simple, I decided to use a simple on/off switch for control and select a battery voltage that provided the speed desired. Some simple tests revealed about 7.5 volts should do it. Battery technology pointed to Li-Ion. Despite several well publicized problems with the technology (think Samsung), those problems ended up pointing to quality control as the issue. So I elected to use the make of battery and charger I had come to trust, Tenergy, and purchased a custom 7.4 volt, 10.4 Ah battery pack with protective circuitry (about $75).
An initial test run at the ice cream parlor ended after several loops around the track. The two axle gondola experienced several derailments on the worn track, and derailments 10 feet in the air with no means to deenergize the locomotive proved exciting. Several long sections of slightly used flex track were available, and the professional was called in to install it. I cannibalized some 4 wheel trucks and modified the gondola. A trial run of 6 hours proved successful, and I was given the green light to install remote control in the event of a derailment, and to create a final version which could hopefully withstand the riggers of a commercial environment.
My history with remote control pointed to only one provider, Airwire (especially in a commercial application). I was dismayed to learn that Airewire requires a 10 volt minimum input, so it was back to Tenergy for a custom 10.4 Ah battery pack (about $115) and a back-up battery. The plan is to swap out batteries at the start of each work day in an upstairs area of the shop where the track is accessible. The added weight of the new batteries (about 1/2 pound more) made me glad i had converted the gondola to four axles.
The industrial diesel came equipped with incandescent lighting, which required conversion to LED for efficiency reasons. I was to learn that such a conversion is a piece of cake when you are talking battery power (thanks, Phil Keys, for the info to silence motor electrical noise). I was also pleased to learn that the latest Airewire products provided several LED outputs, with controllable characteristics, which would add interest.
This version of the train should reflect a design that was more suited to the commercial environment. It would hopefully be in it for the long haul. I experimented with several gauges of stranded wire, connectors, and combinations of shrink tubing. I fabricated partitions to keep the heavy battery from shifting position and upsetting the balance of the battery car (a battery falling into someone ‘s ice cream cone below would be frowned upon). I got lucky in mounting the Airewire board. It’s length was exactly the width of the gondola’s compartment, and it’s height permitted it to be mounted vertically as recommended by Airewire without being seen.
The train is currently in Beta testing at the parlor, which included a 10 hour continuous run without incident. Doc Bernstein’s just announced a desire to go national with the brand, and desires to make operating G scale trains a feature of their shop’s environment. I will keep you posted on our progress.