Greetings from the Outerbanks of North Carolina

[dunnyrail]

Well I fell in that temporal anomaly of a topic. Lots of research to be done there. It seems what the RC controllers do is super simple. I don't understand the high cost of the electronics. Seems like some hobbyist motor controllers ran by an ESP32 could do all the same things. And it could be ran from the web browser on my phone. Would be super easy to add sound and light. For that matter I could get crazy with some addressable LED control. And if i get boarded I could have everything on a dedicated wifi network that would allow all the devices to communicate with each other. That way you could use RFID to activate things as the trains go around the layout. Surely someone has already done this. We do this type of stuff in escape rooms. Everything is of a custom nature so you can't use pre made stuff.

Yes it has been done on WiFi but range us pretty poor but worse still you spend more time looking at the phone than your train, but each to his own I guess. Most decent systems allow more than on loco from the Tx, just an RX for each loco. Not cheep but then neither are DCC track control systems. My view is that less is more when you start, time will build a larger setup.

Speaking as having done a lot of battery conversions both big and small it is well worth making dummies of what you intend to fit, dummy battery packs using old batteries taped together will give you a feel of what can and cant be fitted in.

 

[Martino]

Welcome from down in the northern Georgia Mountains. Hope Hurricane Erin leaves you alone! Having lived in Northwest Florida, about half a mile from the Gulf, I know all about the threat of big storms and the effects of the sea on a garden railroad.

 

[Paul M]

Another thing is I could build a shed and have the trains be self charging. Just like a rollercoaster do when it comes into the load/unload station.

You really need to be careful with that idea. It sounds good but can actually be very difficult to do. Someone with more knowledge will be able to explain the problems

 

[bsosborne1]

Welcome from down in the northern Georgia Mountains. Hope Hurricane Erin leaves you alone! Having lived in Northwest Florida, about half a mile from the Gulf, I know all about the threat of big storms and the effects of the sea on a garden railroad.

So far just a bit of wind and rough surf. My wife and I were able to walk on the beach this evening, so it wasn't bad. Typically when we get a big storm you can't walk at the beach without your eyes getting sand blasted.

 

[bsosborne1]

You really need to be careful with that idea. It sounds good but can actually be very difficult to do. Someone with more knowledge will be able to explain the problems

Shouldn’t be hard to do, just need a BMS and relay to turn off the track power when the cell is charged. Like I said this is done all the time in the ride show world. The track is just conducting the electricity, nothing else.

For instance the Tower of Terror ride vehicles are trackless (The very first trackless dark ride in fact) when they move laterally in the hallway scene. Once they go into the elevator they connect with the charging system. Each vehicle has a BMS that reads the charge of the battery and determines if it needs to accept a charge while docked with the charging system. Same thing with your rollercoaster trains that have lighting and sound. They pull into the station and connect with the charger. The BMS determines battery state and then charges if needed.

 

[PhilP]

The rides, are a lot bigger and heavier, and I would guess that they have a positive plug/socket system for connection?

Our models are much lighter, and relying on contact between wheels and rail (especially on a 'dead-rail' system can be a problem. - People don't clean the track, wheels, or maintain the pickups.
You also need to know you have a proper BMS, and not just a protection board, on the pack.

I would guess there is a lot more money and brain-power, aimed at the commercial rides?

You still need to be able to switch the pickups off. - Unless you will never take a model to another track. - You don't know how your system would respond to power from another control-system, and there is a slim chance that putting your loco on a DCC system might interfere with control. Worse, it could cause the system to shutdown.
Hopefully, nothing would get back into the CS, and cause any problems.

PhilP.

 

[bsosborne1]

The rides, are a lot bigger and heavier, and I would guess that they have a positive plug/socket system for connection?

Our models are much lighter, and relying on contact between wheels and rail (especially on a 'dead-rail' system can be a problem. - People don't clean the track, wheels, or maintain the pickups.
You also need to know you have a proper BMS, and not just a protection board, on the pack.

I would guess there is a lot more money and brain-power, aimed at the commercial rides?

You still need to be able to switch the pickups off. - Unless you will never take a model to another track. - You don't know how your system would respond to power from another control-system, and there is a slim chance that putting your loco on a DCC system might interfere with control. Worse, it could cause the system to shutdown.
Hopefully, nothing would get back into the CS, and cause any problems.

PhilP.

Most ride systems just use a bus bar/pick up system. The difference is the voltage is much higher so connection issues are less.

I would have the charge track located inside a garage. That should cut down on the connection issues. Its probably not a great idea but you could run the charge track at 48VDC and step down at the loco to provide charge voltage.

Of course I would use a true BMS. I would think everyone would to provide cell balancing and over current protection? Its not a great idea to just have raw LiFePo4 cells connected to a load. That's where the switching would occur. A simple solid state rely on the pickup line.

Yes there is more money in the ride show market if your at the WDW or Universal Creative level. The majority of everything else is just figured out when prototyping. Its a really fun industry. I love going to IAAPA and just brainstorming with vendors on how to use different products in unconventional way.

I highly doubt I'll be running my stuff at any other track. I don't get out much. Not very good with the whole social thing.

I don't know that I would even do this, I'm just brainstorming. However, my personality type will do things just because people say I can't. I once built a splash pad/pool on a unrealistic budget to prove all the big pool companies wrong. Hell, a large splash pad company dared me to reverse engineer their stuff and build it for less then they said they could. Later that evening I found all their suppliers on Alibaba and had a preliminary drawing of a working fountain canister complete with the schematic for a control system using common irrigation parts. Here's a pic of of the production iteration of the control valve manifold. All of it custom fabricated. So, yeah I tend to get things done when I want to.

 

[bsosborne1]

Looks like Soundtraxx has done most of what I was talking about. And has prices that make all the work of a custom superfluous. So much to learn.

 

[dunnyrail]

I can understand the concept if ‘I can do it’ why not? However you may find that G scale trains when you try fitting ‘stuff’ in can be restrictive in space inside no matter how big the prototype.

 

[Northsider]

A belated welcome to the Forum, Scott! As you've found, there's a wealth of advice, and we are open to all approaches, from the freelance and whimsical to strictly prototypical with a side order of rivet-counting. It's your railway, so run what you like, how you like!

 

[bsosborne1]

I can understand the concept if ‘I can do it’ why not? However you may find that G scale trains when you try fitting ‘stuff’ in can be restrictive in space inside no matter how big the prototype.

I've made a career out of an ability to think outside the box. It might not always work, but I can't help but try. Failing just means that you're one step closer to success.

 

[Paul M]

I've made a career out of an ability to think outside the box. It might not always work, but I can't help but try. Failing just means that you're one step closer to success.

Unless its failing to disconnect the supply from a 415V transformer, before working on it.

 

[PhilP]

Unless its failing to disconnect the supply from a 415V transformer, before working on it.

A whole new meaning, to "measure twice, cut once.."
New cutters please!

PhilP.