Hi all. I recently converted my Schoema to rc, with a trail wagon carrying the batteries and radio gear, and the loco having it's skates removed, but not the pick ups as I wanted to be able to switch to track power when batteries are dead or when double heading. This worked really well, but I didn't like the trail wagon, especially when shunting, so I attempted to house everything in the loco itself. I know people have done this before, but haven't seen any pics on here of it on here before, so here we are,
The batteries are under the front hood and the speed controller is in the middle in front of the drivers feet
The receiver is under the rear hood, 'hot' glued to the lead weight
I enjoyed playing with this for a while, but really wanted some kind of remote uncoupling too. I had a look at the uncouplers avaliable, but didn't fancy the interfacing with the receiver. In my bits box I had a few of the miniature servos knocking about, and proceeded to find if one could be used to operate the rear coupler. If you've ever had one of these apart you'll know there are two blocks that clip onto the motor unit, and the one at the rear has quite a nice hollow space in it. That's all ok on later blocks, but mine is a growler, and the rear block is somewhat smaller. So I swapped this block with my Stainz newer type and with the help of Mr Dremel the servo fits straight in, very snugly. A length of nylon thread was knotted to the servo arm, and a small hole drilled in the bottom of the block. The nylon is threaded through the hole and tied to the rear part of the coupler hook. The coupler still works as normal, with the servo able to pull the hook to disengage from stock. I removed the loop from the coupler (big mistake) to stop the hooks on stock from engaging, which works really well until it comes to pushing stock backwards, especially on curves. The buffers cross, lock behind each other and then the loco flicks the stock off. For now I have made a larger buffer on the rear of the loco, but will replace the loop and just blank off the space that the hooks normally latch into.
It works really well, and having a controllable coupler at one end is no problem on my railway as I have reversing loops.
I know there is alot of wiring inside, but I've kept the ability to flick to track power and the provision for double heading. The jack sockets at the ends are for the jumper cables and a charging socket. I get about 4-5 hours constant running, and alot of fun!
The batteries are under the front hood and the speed controller is in the middle in front of the drivers feet
The receiver is under the rear hood, 'hot' glued to the lead weight
I enjoyed playing with this for a while, but really wanted some kind of remote uncoupling too. I had a look at the uncouplers avaliable, but didn't fancy the interfacing with the receiver. In my bits box I had a few of the miniature servos knocking about, and proceeded to find if one could be used to operate the rear coupler. If you've ever had one of these apart you'll know there are two blocks that clip onto the motor unit, and the one at the rear has quite a nice hollow space in it. That's all ok on later blocks, but mine is a growler, and the rear block is somewhat smaller. So I swapped this block with my Stainz newer type and with the help of Mr Dremel the servo fits straight in, very snugly. A length of nylon thread was knotted to the servo arm, and a small hole drilled in the bottom of the block. The nylon is threaded through the hole and tied to the rear part of the coupler hook. The coupler still works as normal, with the servo able to pull the hook to disengage from stock. I removed the loop from the coupler (big mistake) to stop the hooks on stock from engaging, which works really well until it comes to pushing stock backwards, especially on curves. The buffers cross, lock behind each other and then the loco flicks the stock off. For now I have made a larger buffer on the rear of the loco, but will replace the loop and just blank off the space that the hooks normally latch into.
It works really well, and having a controllable coupler at one end is no problem on my railway as I have reversing loops.
I know there is alot of wiring inside, but I've kept the ability to flick to track power and the provision for double heading. The jack sockets at the ends are for the jumper cables and a charging socket. I get about 4-5 hours constant running, and alot of fun!
