DEAD RAIL INSTALL IN HO SCALE and S-CAB SYSTEM REVIEW.

[@StanFerris]

BTW, I left that blue light very exposed and bright for the video. On the layout, it is filtered down to a soft glow.

[@bradgotschall3259]

I’ve been out of MRRing for years but having the itch to get back to it. It’s amazing the tech that’s come about since I last played around in late 70’s. I was too young to understand the electronics then but now, after retiring from an electrical/ maintenance background the automation makes so much sense and systems are much easier to implement. Layout wiring is much simpler with wireless controls. Nice video 😊

[@StanFerris]

Thanks, Brad! The S-Cab system I'm using was exactly what I wanted, but does take a bit of head scratching at first, as Stanton's website is so full of technical information. He was patient with my questions. Check out the Dead Rail Facebook group for information on many of the battery systems out there. No more tedious and frequent track cleaning for me!

[@evertroop3567]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds the sound systems annoying. And I often turn the sound off while watching KZbin. Belated thanks for the informative video.

[@StanFerris]

Thanks, Evert! Agreed!

[@bartholomewsorrentino9013]

Thank you for giving your reasons for the various options. You really don’t have to have some thing because everyone else does.

[@StanFerris]

Glad you took the time to comment, Bartholomew, thank you! Excellent point.

[@jeremiahshapiro8422]

Classical music and trains...great combination! Nice video.

[@StanFerris]

Thanks, Jeremiah! (The radio was on).

[@tomoconnell4235]

Nice informative video. I was using the Rail Pro system to control the locomotives and used a dummy locomotive to hold the batteries. If you are a new model railroader or don’t have many locomotives to convert I believe Power on Boaed is the way to go. Thanks for showing the Stanton system.

[@StanFerris]

Thanks Tom! I'm used to on-board power in the 7.5" gauge railroad world. Now I hope to have that same reliability in HO scale. I'm tired of OCD level track cleaning!

[@srarcade]

i think from an aesthetic standpoint, the dead rail solutions preserve realism when you want to keep worn spur tracks or abandoned lines that are properly aged but they're still fully functional. I'm excited to see where this goes in the future with battery improvements coming all the time.

[@StanFerris]

Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment!

[@JacksonSubNScaleModelRailroad]

I just installed a Soundtraxx Blunami in an HO Scale Mantua Southern Crescent Limited. Going to test it out tonight at the layout powered by 2 standard 9v batteries in parrallel for extra run time. The Blunami operates on anything from 7.5 to 22 volts.

[@JacksonSubNScaleModelRailroad]

Also, the 9 volt batteries are in a trailing box car with lead wires going to the locomotive, just like your coal car. Eventually I plan on using rechargeable batteries with diodes and voltage regulators etc... so the batteries charge from the track.

[@StanFerris]

Nice!

[@StanFerris]

That will be great!

[@PhillipBourguignon]

Very cool video. I am using the Micron (Deltang system). Very similar but as far as I know it does not recharge through the rails.

[@StanFerris]

I do enjoy the fact that the battery power never stops dead due to lack of electrical continuity.

[@davidcurtis5398]

I have a slightly different system as I don't have any power on the track at all. I don't mind plugging in the charger. Instead of having the light on the coal car, I have a beacon on the engine. All of my unit goes into the engine but if I had one the size of yours, I would have to have another car in back of the engine just like you have. I am going to have several cars built with only the batteries in them, especially cabooses, so I can have several batteries charged at the same time. I can get about 2 hours of run time out of each battery set up. The system has a charge indicator built in so that when you press a button on the transmitter the cab light will flash the charge strength. My system is from England and is at this time being retooled and will be available in the fall of this year (2022). It was formally called Del Tang but I don't know what it is going to be called as the company has been bought and that is why it is being retooled at this time. The receiver will fit into your small engine and if you get the battery into a car behind the engine, I see no problem in getting a long run time. On one of my switchers (an SW 1) I will have a "calf" connected to it and that will house the battery. I use a "micro plug" between the units and it is not a problem.

[@StanFerris]

Sounds like a really cool setup, David!

[@davidcurtis5398]

@@StanFerris I like it. No sound but I don't mind. Kinda like the sound the wheels make on the track. Works for me...

[@StanFerris]

Yeah, at the beginning the sounds loops were a novelty, but after a while they seemed to get irritating, sound I turned them off. So when I went dead rail it was no biggy to just get a board without the sounds. Sometimes I put a CD on with environment train sounds.

[@ronroy2862]

Love it, perfect for a small layout! Loved your turntable project as well. Does the switcher & coal car fit on it?

[@StanFerris]

Yes they do, Ron. I am really liking the S-Cab system-- I don't even think about the locos getting stuck or interrupted any more, and I don't have to do anything extra to charge the loco batteries up other than turn the layout on now and then! Every few weeks I plug the cab into a usb charger. Thanks much for watching!

[@Steamer96]

I really wish there were loco-motor upgrades for my Mantua General.

[@richardarcher3435]

Thanks very much for this but there's something that's confusing me. Where's the receiver? Shouldn't there be three circuit boards? The battery power supply circuit board, the decoder and the receiver to receive the signal from the S-Cab handset. Also, I'm not aware that ProtoThrottle do battery power. Is that right? I mean battery power for the loco. The handset is battery power but I'm not sure if they supply a receiver to go inside your loco so that that can be battery power.

[@StanFerris]

Hi, Richard. The particular S-Cab system I purchased did not need the factory decoder that was in my locomotives, since I did not need a sound card and a few other programmable options. The one I installed has three components that got added to my locomotive, instead of the existing on-board circuit board (which I removed). The S-Cab comes with a small battery, the BPS module (power supply and regulator, and the receiver/booster module. It takes power from my rails only to charge the battery, not to run the loco. The hand-held transmitter sends controlling signals to the receiver that you install in the loco. Since I already had DCC power to my layout, my loco can get power to recharge it's battery anywhere there is clean track. Here's another video I did on a slightly larger loco: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5SXq3WXg89gp5I

[@richardarcher3435]

@@StanFerris Thanks Stan. I think your receiver is also called a decoder, they are all in the one unit. I'll have to study the S-Cab web site thoroughly before I fully understand. There's a lot to read and it's a beautifully presented website, a joy to read. It's a great shame Tam Valley Depot stopped producing their dead rail equipment. I've managed to get some before they disappeared and am in the process of installing it but I might move over to this system to get more locos battery powered.

[@tommyclaxton8192]

A friend of a friend, etc. use to install the plug in batteries professionally. His comment on the recharging from the rail was the batteries got hot and exploded. I would assume that this has been resolved in the newer systems. Any comments.

[@StanFerris]

Tommy, well I can't answer as any kind of electrical professional, but the lithium batteries in the gear I use are "smart" in that there is a bit of a safety circuit built in. Also, my rails are not energized most of the time. Only when I'm running. So far, I've had no problems. As far as the controller, (and most of my Li battery appliances at home and in the shop), I leave them all on their chargers continually- even the laptop I'm typing on now.

[@johndunford6082]

Interesting tutorial. Surprised you did not use a Caboose for the off loco electronics, to have a pilot dragging a Caboose around all the time would be much more believable prototypically on your line.

[@StanFerris]

Thanks, John!

[@RonStanek]

Is that what they use at Fermi Lab? Or do they use RailPro on the rings?

[@StanFerris]

🤣🤣 Thanks, Ron!

[@RonStanek]

Worked in the ICB facility for almost a year. @"83-84" Will that work on a quark; strangeness and charm track plan? 😆😉

[@ronselliers6951]

RailPro by Ring Engineering

[@roadsscholar4012]

One important question...how long does a charge last?

[@StanFerris]

Thanks! I had the same question before I made the conversion. S-Cab estimated my loco would run almost an hour or so without any charging from the rails, and indefinitely if it got some voltage now and then from a clean section of track (I have NCE power system). So I did a video to test that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oILPh3-dYsuUZ7c

[@thetwogardens6048]

As a newbie to the Train model world , I think they should have ready to buy dead rail trains . I want to make a simple layout and not have to deal with electric tracks .

[@StanFerris]

Hello! Hope you have some great fun with model trains! The smaller sized scales are more challenging to fit batteries and controllers into. If you look at some of the larger scales, like LGB, there are some that come battery operated already. They are often used outdoors in gardens where electrified track would be harder to maintain.