Train Engineer Revolution in O-scale

I looked at it but went with the RCS 2.4Ghz system from Australia instead.  Takes 10 days to get what I want from Australia to Va.  Of course I don't have any sound yet, but they do offer a sound module.  I also don't have any smoke units installed, didn't use them when I was running DCS/TMCC.

I think the main reason I went with RCS was the size, the main reason I didn't go with Crest was they didn't say for certain it'll work in O scale trains at the time.

Tony Walsham's RCS components have fit in every steam engine tender I've tried so far, smallest being a Railking USRA 0-6-0.  The batteries (which are the space hogs) are getting smaller all the time.  I'm using either 9.6v 2000Mah NiMh packs or 11.1v 2200Mah LiPo packs and get excellent run times.  I plan on getting smaller capacity batteries (from ALL-Battery.com, thru Ebay as they are cheaper and from the same warehouse!!!) to see how long they last and to see if they'll take up less room.

Hey go for it, experimenting is half the fun   I haven't cleaned my track&wheels since May.  I also have had 0 failures, other than a wire get pulled out of one of Evans Designs LEDs I'm using in my headlights/backup lights.

I didn't realize that Revolution was still available, I thought it went down with Aristocraft, tried to find them on the net but no luck. I wonted to go with Deltang for my battery power. I have wondered if the Revolution hand set would bind with the Deltang Receivers.

cTr.....(Choose the Right)

Here ya go Stephen:

http://www.crest-electronics.net/

Tony has taken the Deltang gear and modified it to his wants, from what I see he's mainly made it so there's screw terminals vice soldering involved.

The Deltang guy, David Theunissen, visits the Freerails forum regularly.  I'll do a search and see if that's been asked.

There's another power option if you have a track voltage source -- use one of those constant-voltage AC-to-DC power supplies they sell on eBay for around $7.00. You could pick up the track voltage and output 9.6VDC to feed the control system. They're pretty small so you could probably find somewhere to squeeze one into a locomotive.

By the way, Bob, where can you find one of those RCS systems?

Sorry Matt, here ya go:

http://www.rcs-rc.com/

Aussies speak a little bit different lingo then we do here, but Tony's good for answering any questions you might have, he also visits the Freerails forum.  I plan on getting one to put in my Bachmann G scale 4-6-0.  here's a photo of one of my RCS Transmitters:

He's got a Tx-8 out now that replaces this one for battery-powered systems.  Basically the same Tx, but the codes are set up differently now...the Tx7 is set up for live steam and the Tx8 is set up for battery.  The new rounded edge box fits nicely in the palm of my hand.  The Tx8 now has a On-Off-On toggle switch instead of the small knob used for direction control.

Stephen, David T. said the Train Engineer will NOT bind with the Deltang Rx.

Bob    Thanks for the info on Crest, I have three loco's that need battery power now, and have several three rail loco's that need conversion to two rail or battery power. I was thinking of machining the flanges down to two rail standerds and skipping the insulation.    

cTr...(Choose the Right)

I had thought of doing that too, but I tried machining a wheel set a few years ago and found they're just too hard and difficult to do.  I ended up removing the middle rail on my layout and leaving the hi-rail wheels on all my stuff:

Cheaper, easier than ripping it all out and replacing it with 2-rail track and switches, and then converting all my engines and rolling stock to 2-rail.  I have 7 steamers converted to battery and recently got another Williams brass USRA 2-8-2 that I'll convert.

The only drawback I see is I need to look for engines like the Williams brass "Crown Edition" types and other brands that come without any command control installed.  I have 6 PS2 kits laying around that I pulled from these engines, 1 is original and 5 were upgrade kits.

Like I said, I still don't have sound, but the only sound I miss is the steam chuff, even without built-in sound a train still makes enough noise that adding more sound may not be a good thing.

Bob   I believe you could machine the Williams-Sunset(brass) model drivers as they used steal tires, and not the cintered type as in MTH, Lionel.     cTr....(Choose the right)

Can also go with Cordless Renovations products for battery power.

https://www.cordlessrenovations.com/

Myself I'd choose CVP/Airwire as can use DCC sound decoders. 

I converted about 10 of my Williams engines to the Train Engineer Revolution.  Only one of them is battery operated   An NW2 that we use for track cleaning.   The other nine have the non- plug and play board for AC operation

This is the NW2 Installed

This is the installation in an FA-2

The boards used to be a lot cheaper than they are now.