I have experienced issue with the R-K Decapod (drawbar connection) losing ground circuit on certain conditions of track plane uneveness in locations where only one outside rail is grounded, which requires adding a binding wire to a tender truck. Until I located the cause, I expended considerable time trying to find where the rollers were losing contact.
J Class, the answer to your question is that the battery does not provide motor power. It only provides power to keep the electronics board from dropping out during a momentary loss of track power.
GRJ, have you ever come across a way to affix dual rollers to Weaver diesels from the early 90's, like the SD40-2 and C630 (both of which I have and both of which manage to hit 2 gaps at once.) They don't have enough space as far as I can tell.
