I've posted some of this before. Dead-rail, battery-power, and/or Blue Rail could be the future. Two of the biggest determining factors for uS are battery-life and current capacity, especially in terms of having enough to handle with our beloved smoke units. But without those, there's already a lot to work with.
Who needs power of any kind to the tracks? Not to run trains, only to charge the battery and even then most systems can do so with AC, DC, or DCC current to the tracks. Charge while running or standalone. With auto-limiters so you can't overcharge.
Our very own NASG Webmaster, Peter Vanvliet, is very knowledgeable about this and from whom I have learned the most when it comes to this burgeoning model train operating technology and approach. Below is some of the information and links that he has provided me.
I recommend to start by reading Peter's article about Battery Power on his web site: http://pmrr.org/Articles/indexElectronicsS-CAB.htm
As well as peruse his web site in general: http://pmrr.org
Yahoo has a S-CAB discussion group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/S-CAB/info
There is a "Dead Rail Society" web site:
https://www.deadrailsociety.com/
(associated with Tam Valley Depot)
These are the YouTube videos that Peter is aware of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7yEwrlBurY (O-scale)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNipamGMAos (Sn3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inJbTUgZy_I (Sn3, part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Zq9i_FCXU (Sn3, part 2)
And Peter's own videos:
https://vimeo.com/63582414
https://vimeo.com/62568601
https://vimeo.com/56294214
Note: in his videos a converted AM FA-2 runs along on a tabletop. Power to tracks? Who needs tracks?
The one thing you can count on never changing is change. It's always going to be there.
Dave
