Although R/C may come to be in the future there is no way I would tear out the legacy electronics in my steam engines Or diesels for that matter.
I can't ever see R/C becoming main stream until one of the major manufactures embrace it fully And that is not going to happen any time soon.
If at all it will become a niche industry for those willing to do it but as a main stream way of running trains, not going to happen.
The above post is so well written it bears repeating.
RC Control, even though, it has some great advantages, is just not going to happen. Not even in 10 years.
The first reason is because it is not offered installed by any of the major importers of O Gauge as David1 mentioned.
The bigger reason for no RC is somewhat similar a reason as to why 2 rail has not grown in popularity by leaps and bounds. Your asking a guy who may have 30, 40,50, or even more locomotives to rip out the electronics if they are not compatible with RC/Battery or add the RC/Battery components. Add it up what that will cost and you have your reason. Even if it only cost $50 a locomotive to switch over to RC/Battery control, which I am sure it won't be that cheap, for a guy like me with 30 locomotives it will still cost $1,500. I'm betting the average O Gauge enthusiast would rather spend that money on more engines or rolling stock than electronics. Yeah, for someone like Fred with a small collection of locomotives it makes sense but there are a lot of guys in this hobby who have large locomotive collections. When I go to York or other 3 rail shows I watch what other guys in the hobby do and people like me who want things to look realistic are certainly in the minority. It's like bob2 said on another thread. "Other than the cost of conversion, there is only one reason for three rail track, and that is you like the appearance." I agree. I believe if hobbyists in this gauge were really bothered by the center rail they would find a way to get rid of it.
Johnnyspeed wrote:
"That's why I would like to see someone develop a battery powered system that could be installed in OEM as well as aftermarket to facilitate running them on any number of rails."
There is a reason that no one is developing this system you want and the reason is there are just WAY too few people that want it. Do the research yourself and then ask yourself:Would I invest, in what I would guess will be a heck of a lot of money, into this system? Will I get a return on my investment? Guaranteed you won't do it.
I remember when I first got into 2 rail 12 years ago. I used to go to the 2 rail show at Wind Gap, PA. One time there was a guy there selling one of the RC systems mentioned in this thread. He had it installed in a Weaver FA. It ran great and sounded great. He was there a total of 2 times and then to my knowledge never came back. At least I never saw him again. Why? Because it didn't sell that's why! At least not to O gauge they didn't. I'm sure they make sufficient sales to G gauge enthusiasts to stay in business.
Like Allan said:
"It (full battery power/remote control) may come to O gauge...someday…but I sure wouldn't advise waiting around for it."
Me neither. I am going ahead with my plans for a layout using the technology available to me right now. And if I am wrong and RC does come to O gauge in a big way I won't be buying it because I am certainly not going to spend all that money and put in all that time and effort just so I can remove the wiring I would have already installed in my layout.
