Great job Bill. That looks great. I think you will find the deadrail runs wonderful without many of the technical issues that come up with track power.
With smaller engines, you have to compromise with either a smaller battery or a battery tender car. I like way you did yours. I did something similar with my 44 tonner and a scratch-built transfer caboose to house my battery.
I left the MTH board in the 44 tonner for my sound. So I needed a car to hold my battery and BlueRail board. But because I wanted my transfer caboose to look as close to the prototype at possible, I still had space challenges.
I ended up using an 11.1V (3 cell) LiIon and mounted the BlueRail board to the battery. The fit is perfect. And I do not see any performance issues using the 11.1V vs the typical 14.4V I use in my larger engines.
Fortunately, MTO, XML and others have a large selection of batteries to make custom fits work for you. Just remember to ensure you get a battery with PCB protection to prevent under current and over charging.
I discovered an unintended benefit of battery operation when I performed the MTH extended shutdown sequence. Listen carefully what the engineer tells Al to do.
Have Fun!
Ron
