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1988, Richard Kughn's LTI.....RailScope one of the 1st new modern technologies was announced. I was very excited. This is before Command Control. You were stuck at your transformer....you couldn't follow your train around the layout like nowadays.....

Riding the train and seeing what the engineer sees....WOW!!!!!. I was was sure excited.

These ads from the 1988 through 1990 catalogs really got the adrenalin going for me!

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It was more hype than it was worth.....it had a complicated series of cords and battery power pack. The B&W picture was just so-so, and it drained batteries quickly. I lost my enthusiam pretty quickly, too. Soon, Lionel came out with a plan for putting extra battery packs in a trailing boxcar ( I never had the urge to do that). The TV was used for other things (like watching TV) , and is long gone.

I an by no means dissing Lionel.....for the state of technology at the time, it was great......but, the state of technology in 1988-1990 just did not equal the state of Lionel's vision.

It's been on the shelf unrun since the early 90s.

Fast forward to a week ago, when I was getting conventional engines ready for our sessions at the Chesterfield County Fair.....I saw it on the shelf, dusty and unloved. I brought it with me and it did rather well.....a dual can motor geep with traction tires.....a rebirth.

Who else had this engine? How often did you run it as intended? Who still has theirs?

Peter

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Last edited by Putnam Division
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Here are some pics.....

My motive power table of conventional engines brought to the Fair:

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It pulled pretty well, too:

One other thought.......this engine is all set up for a video camera.....how hard would it be to switch it out for a GoPro with Blue Tooth technology......it already has the hole on the short hood section of the engine. I may have to open it up to see what kind of room it has.....anyone have any thoughts?

Peter

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Last edited by Putnam Division

I've got one and it's never been on the tracks.  It's sort of amazing that RailScope pre-dates Apple's first digital camera (circa 1996) and a host of other electronic devices.

The only time I saw one in operation was at Boyd Mason's Hazlet Train Stop (NJ) layout.  It was really something to see, back in the day.

I also recall that there was a good article in another toy trains magazine -- with detailed plans/electronic schematics -- for converting the unit from battery power to track power, i.e., thus eliminating the issue of lackluster and unacceptable battery life.

When I finish my layout, I'm likely to use the track-power method to show the thing off, mostly as a period piece.  I think hanging that black and white television with its red plastic case will be an interesting thing to look at all by itself.

Fun.

Steven J. Serenska

RailScope was just way ahead of its time, much like the postwar Electronic Set. Had it been made today, it probably would've worked a lot better. Still, like most of Dick Kughn's ideas like RailSounds and TMCC, it was a good one and the engine is still pretty darn attractive.

I've never thought of purchasing one, but if I did, I would've tried to fully update it with modern camera electronics. I guess no Lionel Trains Inc. collection is complete without it.

Last edited by Mikado 4501

When I worked in television MPC sent me one to show how if worked on TV. It was a very big deal at the time. We showed it and it worked fine. It soon lost many peoples interest when they heard how fast it ate batteries and you could use any TV set to show it. Also you had to rewire your layout to get the signal back to the TV. The layout we used had cuts in the rail for signal operation. Well that didn't work with RailScope. As others have said, great idea but ahead of it's time. They never asked for it back. I sold it a few years ago for $35. don

OK, fast forward almost 20 years to where digital cameras are sharp and inexpensive.  Maybe it's time for Lionel to do it over again, only this time it will deliver and hold interest and excitement.  I'd like to see it with the camera hidden as much as possible.  I've seen cameras mounted on tenders and flat cars, but the obvious sight of the camera just never sat well with me.   I hope the manufacturers read this and come up with an updated version.   Maybe something you can watch on a smart phone?

I don't have the engine/caboose, but I did purchase a Rail Scope TV from a dealer at a Greenberg show probably about 10 years ago.  He had a few, I think they were either warehouse finds or maybe a case of them from a private collection he might have bought.

Like Matt, I thought this was a really cool thing when I heard about it when it came out.  I wasn't at the time active in O Gauge trains, since I was finishing up high school and was soon to be headed to college (probably read about it in an ad in Model Railroader or similar).  I was into HO, but the HO Rail Scope engines were also more expensive than any other HO engine I had.

I still occasionally think about getting one when I see them for sale on tables at train meets.  I have probably resisted a little due to the special wiring you need to deal with for the signal to propagate along the rails.  As others have said, it's difficult or impossible to set it up properly f you have a layout with gaps for blocks. 

Lionel took this to the next level privately for at least a few engines when Niel Young was bringing his Horde layout to various events (including York in I think October 1998 or maybe 1999).  there were a few Dash-9's (maybe Dash-8's?) with color cameras installed and the signal was routed to the giant Diamond Vision display he also brought with the layout.  Watching those engines travel along the layout on the big screen was quite a sight to see.  Unfortunately, they never mass produced these engines to offer them for sale to the public.

I may still decide to get an original Rail Scope set one day, we'll see.

-Dave

Last edited by Dave45681

I bought the GP loco and caboose when it came out.  I don't remember buying the red TV, I think I just used an old B&W TV.  I tried it on a simple, well-connected circle of track and still had the same mediocre results as everyone else.  It went on the shelf pretty soon after that.

But I noticed in this post that the engine has dual motors.  For some reason I had always thought that it had only one motor.  So yes, it would be worthwhile to dig it out of the box and run it as a conventional classic.

Serenska posted:

 

I also recall that there was a good article in another toy trains magazine -- with detailed plans/electronic schematics -- for converting the unit from battery power to track power, i.e., thus eliminating the issue of lackluster and unacceptable battery life.

Normally, replying to one's own post = "get a life", but in this case it's = "prematurely senile dude should have asked the question below to begin with...".

My collection of toy trains magazines is the opposite of "well-organized and well-stored".  While we're on this topic, can any one dig out the article mentioned above and post the schematic?  I believe it was from the early 1990s.

I'd love to have that schematic saved somewhere so that I can actually do the conversion at some point.  If I recall correctly, the circuit could be made from a handful of off-the-shelf parts you could get at Radio Shack.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Steven J. Serenska

I bought the loco and caboose  way back in the day. Didn't get the TV since I already had access to a similar unit sold for the Fischer-Price PXL-2000 camcorder.

The battery drain problem was well-known. The precise reason for it was not--the camera would only operate at 8.4v and above. So your 9V battery would only need to lose a volt or so before the camera stopped working. Lionel later supplied a battery holder that allowed you to hook up 6AA cells to power the camera. With greater capacity (MAh) RailScope could transmit much longer (although would still poop out when the pack voltage dropped below 8.4)

(It's not known if anyone experimented with a 9.6v NiCD arrangement. Such a pack would put out its rated voltage until it was almost completely exhausted, then suddenly fall off.)

Lionel intended users to put the battery pack in a boxcar or similar enclosed car coupled behind the loco. In my case, I found a surplus RailScope shell at a train show, and over time equipped it with a chassis, fuel tank and trucks, making it a fitting companion to the original loco, that also held the battery pack (never did address the inconvenience of removing the shell in order to change out the batteries, nor did I equip the two units with a proper plug connector. Last time I ran them I pulled some 20-ish MPC autoracks with it, which was pretty much its limit if the wobbling was any indication

I still have my two units, they await their turn on my test track behind a whole pile of newer stuff.  

---PCJ

This was one of my few attempts to be an early adopter of technology.  I think I only used it as intended once.  Mine was repainted in CNJ colors and still sits on the layout.  It is a bit lightweight so pulling power is limited but since it is used in passenger service, my self imposed three car max works fine.

I have one of these.  It was a gimmicky item.  The trucks if I remember are powered by smaller can type motors.  It's been so long.  It will be a conversation piece if nothing else.  Being in broadcasting it was a fun "had to have" item.  But being in broadcasting I quickly realized it was pretty lame as far as the quality and concept were concerned.

Still have mine, the whole 9 yards, GP9, TV, receiver, cables, etc.. Never really used it much more than just goofing around with it. 2 Yorks ago on a Saturday  a guy had the G scale locomotive for $30, after hemming and hawing over it he said, "Gimme $15 for the set so I don't have to keep trying to sell it.". To which my 10 year old grandson said, "You can't beat that with a stick, let's get it!". So we bought it, of course we then had to get some track and cars for it to pull, that $15 "deal" wound up costing me almost $100 when it was all said and done.

 

Jerry

Fast forward 3 years.....back at the Chesterfield County Fair with our modular group for the 1st time since 2016.......and, my dual can motor RailScope geep was taken out again and performed admirably....

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Clearly, RailScope was a vision that was about 20 years too early for the technology..........now, we have camera cars!

Peter

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Last edited by Putnam Division
PRRMP54 posted:

I was reading some of the comments and thinking "Wait a minute, Lionel does have a modern version of RailScope; the theater car and the cabin car. Why go through the effort of drilling holes, etc.". Then I noticed the date on the thread!!!

Agreed......a lot has changed in 3 years.....I’m just saying that rather than let your RailScope rot on the self, it runs nicely as a conventional engine when you need one...

I will be getting one of the modern Lionel versions, when it’s in a road name I like.....

Peter

Last edited by Putnam Division

Anybody have pictures of the inside of these? I imagine with the change in technology the past twenty years there has to be room inside to upgrade the camera?

Peter, great job bringing back this post. I have memories of York when I was probably 9 or 10 years old staring in amazement at that screen when Lionel was doing a demo. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe they were set up in the Purple hall?

Chuck Sartor posted:

Good video Dan! I did mine in HO, with all the Lionel and American flyer HO accessories in action, HO banjo signal, beacon tower, gateman, American Flyer barrel loader, HO gang car, etc. I ended up giving Al Kolis of LCCA a copy, never knew what happened with it.IMG_0184IMG_0187

Congratulations! I am so jealous. I wanted to win that contest so bad. 

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