# RDC Battery Car?



## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

I have a couple of situations I am considering with my RDC-3's.

First, I run my layouts primarily on track power and at least for the moment I have not reached a point where I am planning to install Revolutions into my RDC-3's. 

On the other hand I like the idea of a Traveling Executive Car but even if I end up putting Revolutions into the RDC's I would still run on track power and I would not want to put a battery into the RDC's. That means I would need a trailing battery car of some sort.

Assuming I have such a battery car I would then have the option of putting a Revolution or a Train Engineer receiver in the battery car and controlling the RDC from the battery car. With no sound system little would be lost in such an operation.

In effect I would then have a choice of using the "Battery Car" either with a battery to run on battery power or with wheels with track contacts to use the "Battery Car" as a source of track power to a Revolution which in turn would control the RDC (with the power switch set to battery).

I know little about how the railroads used RDC's and I don't know what they did or did not do with them. Of course I can do whatever I like but I do make a minimal effort at being realistic when possible (and convenient - and when it takes little effort on my part).

My questions are:

1. What combinations of rolling stock did the railroads use with their RDC's (using Chicago & North Western and Rock Island as examples)? I would guess that it would have been common to pull matching streamliners but freight cars would seem less likely but perhaps occasionally done.

2. Would it have been likely or unlikely for the C&NW to have pulled a boxcar (battery car) behind a C&NW RDC? 

3. A simple solution would be to use a C&NW caboose (with factory wheel contacts) to contain a Revolution that could in turn power and control a C&NW RDC but I doubt seriously that C&NW would have had any reason to pull a caboose with a RDC. Is anyone aware of any RDC's pulling a caboose?

4. Is anyone using a battery car with their RDC's and if so what are you using and how are you using it?

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Tom Parkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry,

I don't know the specifics of C&NW or the Rock, but I recall that RDCs were not intended to pull trailer cars. I think Budd even said that it would specifically void the warranty. Perhaps in later years railroads did this anyway. I would think most likely if they pulled anything it would be a lightweight coach. Generally it was the other way around where the RDC got pulled in the train with other coaches. 

I think you really should consider putting the batteries directly into the RDC. I don't have the RDC but I do have the doodlebug and it is equipped with batteries and the older 27MHZ train engineer. Not a difficult fit. If you are going to the trouble of making a battery car, then putting it in the RDC would be just as easy. 

However if you want a battery car to use with other motive power, then perhaps use a lightweight coach or go ahead and use a boxcar. I suspect at some point the railroads had to deliver a single load and pulled that box with RDC down the branch line. 


You may be interested that Lewis recently announced a hybrid battery car that could be use on track and battery power. When used on track power, the track power will charge the batteries. The car will contain a Revo for control. It is a planned product. You may not want to wait that long. (But please don't hijack this thread into how long we wait for Aristo's products).


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I know you said you did not want to, but why not put batteries in the baggage compartment of the RDC-3 and run both from there? You could make it switchable back to track power. If you put the batteries there, I believe you could make them pretty easy to get to from only removing the end cap. 

That's what I would do... it would look fine, be easy to maintain, etc. 

Greg


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Hello Tom and Greg,

In my case I simply do not have the slightest interest in running or in converting anything to battery power. I am 100% happy with plain old analog track power. I occasionally run MTS or DCS with locos that came from the factory with such capabilities or that prove extremely easy to add decoders to them. The same is true of the Revolution where the simplicity of installation has led me to install Revolutions in a number of Aristo locos with a plug and play interface.

I rarely take anything to run on a layout elsewhere but when I do, that would be when I might bring either my Aristo Live Steam Mikado or an Aristo loco with a built in battery/track power switch along with a trailing battery car. As soon as I get home the Live Steam Mike is left in its box and the batteries come out of the battery car which is then returned to normal (track power) operations.

For me a battery car is a 5 minute conversion. I bought six used Shark hand vacuum cleaners for $10 each including 14.4 volt batteries and a battery charger. I drilled a hole in the top end of a boxcar and fit a MU jack's wires through it to the 14.4 volt battery fitted with a matching jack. When the batteries are dead (they usually are) I pop them into the hand vac overnight and they are ready to go in the morning.

Many folks love their battery operations and I wish them well. I simply have neither the need for nor any interest in battery power. I never know what I am going to feel like running until I head to the layouts and with track power I have no concern about whether any batteries are charged or not. For me personally batteries are a solution for a non-existent problem and create a problem (recharging and bad batteries) where none previously existed.

The RDC has created a potential problem (for me) where none previously existed in that a battery car is not the obvious solution it had been with diesel locomotives. 

The simple solution for me may be to do nothing - but it was worth asking the question since as far as I knew the Railroads may have used RDC's in ways I was unaware of.

The fact that Aristo put two motorized trucks on the RDC vs a single one on the Doodlebug had me wondering if they might have been for planned extra cars but perhaps it was due to the heavy weight of the RDC-3.

I was unaware of the planned hybrid car and I can see how it may prove to be a simple solution in many cases.

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Bill Swindell (Jan 2, 2008)

My RDC-1 has batteries installed in the car. I charge them in place. On the RDC-3, it would be even easier. If you still want a battery car, why not use another RDC and remove the motors from the trailer, Then, it becomes the battery car.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Jerry, you wrote a large amount about why you are not interested in batteries, but you started this thread about using batteries with the RDC. 

So you want a way to hook batteries to the RDC in the rare occasion you take them to a battery powered layout, and you wondered about prototype practice. 

1. Add a battery car and be pretty much non prototypical. 

or 

2. do what Tom and I suggested. 

or 

3. Do what Bill suggested, maybe you can find an RDC that is basically a non-powered shell and dedicate it as your trailing battery car. 

I like Bill's idea the best. 

Regards, Greg


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 13 Oct 2010 11:36 AM 
Jerry, you wrote a large amount about why you are not interested in batteries, but you started this thread about using batteries with the RDC. 

Regards, Greg 

Hello Greg,

All of my questions AND the title of the topic were about the options for an "RDC Battery Car."

I wanted to be clear that putting batteries inside the RDC is not an option I am willing to consider especially since "at least for the moment I have not reached a point where I am planning to install Revolutions into my RDC-3's." 

I was looking for an option to run an RDC via a trailing battery car IF the railroads happened to have run trailing cars behind their RDC's.

It appears that the railroads did not typically run trailing cars with their RDC's. That answered my questions as a trailing car was apparently not prototypical and would look strange.

I agree that Bill had a good suggestion if I happened to know someone who happened to have a junk C&NW RDC they wanted to sell cheap. I was looking for a low or no cost solution using something I already owned as a battery car.

Regards,

Jerry


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)




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## AndyC (Jan 2, 2008)

Why not just get a RDC-1, and make it the battery car??? then you run a RDC-3 and a RDC-1 in combination... depower a truck in each, or depower both trucks in the battery car and leave the RDC-3 with both powered trucks....


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

*Chicago & North Western* 
Did a little research and found out that the C&NW had three RDCs. RDC-2 #9935, RDC-1 #9934, and RDC-1 #9933. They didn't last long on the railroad (1950 - 1957). Some information and photos can be seen here. I also posted a color photo below so you can see the C&NW trio.












So there you go, you could model the full trio using the new Aristo RDC-3 as the RDC-2 and two more Aristo RDC-1s.



In later years, after selling off their original 3, C&NW purchased a surplus RDC-3 for use as a track inspection car. C&NW #430:












*Rock Island*

The Rock Island Line had 5 RDCs. All were RDC-3s #9000-9004


But this gets interesting for you. I found a photo of Rock Island RDC #9002 pulling a coach! It is train #51 the Choctaw Rockette. So there you go, here is a solution for your battery car issue:











So letter an Aristo RDC-3 as Rock Island #9002 and get yourself an Aristo coach, letter it for the Rock Island, and use it as the battery car and you'll have a 1:29 Choctaw Rockette. 


More info on the Choctaw Rockette can be found here:

Rock Island in Memphis


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

I never installed like this before but would it be best to add a switch on the RDC to disconnect the rail pick up when connecting the batter trail car? 

This should reduce the risk of letting the magic black smoke out of the electronics?


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Posted By San Juan on 13 Oct 2010 03:20 PM 
*Rock Island*

The Rock Island Line had 5 RDCs. All were RDC-3s #9000-9004


But this gets interesting for you. I found a photo of Rock Island RDC #9002 pulling a coach! It is train #51 the Choctaw Rockette. So there you go, here is a solution for your battery car issue:


So letter an Aristo RDC-3 as Rock Island #9002 and get yourself an Aristo coach, letter it for the Rock Island, and use it as the battery car and you'll have a 1:29 Choctaw Rockette. 


More info on the Choctaw Rockette can be found here:

Rock Island in Memphis



Hi Matt,

That is much more in line with what I am looking for.

My original plan had been to buy the C&NW RDC's and re-letter them to Rock Island but I've decided I like them too much to change them.

The solution may be to buy a couple more C&NW RDC's, re-letter them to Rock Island and take one of my Aristo Streamliners, re-letter it to Rock Island (or C&NW as the occasion may call for). I could then put a Revolution and battery into the Streamliner which would allow me to run it with any of the RDC's as a battery car plus (since the Streamliner already has track contacts) it could serve dual purpose to run any RDC connected to it on track power controlled by the Revolution.

The looks of the RDC suggested that it would be a natural to run with a Streamliner.

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Posted By steam5 on 13 Oct 2010 04:26 PM 
I never installed like this before but would it be best to add a switch on the RDC to disconnect the rail pick up when connecting the batter trail car? 

This should reduce the risk of letting the magic black smoke out of the electronics? 

I would double check with a ohm meter but the track - battery switch should disconnect all rail pickups. I know that my RDC-3's would not run on track power until after I had switched from the battery to the track power position (my RDC-3's came with the switch in the battery position).

Jerry


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Good news about the switch, I don't have and RDC and not familiar with the on board electronics.

If your also going to use the track pick up on the pass car I'd also put a switch on that to select battery or track power for the same reason.


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Posted By steam5 on 13 Oct 2010 05:50 PM 
If your also going to use the track pick up on the pass car I'd also put a switch on that to select battery or track power for the same reason.


Good point.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

C&NW never ran other cars behind or in the consist of there RDC cars. Rock Island did and ran with some Pass cars in the consist. As mentioned take a RDC and gut it and take the motors out and use it for your battery car. Later RJD


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## SNER (Sep 20, 2010)

Jerry, 

In response to any railroads using other equipment with RDC's, there was ONLY one railroad that ever ran their RDC's with another type of equipment. The New Haven Railroad used American Flyer coaches, painted in silver to match the units, in between RDC's to save on fuel. However, Budd refused to provide warranty on the units or any kind of maintenance because this practice was not allowed in the buyers contract. When New Haven found out about this, they immediately stopped the practice and the other railroads that where giving trailer RDC consists a thought, did the same. So to answer your question, only the New Haven ran RDC's with other equipment, but only for a few months. 

David


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Hi David,

Thank you for your response. Apparently the Rock Island did run at least one RDC-3 with a coach as per Matt's photo. 











I also found this photo:











As it turns out I will probably not be running my RDC's in anything other than single units with the possibility of occasionally MUing a couple of RDC-3's if I ever get around to rewiring the MU plugs for track power.

Regards,

Jerry


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## bcer960 (Dec 27, 2007)

Has anyone thought of ripping out the guts of the RDC 1, and only having the RDC 3 pull it around?? Is there enought traction to pull it up grades etc.?? 

Ray


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Is there enought traction to pull it up grades etc.?? 
Absolutely. The RDC has two powered motor blocks and a fair amount of weight to boot given the aluminum body. It'll easily pull as well as an average-sized diesel loco. It was the prototype that could barely pull its own shadow. Yank the motors out of the trucks of an RDC-1, couple it up, and you've got yourself a nice short commuter/mail train. You could probably easily pull the motor out of one of the RDC-3 trucks as well, as one motor block would probably be sufficient for two cars. 

Later, 

K


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