# Rocket Science for the Quarryman



## Frisco4192 (Jan 4, 2010)

Hey'll 

A little warning to yah, I have little idea what I'm talking about..


I am trying to build an electric mountain railroad in my basement. I want to put power in the lines about the track, but want to run locos separately. Now, the rocket science part comes into play with the fact that I want to use the control systems that battery operated locomotives have, with each engine having a separate throttle. Is there a way to plug the electrical current into where the battery's power plugs in? Hopefully you all can make sense of this and give me the answers I need.


Thanks
James Buure
President of Yuri National Rail


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi James, 

What you are talking about, independent control of locos using track power, is usually accomplished with DCC (computer signals trough the rails sent to the onboard decoder) or with a radio controlled system like the Aristo Revolution. 

-Brian


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

"I want to put power in the lines about the track," 

should that be "above" the track? Like overhead catenary lines? 

Regards, Greg


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## Frisco4192 (Jan 4, 2010)

That is what I meant, yes.


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

The guys over at the large scale trolley group can be a big help with overhead power lines - 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/largescaleTrolley/ 

-Brian


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

OK so you want to use overhead catenary, and you want it to be powered. 

"I want to use the control systems that battery operated locomotives have, with each engine having a separate throttle." 

I take the above statement to mean, not only independent control of locos, but wireless throttles. 

So please confirm that is true. 

Also, another question, how many locos at the same time? 

Regards, Greg


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## Frisco4192 (Jan 4, 2010)

That is correct. And probably around four or five locos max.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

OK, so you can power from the catenary if you want the additional complexity... if it was me, I would not do that and power from the rails. 

If I was going track power, I would DCC, the most options. 

Yes, you can hook up almost any system to "where the battery power plugs in" but you give up a lot of capability by doing that... constant lighting, constant and reliable sound systems, etc. 

But if you want that, you can do that. 

Regards, Greg


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## Frisco4192 (Jan 4, 2010)

True.. I will probably will just stick to the DCC then. Thankyou for your help.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

If you want track power, and at 4-6 locos, it becomes the lowest cost alternative, believe it or not... 

You could power the catenary, but with the DCC autoreverser technology where it's at, why add the extra hassle? 

Now, if you do want the challenge of powering the catenary, you can definitely do it... 

Regards, Greg


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