Radio Control and Battery Power for Model Railroads
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Beginnings

6/3/2013

 
This website reflects my lifetime interest in model railroading and technology. As a modeler, I built and rebuilt layouts that did not run trains to my satisfaction. As an electrical engineer, I watched technology progress much faster than its application to model railroading. So I looked for a better way, (which is what engineers are supposed to do) and ended up installing batteries in locomotives (actually electric multiple units, EMUs) and controlling trains by radio.
Picture
Berg's Hobbies model of Sydney Suburban EMU
Since I viewed radio control and battery power as important technology, but with small model railroading markets, manufacturing products was not the plan. However, I saw benefit by explaining what I was doing and published a series of articles, "Sydney Suburban Retrofit", in the Australian Model Railway Magazine, beginning in August 2009.
PictureStanton Drive with Berg's sideframes

The retrofit project actually led to design of an under-floor powered truck needed to clear the passenger compartment for something other than a motor. That's how I linked up with David Rygmyr after he purchased Northwest Short Lines (NWSL). Dave was receptive to replacing NWSL's venerable PDT ("pretty darn tiny") powered truck, which is how Stanton Drive became an NWSL product.

PictureThe first working prototype of radio throttle


Peter Berg, owner of Berg's Hobbies, who had seen my battery power and radio control ideas prototyped in his Sydney Suburban models, encouraged me to "productize" the home-grown radio throttle. He liked its simplicity from a user perspective and suggested I repackage it into something more marketable. So began S-CAB.


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    Author

    I'm a retired electrical engineer, but still spending more time on engineering than on my layout. These days, it's mostly about applying radio control and battery power on smaller scale layouts (HO, On3, On30)

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    The photo above is not my layout. It's a great view of Seattle's King Street station by Ross Fotheringham.

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    S-CAB Conversions:
    S-scale NW2 Switcher
    On30 D&RG 4-4-0
    HO-scale GP9
    HO-scale GP35
    HO brass 4-8-4
    HO Bachmann 2-6-2

    S-scale EMD F-40PH
    HO-scale ALCO DL-109
    On30 Forney
    HO-scale Atlas-Kato GP-7


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