Trainfest

[Mark5]

I know what it'll be - a N&W CF wood caboose!
(this would be a natch as a laser cut kit)

HO HO HO!
http://www.laserkit.com/waycarho2.htm

Instead we'll a dozen more SP cabooses.

[wcfn100]

Would a Sperry Rail car be considered a locomotive?

Jason

[up1950s]

yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes

[TrainCat2]

yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes

Is that a definitive answer Richie?   ;D

[up1950s]

yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes , no , yes

Is that a definitive answer Richie?   ;D

Kinda , maybe

Wikpedia says no because it doesn't pull a train . Define how long a train is ?

It could pull a car or two , in-fact many had trailers early on . I have heard the phrase " One car Train " when applied to a NORMAL locomotive . My thinking is there are 3 boxes .
 Box 1 is the loco .
 Box 2 is an unpowered railroad car .
 Box 3 is a hand car .

 Box 1 you need a engineers license to operate . Does a Railcar / Detector car operator need an engineers license to do his job . If so I say it is a locomotive .

Found this
http://occupations.careers.org/47767/rail-detector-car-operator

[James Costello]

Instead we'll a dozen more SP cabooses.

Build a bridge.... and get over it. It wasn't the first and it isn't the last time manufacturers have released competing models.

[Chris333]

New couplers?  Isn't that old news already 

[Bob Bufkin]

The one thing that I think would be revolutionary would be a wireless connection to your track.  They have battery chargers where you just place your battery on top of a shelf, why not use the same technology to go to your track without wires.  That along with wireless controllrs alread in use would be terrific.

[up1950s]

The one thing that I think would be revolutionary would be a wireless connection to your track.  They have battery chargers where you just place your battery on top of a shelf, why not use the same technology to go to your track without wires.  That along with wireless controllrs alread in use would be terrific.

To send a signal to a receiver to activate a relay connection is far different than to directly power the rails . Transmitting enough amp power in thin air has not really been invented yet . First I heard of a battery charger without a connection , how can it work ?

[Bob Bufkin]

There are now several on the market.  Here's one:

http://www.powermat.com/us/products/

[DKS]

The one thing that I think would be revolutionary would be a wireless connection to your track.  They have battery chargers where you just place your battery on top of a shelf, why not use the same technology to go to your track without wires.  That along with wireless controllrs alread in use would be terrific.

To send a signal to a receiver to activate a relay connection is far different than to directly power the rails . Transmitting enough amp power in thin air has not really been invented yet . First I heard of a battery charger without a connection , how can it work ?

There are now several on the market.  Here's one:

http://www.powermat.com/us/products/

Notice that the charger and receiver are in contact, or near contact. This uses an age-old process of induction: the charger creates a broad magnetic AC field, and the receiver is akin to a transformer, where a coil generates current when it's immersed in the AC field created by the charger. It's a wasteful process because much more power is used to generate the field than is consumed by the receiver. It's just convenient not having to use wires and plugs.

This is also the same process at work for many security card access systems, where you wave your ID badge at a panel and it opens the door. The panel generates a broad magnetic AC field, and your card contains a receiver, which is a conductive loop that generates a tiny amount of current when it's immersed in the AC field of the sensor panel. The current in the badge powers a micro-transmitter that transmits on a very specific frequency (or combination of frequencies) that's detected in the sensor panel.

Actually transmitting power across thin air has also been done for some time, but it's accomplished by transforming the source electric current into something that can be fairly-well directed, usually microwaves. The receiver then converts the microwaves back into electricity. Again, it's highly inefficient, and many hurdles, including cost and safety, need to be overcome before it could ever be used by us mere mortals.

Other methods of beaming power involve lasers, which isn't really "transmitting electricity"; it's just aiming ultra-high-power lasers at a target akin to a solar panel. It's ultra-inefficient, but in one case it accomplishes a task that no other technology can: a means to power a "space elevator." This is a notion of building a tether that runs from low-earth orbit down to the surface, and having climbers run up the tether to deliver satellites, supplies, and possibly people to space. It's a real technology that's being investigated based on an old science fiction story.

More on beaming power: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ipp/innovation_incubator/centennial_challenges/beaming_tether/index.html

So far, one team has powered a climber up a nearly-one-mile-high tether. That's a long way from low earth orbit (100-1,000 miles).

BTW, beaming power into model track would not only be a massive technical challenge, but it leaves an age-old problem intact: rail/wheel conductivity. It would make much more sense to beam the power right into the locomotive. But even that would be massively expensive, challenging and inefficient at this point.

[Mark5]

Instead we'll a dozen more SP cabooses.

Build a bridge.... and get over it. It wasn't the first and it isn't the last time manufacturers have released competing models.

Some people don't have a sense of humor ... 

[ljudice]

Re: Sperry - how about a ballast cleaner or rail grinder - they work multiple roads, etc...

[inkaneer]

By the way, when is Trainfest?

[up1950s]

By the way, when is Trainfest?

http://www.trainfest.com/