Model Railroader – October 2019

40 http://www.ModelRailroader.com

with sound (my layout is wired for DCC

with Tam Valley Frog Juicers to power

turnout frogs and wireless radio throt-

tles to control the trains.)

Unfortunately, brass steam locomo-

tive models, like their real-life counter-

parts, require constant maintenance,

care, and the occasional angry word. My

engines ran fairly well, but not without

an occasional stall or electrical short.

Inevitably, dirty wheels or track caused

stalls despite regular cleaning. The shorts

usually occurred while traversing the

layout’s tight curves as the pilot trucks

would sometimes touch the cylinder.

For near flawless operation, I adopted an

onboard battery power system on some

of my locomotives.

For two of my locomotives, I use the

Stanton Battery System, which consists

of five main components. The first is a

SoundTraxx Tsunami decoder that’s

been modified to include a radio receiver.

[Since Stanton distributor NorthWest

Short Line has gone out of business,

Stanton system components are now

available at http://www.s-cab.com – Ed.]

There’s also a lithium polymer (LiPo)

battery and an additional circuit board

for the battery power supply (BPS). The

BPS charges the battery safely and pro-

vides clean power to the decoder. The

final component is a speaker.

The latest Stanton BPS can take cur-

rent from the rails to both power the

train and charge the battery. Thus,

there’s no need to remove the batteries

from the engines to recharge.

My two battery-powered engines have

proven to be the mainstays in my operat-

ing sessions. They rarely run out of

charge. The battery allows them to chug

right through the occasional short with-

out interruption.

The drawback to the system is pack-

aging – i.e., trying to fit all the compo-

nents into the small locomotives. The

only place in my locomotives to house

the battery and the BPS is on the top of

tender, as shown in ❶ on page 38. The

decoders and speakers are in the boiler

and firebox. With the advent of capaci-

tive power supply or “stay alive” circuits

for DCC decoders, which are smaller

than the Stanton Battery System, I retro-

fitted some of my non-battery powered

locomotives with those circuits. Stay-

alive circuits provide about 10 to 20 sec-

onds of power to the decoder in the

event of an interruption to power pick-

up from the wheels.

The stay-alive circuits have packaging

challenges of their own, but generally it’s

easier to fit them in the locomotives ❷.

Two of my engines now have all-wheel

pick up and stay-alive circuits. I have one

more engine to convert, and I’ll probably

add a stay-alive circuit rather than a bat-

tery because the packaging will be easier.

Laser cutting

Rolling stock also presented a chal-

lenge. There are a few brass freight cars

available from SMR and others, but they

were expensive and heavy. Overweight

cars tax the pulling power of small

engines. I needed 40 to 50 freight cars

to support my operating scheme, so

I scratchbuilt my cars from laser-cut parts.

I own a commercial-grade laser cutter

❸ for my cottage industry, Alkem Scale

Models (www.alkemscalemodels.com).

Such a laser cutter has more capacity

than a typical hobbyist needs. Less pow-

erful hobby-grade laser cutters have

decreased significantly in cost, and many

now cost less than the price of a brass

locomotive model.

Some companies offer laser cutting

services for a fee. All the customer has to

provide is the drawings. I started off

using such an outside service, but found

the process, especially revisions, went

faster once I bought my own cutter.

I’d sold HO scale Civil War-era

freight cars through Alkem Scale

Models, so it was a relatively simple task

to enlarge my drawings to O scale. A

typical car, such as the unfinished model

shown in ❹, includes laser-cut parts

from several thicknesses of birch ply-

wood, basswood, Bristol board, or resin-

impregnated cardboard. My laser-cut

cars include flatcars, boxcars, a conduc-

tor’s car, express cars, and even a pas-

senger car. Examples of my laser-cut

rolling stock are shown in ❺ and ❻.

The laser cutter has been invaluable

for making structures, cannon chassis,

and detail parts (See ❼ on page 42, as

well as the bridge at Potomac Creek fea-

tured on this issue’s cover.) I’ve also

developed these projects into kits for sale

via Alkem Scale Models.

❸ Laser cutter. Bernard’s laser-cutting work station resides in his garage and is

also used for his business, Alkem Scale Models. The Epilog Zing laser cutter has a

12 x 24-inch cutting bed and 40W of power. The laser sits on a Bofa air filter, which

cleans the exhaust of smoke and toxins, a must for cutting indoors.

MR Video Plus subscribers can

take an exclusive tour of the

O scale USMRR Aquia Line

at MRVideoPlus.com.