BlueRail and Dead Rail in 2 Rail O Scale – Red Caboose GP9

On my Oregon Trunk the UP local heads south across the modeled portion of the RR from staging to staging three days a week and back north the next day working industries as it goes.

My first BlueRail install was this Red Caboose UP GP9. It proved the concept but…   The BPS can handle about 700ma, but the nice dual flywheel equipped Pittman motor in the Red Caboose Geep easily draws more if working very hard (2.2 stall amps). I set the BlueRail board to ‘Yard Switcher’ to limit top speed and draw but after a while the BPS would shut down. This engine will need a motor better suited to the BPS set up (see below).

Note that others, using BlueRail’s dead rail add-on instead of the BPS, have had success with the BlueRail board and the Pittman motor. Check out the BlueRail web site User Showcase pages for more info.

Note too that I stacked too many components on the platform that previously held the Red Caboose light board and the body shell no longer fits. I will have to rectify that when I put in the new motor. And of course this loco has a bit of assembly left to go anyway!

Bob Courtney

BlueRail and Dead Rail in 2 Rail O Scale – Weaver RS-3

The BN local on the modeled portion runs out of Bend, where thru trains set out and pick up for it. Bend is represented in staging. The power for the local will be this early Weaver RS-3. Weaver RS-3s came with one of 3 different drives, the first two versions of which also feature a flywheel equipped Pittman 8514. I had detailed and painted this model 30 years ago, but didn’t locate decals till recently. Early Weaver models (before the 2 motor china drives) also had a problem with gears splitting and the last time I’d run this engine a gear had split in 2 places so suddenly that the drive ceased up and the motor mount broke! So I’d already planned the rebuilding of this drive with a Cannon FN30 motor. The Cannon is of similar dimensions to the Pittman but draws only half an amp. Well within the BPS board’s abilities.

The shaft of the Cannon matches that of the Pittman so I used an IC pulling tool (from Staunton too) to reach over and pull the delrin drive part off each shaft and then chucked the motor in a unplugged Dremel tool in a Dremel drill press and pressed it on the Cannon shaft (since I lacked more elegant tools for the job). I also replaced all four wheel sets with new ones I had on hand from NWSL and reattached and modified the motor mount to hold the new motor in alignment with the transmission.

I also added LEDs (prewired with resistor from Staunton): two for each headlight fits perfectly in the dual beam headlight casting. An additional LED will run as a roof top flasher (off of the ACC3 connection on the BlueRail board). BlueRail app software controls the adjustable flashing feature (other light features are available too).

A common question I get is how long does the battery last. I am ‘between’ layouts, so I could only test with temporary track on the floor (a loop of Peco 31” radius snap track I use for breaking in locos) and a 4 foot length of my old staging yard which has one switch on it, extended with flex track to switch on. I can get three or four 30 minute switching sessions in the makeshift yard or an hour and 30 minutes of around and around on the test track with the BPS dual cell battery (850ma version).

You will note that the loco lacks numbers in the number boards, the classic marker lights that should be above them and grab irons (SP&S had a full set at each corner). Those detail parts were purchased long ago, and remain in the box awaiting installation (soon, but I may glue down some ties and tie plates and spike some rail on the benchwork representing the south end of Madras first, then I’d have a ‘real layout’ to switch on).

Bob Courtney

BlueRail and Dead Rail in 2 Rail O Scale – NJ Brass S-1

At one locale on the (planned) modeled potion of my Oregon Trunk we interchange with the City of Prineville RR. They used two Alco S-1s and an Alco S-3. I have an older NJ Brass Alco S1 awaiting redetailing and painting to bring the interchange traffic on scene at Prineville Junction. This model, purchased when a friend was downsizing almost 40 years ago, has a thick brass shell. How would that work with blue tooth I wondered? And how would it work with the magnetic reed  switches? 

I swapped the Pitman 8513 in the S-1 for a second Cannon FN30, used two sided foam tape to attach the battery to the top of the inside of the hood and the BPS board to one side. I made sure to note where the on and off reed switches were relative to the doors on the hood. Since this loco is older, there are no see thru grills to peek inside of to see the green light of the Bluerail board when it has power but I did discover while charging it sitting on a length of track on a glass top table, that I can see the reflection of the light in the glass, so the COP’s engine facility will have a nice shinny oil spill to reflect the indicator light. When I get the time to re-detail this logo, it will get a roof top flashing light too. But that can wait till I build Prineville Junction.

 
The older brass shell did not interfere with the reed switches or BlueRail board at all and the S-1 worked fine switching cars in my make shift yard.

Bob Courtney

Very Interesting

Bob, I find your BlueRail information very interesting and with my limit DCC knowledge and also never of hearing about this BlueRail system, it all appears to be above my pay grade at this point. But no fear, I am not afraid to learn new things. I am operating an On3 layout and I assume this system could be an asset to my operation, so I will be looking into it. Glad to hear you are at a stage in your life that you can focus on a hobby that you have been waiting to dive into. Best of luck with everything you do. Also thank you for sharing your findings and information like this make this forum a gold mine.

Going to the BlueRail web site turned out to be a real thrill in its self. I'm seeing a whole new world out there with the Dead Rail options. Besides my On3 layout,I also have a large 3 rail, mostly MTH layout. I am assuming that to use this BlueRail on that layout, I would have to replace motors in all the engines I wanted to use, to DC motors. If that is the case, do you know where and how to get the best info on doing that?

Replacing MTH motors

Captain Mike;

I used Cannon FN30 motors in my conversions. With the existing gearing in the Weaver and NJ brass engines, the result was a nice slow performance (and a slow top speed too). With the drag that sharper curves and deeper flanges probably give to 3 rail trains, the FN30 might not have the umph needed. And with the china drives you need a new drive too (can't pull the motor off the existing truck assembly and swap it out. 

I have two older 2Rail MTH engines and have not decided how to convert them or if I will just let them run on the DC mainline. But it will be awhile till I need to cross that bridge (I need more track and staging before they will see any running time). 

I got my Cannon motors from Rod Miller, his are new and pretested. http://www.rodmiller.com/ but you can find used ones on e-bay too. 

Bluerail has plans for a more powerful board for the china drives and garden railroads in the future (but probably they will focus on a smaller one first to fit smaller HO power). So depending on your timing that may be worth waiting on. 

Bob Courtney

Oregon Trunk in 2 Rail O Scale 

BPRC

Captain Mike,

I've converted 13 O-scale engines to battery-power, remote-control (BPRC) over the last 18 months.  Mostly steamers, but a couple of diesels (Williams E7 and Weaver RS3).  Most have electronics based on the Deltang Rx65b receiver (I get most of my stuff from RCS Australia), but the Williams E7, a Williams 4-6-2, and the Weaver RS3 all have the BlueRail board in them, running off a 9.6v, 2000Mah, NiMh battery pack.

The Deltang-based engines are mostly older Williams brass, with a few MTH and Lionel engines in the mix, along with 1 Weaver 4-6-0.  Some use the battery above, others use a 2200Mah, 11.1v LiPo battery.

There's a couple of forums discussing BPRC:

http://www.freerails.com/

http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/forum/rc-forums

I use a charging jack on my engines, only because I didn't want any wires to the layout.

Take a look at those forums, some of your questions may have been answered.

Addendum---I started out in 3-rail, so all my engines have had the middle rollers removed, along with the electronics, except for the can motors.  Once I was convinced it would work, I pulled up the middle rail, keeping the large-flanged wheels on all my engines and rolling stock, mainly because I didn't want to have to redo the trackwork.

If cost is a consideration, look for conventional type engines without all the fancy electronics.  The older Williams/Samhongsa brass engines make fine conversions, installing the electronics isn't that difficult.

BobD

BPRC

Here's a crappy video of my Williams E7 with a Gems bluetooth speaker installed in the engine, along with the BlueRail board:

I have other videos out there too, nothing award winning but you'll be able to see how the engines perform.  Here's my MTH 0-6-0 doing some switching:

BobD

Weaver Motors

I wonder how similar the Weaver GP38-2's are to the RS-3?  All three of my GP38-2's have the Pittman 8524 motor even though the instruction sheet for all three list replacement as the 8514.  Flywheel on the one end with the drive shaft running through the trucks. 

Michael

"I wonder how similar the

     It's been quite a while since I sold my O scale diesels but from what I recall the RS3 and GP38-2 used the same basic gears and drive with different driveshaft layout. The oldest RS3's had a center gear arrangement  that dropped down into the fuel tank with driveshafts to each truck while the later RS3's had twin towers powering each truck from the top and also had flywheels. The early GP38-2 models had a rear gear tower that powered the rear truck and a long driveshaft thru the fuel tank to power the front truck( due to low front hood design). About the time I quit modeling in O scale Weaver switched the GP38-2 to a twin motor China type drive, I don't know if they built China drive RS3's later too? For basic O scale drives the single motor Weavers were very nice, they ran well and were easy to repair with parts widely available, they reminded me of the HO scale Athearn blue box engines in this respect.............DaveB 

Yes, my three GP38's have the

Yes, my three GP38's have the rear gear tower and the long driveshaft to the front truck.  I was hoping to see if the FN30 motor would be the right choice to replace the Pittman 8524.

Weaver GP38-2 Motors

Check the specs for both at this site: http://rodmiller.com/motors.html(where I bought my Cannon's). 

It looks like the shafts are both the same diameter so that part works. The torque is less thou so it depends on what the locos assignments will be I suppose.

Bob Courtney

Yes, you are right....I see

Yes, you are right....I see the shaft diameter is the same.   SHINY... Now it is a matter of getting funds together and set up one of my GP38's.   Small switching layout so no more than 4 or 5 cars in a train but lots of slow speed switching.