Hi, I was wondering if this has ever come up before. DCC was a big jump forward in terms of controlling trains and not track, but what about another jump that technologically could be doable right now if there were a market for it: battery operated remote control locomotives. Same scale but with its own power source (rechargeable of course) and controlled by remote like the RCplanes and cars. No wiring at all required for the track, no worries about dirty track etc. Maybe not so practical in N and maybe HO but that is today, what about 10 years from now? Just a thought. Cheers, Jim
I know that such a thing is already available for larger scales like garden railways. I suppose it would be possible right now even in N or Z scale, but the battery technology may require loads of recharges.
I was doing it in #1 years back, but as with a lot of things (eg. electric cars, really useful laptops, .... ) battery technology is advancing only slowly. When we have batteries with 10x the power density and 1/10th the charging time things will be better. In fact fuel cells may be the battery of the future for demanding applications. If it can be done for a laptop, I'd think it can be done for HO. N and Z might take a year or two longer
