Running My Anniversary Edition 4-6-0 on a Battery Pack/ Broken Pilot Replacement

[RkyGriz]

Hi all. Due to extreme boredom ,and being more than a small bit curious as to how an Anniversary Edition 4-6-0 would run on a 7.2 volt battery pack , I set up my train and hooked my 7.2 volt 3800 mAh battery pack directly to the track using a "Ll "  track lock-on. The results were that the train, as expected, ran fairly slowly. On the positive side, as of this post, it has been running constantly for well over an hour now with no sign of slowing down. Kind of cool. As usual, I have made a video of this experiment and it may be found at the following link:
https://youtu.be/sZW4gHiqf-o
On another note: I was planning on using my #25 locomotive for this experiment. Upon removing it from its' box, I discovered that the pilot post was broken. I tried to repair it, at least temporarily, by gluing it back together with some watch crystal glue. It seems to be a fairly strong glue and I have used it to repair a couple of breaks on my #7 battery operated locomotive, breaks which included the front headlight. Un fortunately, while I was I still waiting for it to cure, I discovered that the pilot frame is actually broken in half and not reparable.So,  I'm now thinking about buying the new,improved front pilot from Bachmann. My question is : is  the new improved pilot worth the extra money? Does it come with everything needed to mount it on my Anniversary 4-6-0? What modifications must be made to the lower chassis plate to mount it?Does it come with installation instructions?
Any help/advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks guys!
Andrew
PS: The unlettered tender with the #25 searchlight is from my battery powered Santa Fe #7 locomotive. It's just the tender body coupled with my Rio Grande's chassis due to PCB mounting issues with the original tender fame from the #7. It's still a work in progress,but it's looking good so far.
looking good so far.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Andrew,

I've been running battery-powered, remote-control (BPRC) in 8 O-scale steam engines since last May and am very pleased with them so far.

I'm using 2000Mah, 9.6v NiMh or 2200Mah, 11.1v LiPo battery packs and get well over 2 hours run time.  I don't have any sound or smoke in my steamers now (I did put a MyLocoSound unit in one of them, but it sounded too much European).

I have NO WIRES to the layout at all (even pulled out my middle rail so I'm 2-rail now).

You might want to check out the RCS Australia website:

http://www.rcs-rc.com/

There's others that sell RC gear as well (I but my batteries here in the states from All-Battery), but this one met my wants and the cost was lower than most.

I plan on converting my Annie to BPRC soon.

BobD.

[Kevin Strong]

There may be an easier fix to your front pilot trouble. The vertical post that connects it to the locomotive can be lengthened just a bit - maybe 1/8" is all you need. Get some brass tubing that's just larger than the outside diameter of the plastic tube and slip it over. Next, take the spring that provides the downward pressure on the front truck and stretch it out a bit. The result is a spring that puts a little more downward force on the pilot, and a front pilot that can extend just a bit further down below the track so to accommodate uneven humps and dips a little easier.

With respect to battery power, go for it. At 7.2 volts to the track, your train is running at around a scale 15 miles per hour, which is quite normal for narrow gauge trains. Most folks who do battery power in large scale use around 14 volts; either 14.4 volts (two NiCad or NiMH packs in series) or 14.8 volts from a Li-Ion pack. Rarely do you need more than that unless you're running mainline trains at high speeds. Bachmann ain't "mainline trains at high speeds."

Later,

K

[RkyGriz]

Hi.I'm finding that the speed is great. It runs at  what I like to call "Store Display Speed" or slow and easy.Unfortunately, the pilot is unsalvageable. It's not only broken at the top, but broken totally in half at the base and is not repairable. Fortunately, I found a temporary replacement-the front pilot on from my #7 Santa Fe battery loco! The wheel set fits perfectly but since there are no electrical connections the headlight on the loco does not work. Oh well, at least I can run the thing until I can afford a new replacement pilot!
Later,
Andrew

[tomplatten]

I have been using 12 volt alarm batteries for some time now, especially on my "on the ground" layout. They are, of course rechargeable with a small auto battery charger.

[RkyGriz]

Here's a video of my Denver & Rio Grande #12 Anniversary locomotive running on the battery pack. This time, I soldered a slider switch onto the negative power wire so I can turn the power on or off without having to disconnect the track lock on or wires from the track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jch7eQ2WmRU&nohtml5=False
Later!
Andrew