Hi Cap'nBill,
It was a good idea you posted a question and definitely agree you should try and do some reading on information that is provided here and on available user websites.
I use Stainless steel rail with all stainless steel clamps and run without worry or having to clean my track. My track connections stay solid and 100% reliable even after 2 years outside. I'm grateful SS was available when I got started and don't regret my decision.
On cost, it can depend on what you are trying to run. To provide myself as an example, I may run my 5 Aristocraft Dash-9s all day on a weekend say maybe even 10 hours.
To run each Dash-9 1 hour would require 1 Aristocraft Lithium Ion battery pack (~$70) (Note: that there are supposed to be cheaper batteries out there but this is what I have known run time examples for)
http://www.rayman4449.dynip.com/Battery_Run_Time.jpg - example run time from one user
So for me to run all 5 engines 10 hours would require 50 Aristocraft battery packs at ~$70 each plus ~$26 each for each charger. Based on these numbers that alone would cost $4800 in batteries and chargers alone.
As far as cost of track, I've calculated the following: (and I encourage you to do some checking yourself, you may find better prices on some of these items)
Track: (based on 7/11/08 prices)
Aluminum: (~$3.02/ft -
http://www.svrronline.com/trackandrail.html )
Brass: (~$4.52/ft - Aristocraft track without feeder wires, with brass split jaws. Feeder wires add ~$0.40/ft)
Stainless Steel: (~$6.59/ft - Aristocraft track with feeder wires, with Stainless split jaw clamps)
(Notes: Railclamps priced at
www.Trainworld.com for best price, and Aristo track at
www.ridgeroadstation.com with Aristocraft buy 4 get 1 free sale. Railclamps added on avg ~$0.79/ft for SS and ~$0.57/ft for brass when you add them all up.)
If I was to have a layout of say:
200ft - it would cost:
Aluminum: $604
Brass: $904
Stainless Steel: $1318
500ft:
Aluminum: $1510
Brass: $2260
Stainless Steel: $3295
700ft:
Aluminum: $2114
Brass: $3164
Stainless Steel: $4613
If you run track power and get a top of the line Bridgewerks transformer they will run you about: [$148(3 amp), $244(5 amp), $281(10amp), $310(15amp), $384(20amp) $517(25amp)] (
www.ridgeroadstation.com - 7/11/08)
So even with a 700ft layout:
- with Stainless steel rail, SS clamps + feeder wires with a big 25amp Powersupply you are at ~$5130 for everything.
- with aluminum rail and batteries you are at ~$6914 for everything.
This is an extreme example but it is a real one because I do this. Not everyone does, most run one train at a time and run much fewer engines. But it does highlight the point that there is a diminishing return on initial cost of entry in savings with battery power the more engines you add and the longer you want to run. So just keep that in mind.
Understand too that in about 3 years (maybe a little longer) you will have to replace the batteries:
http://www.rayman4449.dynip.com/Battery-life_2.jpg
So hopefully this helps provide a framework on maybe how to approach your decision from purely a cost perspective. There will be other intangibles that may and will likely override cost, but you have to decide that. Even if it costs 10x more to go one way or the other, if that's what you want to do then DO IT! As far as my figures please DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and homework and check and compare with current numbers. There maybe other brands and types of batteries and track that will affect these numbers, but you get the point.
Good luck with your decision and I hope this helps some. There are a lot of variables and things to consider.
(FYI, a great guy by the name of Bubba (Username: "madstang" here on MLS runs battery power and told me he has info on cheaper batteries than the ones above.))
Raymond