[Guest]

I purchased a USA Trains speeder at the Council Bluffs, Iowa train show last weekend.  I relly like it.   It is, as the wives at the show said,...cute.  It also gets my golden retriever going nuts chasing it around the basement at full throttle.  Anyway, it runs OK on my track, but the track does have to be very clean or it sputters around the loop.  So, I was wondering if anyone had tried to convert one to battery?  I heard a rumor about a 9 volt version, and I thought I remembered an article in GR, but I can't find it.  Please feel free to post you photos and/or description of how you converted it if you have done so.  Or, offer any suggestions for what to try.

Ed

 

[Gary Armitstead]

Paul Burch did a battery conversion for a speeder. Do a search and you should be able to find it. Good luck

 

[Henson]

Ed, here's one I did by hanging a 9v battery on the back and painted od green to look like a water bag.
I have ran it at Marty's Thingy but before you started coming.

 

[San Juan]

I really like the idea of battery powering the K-Line/USA speeder.  My little guy looks great, but has never been a good runner.  I've added weight, kept the power pickups clean, and cleaned the rails before running it.  However to run smoothly needs almost full track power from the power pack, and then it runs too fast.  It's just not a great outdoor runner.  That's why battery power might be perfect for the little guy.

Just thinking out loud here, but would it be possible to use a slide switch (I'm guessing DPDT) to choose from either track power or battery power?

What is the minimum voltage needed to get the little speeder going and able to tackle minimal grades?  9-volts?

Would it even be possible to somehow build a rechargeable feature off of track power using a rechargeable 9 volt...sort of like how the USA woodside caboose works?

There's probably enough room to hide some components after taking out the back weight.  But it's likely asking too much for sound without adding a trailer of some form.