Building a Railroad
Dead Rail - ( Battery Powered )
Dead Rail is a term used that simply means operating the locomotive via battery power. The locomotive receives the power from an external battery instead of receiving power from the center/third rail of the three rail track. LC+ line of locomotives are controlled by radio frequency instead of a digital track signal like Lionel’s TMCC and Legacy remote control platforms. With the continued need to keep the track clean before run sessions, the Baldy and Palms Railroad began to convert (2021) the locomotive fleet to remote controlled battery power or RCBP. The Lionel LionChief line of locomotives makes this transition very simple. The LionChief locomotive operates by remote control, or the Lionel bluetooth app and track power. To convert the locomotive, we’ll simply move the positive power pick from the track to an external battery.
