Updated the end of December 2024 The Products I Am Currently Using for Dead Rail/Battery on Board Locomotives The Locomotives: Walthers' EMD GP15-1 - Standard DC - CSX from a Walthers' Flyer Express Fast-Freight Train Set, a Walthers' EMD GP15-1 - Standard DC -- Conrail and an old stock, new, in the box, IHC 2-8-0 Consolidation purchased from an Ebay seller. DULLHB - LocoFi™ 3 WiFi Sound Decoder for HO Locomotives: one installed in each locomotive. An old Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, found in a drawer in my house, is used to run the FREE LocoFi™ App. Rolling Stock for Battery Cars: A Walthers' Trainline 53' Smooth-side gondola, Norfolk Southern with a DIY cover made from a boxcar roof picked up at a train show & Trainline 50' Plug-Door Boxcar Soo Line Boxcar with the boxcar shell made easily removable. The tender of the IHC 2-8-0 Consolidation with the tender shell made easily removable. Battery Boxes: Originally used were, 2 each AAA side-by-side battery boxes wired in series, 3 x 1.5V AAA Series Connection, AA 3 in-line battery box and DGZZI 4 x AA Battery Holder.
Connectors: Originally, 32-pin Micro Connector Set from Micro-Mark were used.
Batteries
I now use 3 Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide, LiNiMnCoO2 (NMC, INR) 10440 Vapcell INR10440 320mAh 3A High Discharge Button Top batteries in the battery box in the Consolidation's tender. Only 3 batteries in series are required to provide the voltage for HO. NMC are the 3rd safest type of cylindrical Lithium-ion chemistry. Originally,Soshine 10440 (AAA size) LiFePO4 Rechargeable Batteries Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries (LiFe, IFR), were used. 4 were required to provide the voltage for HO for the diesels, but because the 2-8-0 Consolidation has a lower maximum speed, 45 mph, 3 of these are/were used. The LiFe batteries were chosen as they are the safest of all Lithium-ion chemistry batteries. These 10440 size batteries are no longer available. Lithium Iron Phosphate, LiFePO4 (LiFe, IFR) Henreepow 3.2v AA 600mAh Rechargeable Battery. These are 14500 (AA) size. 4 are required to provide the voltage for HO for the diesels. They are too large to fit in the tender of the 2-8-0 Consolidation, but could be used in a trailing battery car. Again, this chemistry was chosen because it is the safest cylindrical Lithium-ion chemistry. These are used used in the battery cars for the diesels. 3 Lithium Manganese Oxide, LiMn2O4 (LMO, IMR) 14500 Efest IMR14500 V2 650mAh High Discharge Button Top AA size batteries are used in series to provide the voltage for HO. A fake battery/connector is used with the 4 x 1.5V battery box or the 3-inline AA battery box can be used. Again, they are too large to fit in the tender of the 2-8-0 Consolidation, but could be used in a trailing battery car. They were chosen because they are the 2nd safest cylindrical Lithium-ion chemistry. SkyRC MC3000 Multi-Chemistry Charger About the Batteries There is a large amount of information presented here. Please don't ignore it, as it gives you the background knowlege that most people don't have about Lithium-ion batteries and using them safely. Using a 3S 11.1V 300mAh Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) pouch Battery, as demonstrated in my first Dead Rail conversion, is NOT Recommended. It was very difficult to cram a decent capacity battery into the HO scale locomotive along with the LocoFi™ module and speaker and required the locomotive's body shell to be removed to charge the battery. It is just not a safe practice to use a RC type, unprotected Li-Po batteries in this application. The 3S (three cells wired in series) Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) battery consisted of three individual Lithium Polymer pouch batteries with a nominal1 voltage of 3.7 volts (V), with a fully charged termination voltage of 4.2 volts (V), and a label stated capacity2 of 300 milliamp hours (mAh).
In this instance, theoretically, if the battery is fully charged and a constant load producing 300 milliamps (mA) of current is applied, the battery will be totally discharged to its minimum acceptable voltage in one hour. Therefore, 300mA for one hour is written as 300mAh (300 milliamp hours, which is 300mA - the current draw - per, or for, one hour) and noted as the battery's capacity. If the load producing the current flow is larger than 300mA, the time will be shorter and if the load producing the current is less than 300mA the time will be longer. The individual Lithium Polymer pouch batteries were wired in series (S), by the assembler of the pack, negative to positive while leaving a single negative and single positive end on the larger resultant battery pack. A series (S) connection is used to increase the voltage of the resultant battery pack. With each individual pouch battery having a nominal voltage of 3.7 volts (V), the three batteries in series, provide the resultant battery pack with a nominal voltage of 3.7V times 3 or 11.1V. The capacity does not change. The resultant battery pack is then noted as a 3S 11.1V 300mAh Li-Po battery. This particular battery was chosen because its advertised physical dimensions indicated that it would probably fit inside the locomotive. Li-Po batteries are not considered a unique battery chemistry as they are based on their related chemistry in other Lithium based batteries. In this case, that would be Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2) - LCO with some possible tweaks to the chemistry. "The most common type of lipo battery cathode is made of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2)." Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2) - LCO 10440 size batteries are also available in cylindrical batteries and sometimes designated as ICR. (Lithium-Ion Cobalt Round) These types of batteries should also not be used. Using Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2) cylindrical batteries, for this purpose, with no battery management system (BMS) or protection circuit module (PCM), is NOT recommended. Sometimes measuring the open circuit resting voltage of a Lithium-ion based rechargeable battery, that has a nominal voltage noted as 3.6V or 3.7V and a charge termination voltage of 4.2V, is used to determine its state of charge (SOC). This method of determining the SOC is not accurate, but it is a very common practice. Measuring resting voltage, as a means to determine the approximate SOC, CANNOT be used with other types of Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, and yes there are some! The way that the batteries are being used in this Dead Rail application is not with a constant current load or a constant power load. The power, and thus the current draw, is varied during the useful "life" of the battery capacity. That is much more like the way a radio controlled, electrically powered, vehicle's power is varied. For RC vehicle battery power, it has typically been recommended, as a rule of thumb, that the battery should not be drained to more than 80% of its stated label capacity, which is 20% left in the pack. Manufacturers and Suppliers of Lithium-ion batteries usually note a minimum discharge voltage. If the battery goes below that voltage, there is a chemical change inside the battery. That change can lead to a possible short circuit inside the battery. The next time the battery is charged, there is the possibility of an uncontrolled thermal event caused by the short circuit inside the battery. A battery's stated milliamp hour (mAh) capacity rating is not really the true capacity that can actually be taken from the pack in applications that allow for the current to be varied or pulsed. Higher currents reduce the usable capacity. The capacity rating, used by some manufactures is based on an industry standard test. For other manufacturers, and especially suppliers who rewrap batteries to sell as "their own brand", the capacity number (mAh) is just made up by the marketing department to insinuate that the battery has more capacity than it actually does. There are HUGE variations in the quality of available batteries for our purposes. I originally used, and I am still using, Soshine 10440 LiFePO4 Rechargeable Batteries. I really prefer using four Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, LiFePO4 (LiFe, IFR), because of their longevity and safety. Unfortunately, while still available, they can only be ordered directly from China at this time. Shipping time from China is long and must be planned for. I ordered a different brand of LiFePO4 from an online source called Only Batteries, which is located in both the US and Canada. I tested their IFR10440 300mAh 3.2V and found them unacceptable for our use. My Review and testing is found here. This is BAD news! In November of 2023, a myriad of LiFePO4 10440 size battery offers showed up on Amazon. They all use one of the same three photos of the batteries and claim a capacity of 500mAh. Using this search term on Amazon - "10440" lifepo4 3.2v 500mah - 39 individual offers showed up on the first page of their search on December 4, 2023. The majority of these offers note "Date First Available" as November 2023, although a few noted a date in August of 2023. IT IS PHYSICALLY AND CHEMICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CREATE A 10440 SIZE, LiFePO4 BATTERY! DO NOT PURCHASE ANY OF THESE BATTERIES! In February 2024, I discovered that besides using a AA 3 in-line battery box to hold 3 LiMn2O4 (LMO, IMR) or 3 LiNiMnCoO2 (NMC, INR) batteries, a DGZZI 4 x AA Battery Holder can hold 4 LiFePO4 (LiFe, IFR) batteries and physically fit in my trailing battery cars; the 50' boxcar and 53' gondola. I now use 4 Lithium Iron Phosphate, LiFePO4 (LiFe, IFR) Henreepow 3.2v AA 600mAh Rechargeable Battery in my battery cars for the diesels I could use a trailing battery car with the 2-8-0 Consolidation, but I prefer to have the battery in the tender with the LocoFi™ module and speaker. To fit in the tender, the battery box is a Hxchen 3 x 1.5V AAA Series Connection. It uses the smaller 10440 (AAA) size batteries, and it can be used with all three battery chemistries mentioned. 3 Lithium Iron Phosphates work because the maximum speed of this steam engine is only about 45 mph. The Safest Chemistry, Lithium Iron Phosphate, is discussed in the next section. The conversion of the Walthers' EMD GP15-1 CSX to Dead Rail/Battery on Board, using a 300mAh Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) battery, while technically successful, had two MAJOR drawbacks. 1. It used a Li-Po battery pack, which was a very poor battery choice for many reasons, including safety. I do not recommend the use of Li-Po battery packs.
 Lithium Cobalt Oxide is also used in most pouch Li-Po batteries. Graphic from Battery University Further research indicated that Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) (LMO, IMR) and Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) (NMC, INR) cylindrical batteries are inherently safer than Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO, ICR) and come in a 10440 (AAA) size, that is useful for HO scale conversion to Dead Rail/Battery on Board used with a trailing battery car. They are also available in the 14500 (AA) size, which is also useful in Dead Rail HO applications.
IMR: Lithium-Ion Manganese Round - Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) - LMO "High power but less capacity; safer than Li-cobalt; commonly mixed with NMC to improve performance." INR: Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) - NMC/INR might be at least equally safe to use with possibly other advantages. Not all INR (Lithium-Ion Nickel Round) are NMC, but the vast majority are. 10440 is a standard way to designate a Lithium-ion cylindrical battery size. It has a diameter of approximately 10mm and length of approximately 44mm. What is most important for us is that this is approximately the size of a 1.5V AAA primary (dry cell) battery. 14500 cylindrical Lithium-ion batteries are approximately 14mm in diameter and 50mm long. That is approximately the same size as a 1.5V AA primary (dry cell) battery. Suppliers and availability of these types of batteries varied greatly over time. By February 2024, the supply of Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO, IMR) batteries, in the 10440 size, seemed to have disappeared. I discuss them below as an archived reference and because 14500 size LMO batteries are still available. The following is the source that I used to originally purchase the Efest 10440 size, cylindrical batteries.
I used the flat top version. The resultant IMR battery pack consisted of three individual 10440 (AAA) size IMR batteries in series. Each individual battery had a capacity of 350 milliamp hours (mAh) and a nominal voltage of 3.7V with a charge termination voltage of 4.2V. The resultant battery pack was a 3S (three in series) 11.1V 350mAh LMO, or IMR, battery. INR 10440 batteries are available from the supplier that I've been using.
The original conversion used 2 AA battery boxes rewired into a 3 in series configuration (3S). That was totally unnecessary. A "fake" or dummy battery connector is now used. This Amazon link is for a dummy, or connector, fake battery that is similar to what I now use. As discussed later, by removing the connector battery, 4 10440 (AAA) size LiFePO4 batteries can be used instead of the 3 IMR or INR types. Using LiFePO4 batteries is discussed in the next section. The two AAA battery boxes were modified to make the insertion and removal of each Lithium-Ion IMR 104401 350mAh battery easier. The physical conversion of the battery car is archived here. There is an important thing to note in that archived section and that is "Why 3 IMR or INR batteries are use instead of 4 to create the resultant battery pack." That archived section notes the following about using 3 IMR or INR batteries:
With a full scale EMD GP15-1 having a top speed of 65 mph, it was evident that only a resultant 3S battery pack was necessary. More information about changing from 4 IMR batteries to 3 IMR, or 3 INR, batteries is archived here.
Compare the safety line in the spiderweb graph above to the spiderweb graphs below for the Lithium Cobalt Oxide, Lithium Manganese Oxide and Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide chemistries.
The Walthers' EMD GP15-1s run perfectly well using three Efest IMR 10440 size batteries which make up the resultant 3S battery pack. The IMRs are relatively safe, especially when compared to LCO batteries, but I knew that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries were even safer because that is the type of battery that I use in the vast majority of my electric powered RC airplanes. Lithium Iron Phosphate, LiFePO4, Batteries are the safest of the commonly available Lithium-ion based batteries. They are also known as LiFe, LFP and IFR. IFR stands for Lithium-Ion, F for the chemical symbol for iron, Fe, and Round, which really means cylindrical. Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries have a nominal voltage of either 3.2V or 3.3V, depending on the manufacturer and the exact chemicals used in the manufacturing process, instead of the nominal 3.6V or 3.7V of other commonly available Lithium-ion batteries. That means that four Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries must be used in series instead of the 3 IMR batteries. That is not a problem as the battery boxes hold two batteries each, for a total of four batteries in series. The original goal was to exchange a bit of Prototypical Run Time, battery capacity in mAh, to use the safest possible batteries. After testing, it was found that no prototypical run time was given up, as the prototypical actual run time for this locomotive using four IFR batteries was close to when using 3 IMR 10440 size batteries, 55 minutes. To use the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, the same setup for the battery car was used, except that there was no need for a connector in the shape of an AAA battery. The Soshine Lithium Iron Phosphate. LiFePO4 have a nominal voltage of 3.2V and the resultant battery pack has a nominal voltage of 12.8V. This was absolutely my preferred method.
Once I learned that a DGZZI 4 x AA Battery Holder would work in the battery cars, I now use 4 Henreepow 3.2v AA 600mAh Rechargeable Battery 14500 size LiFe batteries.
 A set of 4 Soshine 10440 size 280mAh Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries was purchased from Ebay at that time. They are not available from Amazon or Ebay at this time, March, 2024.
They appear to be available at AliExpress. The locomotive was reconfigured in the LocoFi™ App for use with this 4S 10440 size 280mAh LiFe resultant battery. The step 7 speed was 74 mph and it was set, in the LocoFi™ App, to limit the top speed to 65 mph, the top speed for the GP15-1. The data for this configuration was archived here and opens in a new tab. Two prototypical run time tests were performed. Both of the test results demonstrated that 55 minutes of prototypical run time was possible. The data has been archived here and opens in a new tab for viewing. After I did this conversion, and completed testing of the IMR and IFR batteries I made some big changes regarding how to evaluate the prototypical run time. When researching batteries for their specifications, I found a lot of differences between various sources. An example of these variations is found here.
Originally, three Efest IMR 14500 (AA) size batteries were tested using the prototypical run time procedure. The batteries were installed in a 3 in-line AA battery box, as shown in the photo. The results of the testing demonstrated that two hours of prototypical run time was indeed possible. That also indicated that 3 NMC/INR 14500 (AA) size batteries could also be used. Once I learned that a DGZZI 4 x AA Battery Holder could be used with a connector, shaped like a battery, I used the DGZZI battery box with the 3 batteries and the connector. A review of the Efest 14500 testing and its pros and cons compared to using 10440 (AAA) size batteries is also included. The review and testing data have been archived here. Using this set up would also be good for consisting two locomotives or for locomotives whose average amp draw exceeds the 0.25mA of the Walthers' Trainline GP15-1s. It is also useful when prototypical run times in the area of 2 hours are desired. A lot more information on my battery selection is found in my article "Selecting the Battery for the Trailing Battery Car". The article also updates exactly what batteries I am using now. Because they were inexpensive, I first used 2 EBL Li-ion Universal Chargers. They worked okay for the button top Efest IMR Cylindrical 10440 (AAA) Size Batteries. Unfortunately, the chargers minimum fixed charge rate of 0.5A (amps) was a bit too high for these small 350mAh batteries. Also they could not charge LiFePO4, Lithium Iron Phosphate, (LiFe or IFR) batteries, which are even safer than Lithium Manganese Cobalt, LiMn2O4. I do not recommend these types of chargers. The information about using these chargers has been archived here. A means to balance charge Lithium-ion batteries is necessary. "No two cells are identical. There are always slight differences in the state of charge, self-discharge rate, capacity, impedance, and temperature characteristics. This is true even if the cells are the same model, same manufacturer, and same production lot. Manufacturers will sort cells by similar voltage to match as close as possible, but there are still slight variations in the individual cells impedance, capacity, and self-discharge rate that can eventually lead to a divergence in voltage over time." That quote is from here. A good lithium-ion battery charger, like mine for RC planes, uses two steps, or stages, to charge each individual cell (AKA battery). First is the constant current stage which then moves to a constant voltage stage where the current decreases to a specified setting. It is called cc/cv charging. A really good explanation of how a Lithium-ion battery charger works is explained in a video titled EEVblog #176 - Lithium Ion/Polymer Battery Charging Tutorial. I did a written summary of the video. This link opens the written summary in a new tab to make that summary available.
Please note all of the previous safety caveats about using Lithium-ion batteries.
The charger must note that it can charge down to at least the 10440 size batteries.
The original discussion, regarding the various types of Lithium based chargers has been archived here.
I now recommend ONLY true multi-chemistry Lithium-ion type chargers.
At the end of August, 2022, I ordered four 10440 AAA size Soshine Lithium Iron Phosphate nominal 3.2V batteries from Amazon and a SkyRC MC3000 from Progressive RC to charge them with.
The SkyRC MC3000 will charge about any rechargeable cylindrical battery chemistry a hobbyist might use. The charge and discharge current can be adjusted by the user.
It has four totally independent battery slots.
Because it is a true Multi-Chemistry Smart Charger, there is a bit of a learning curve involved.
How much learning?
That depends on your basic knowledge of rechargeable batteries and whether you've programmed some other type of multi-chemistry, programmable charger before.
This charger can send charging data, via Bluetooth, to a FREE App on an Android or iOS smart phone. The data can be viewed in the phone App as well as real time graphs of the data.
This charger can also be linked to a Windows computer via USB cable. The Windows program can control and program the charger, as well as draw the "pretty" graphs that are seen in many battery reviews. It can also save the data to a .csv file.
This charger costs a bit more than other chargers, and also does a lot more.
I have a complete review and tutorial of this charger in PDF format. It can be read online or downloaded.
Using this link will open a new tab where I share my opinion on who this charger is for.
I do not have an ISDT C4 Evo charger.
ISDT makes a lot of different sizes and kinds of chargers for hobbyists. Several of the folks that I fly with have ISDT brand chargers, and I have heard of them and have recommended them to others.
DO NOT PURCHASE THE ISDT C4. That is the original version and it can only charge two 10440 size batteries at a time.
It looks like the ISDT C4 Evo can acceptably charge up to four 10440 size or four 14500 size IMR, INR and IFR batteries at one time.
It also has a learning curve.
It does have a color screen, but the data appears to be a bit crowded at times.
There are some YouTube video reviews for the ISDT C4 Evo. This one is from a trusted source for me.
Before making a choice between using 3 IMR or INR batteries or 4 IFR batteries, the user may, or may not, want to review more Lithium-based battery information. I archived more battery information here and it opens in a new tab.
While doing my early conversions, I stated, "One battery box has to be modified so that only three batteries are in the circuit", that is not true. It is much easier not to modify the battery box and just use a dummy AAA size battery that is only a connector.
The photo shows my original modification to one of the battery boxes, which is no longer necessary when using the dummy AAA size battery that is only a connector. It also shows how the "wings" were removed from the battery box to make battery insertion and removal easier.
Only 3 actual batteries and the dummy AAA size battery, that is only a connector, work just fine and make the modification of the wiring of the battery box unnecessary.
Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are the safest to use. Because of their lower voltage, four (4) 10440 size IFR batteries are required to be used in the circuit, to run the HO GP15-1 diesels, instead of the three (3) 10440 size used for the IMR or INR set up. That means that neither of the AAA battery boxes needs to be electrically modified, as all four batteries are connected in series.
The photo shows the hook up for four (4) batteries in series. One of the batteries is not in place for the photo as the battery acts as the switch.
The use of IFR batteries requires a true multi-chemistry smart charger, which is more expensive.
2. After discharging, the battery's open circuit voltage starts rising and can take anywhere from a an hour or more to stabilize at a new resting voltage. 3. Unlike a power supply, a battery's voltage is continually dropping through its entire use. It is NOT a constant voltage power supply. 4. Lithium-ion batteries have a fully charged maximum voltage, as well as a "don't go below this voltage" or the battery will be ruined. Since the batteries used in both conversions, illustrated here, do not have low voltage protection circuits, the user has to determine when to stop using the battery.
However, measured voltage can only be slightly useful for some types of Lithium based batteries in determining how long a given pack SHOULD be run without dropping to a voltage level that would ruin the battery. Originally there were some graphs here, but they were based on what I now believe to be an incorrect assumption. They have been archived here and will open in a new tab to review. 6. Ambient temperature has an effect on the capacity of Lithium-ion batteries as demonstrated by the following graph. 
Source If a layout is indoors, the ambient temperature will usually be close to 20 degrees to 22 degrees C, which is 68 degrees to 72 degrees F. Layouts that are outside, in a basement, or in a garage, or attic, may have ambient temperatures above or below the "normal" range. That is another reason that actual run times will vary. My basement, where the batteries were charged and discharged (run) stays at about 17 degrees C, or about 63 degrees F, pretty much year round.
There are two "knees" associated with Lithium based batteries. There is the discharge knee that I was familiar with, but there is also a state of health knee. That knee happens when the capacity starts to drop a lot and the battery is heading toward dead/unusable quickly.
There is no way to calculate where the discharge knee is, that I could find, besides looking at actual discharge data.
A graph, that I've seen. for the Efest IMR 10440 clearly shows the discharge knee near 3.7V, but the knee for the PKCell ICR 10440 shows the knee in the 3.3V and 3.4V range.
The PK cell has a IR of 0.88 ohms and the IMR 10440 has a resistance of 0.16 ohms, but without the graphs there was no way to know where the different discharge knees are and when the voltage will go over the knee.
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