Camera on train

Tomix has a camera inside an n-scale train. Go here

and type "tomix camera" in the search box.

Here is a camera inside an HO RDC:

Oh, there are LOTS of them around.

I run a flatcar with a camera and a 9 volt battery on it in N scale. The whole outfit (camera and receiver) only cost me about US$ 80.00 last year at Chantilly. Cameras with sound run a little more, and you can get as many as 4 cameras with a single 4 way receiver. This camera is about

3/4 inch square. It is possible to run them off track power, but it can't be a direct connection - there is some circuitry inside the power plug that must not be bypassed. I just use some velcro on the camera and a rubber band on the battery to hold them in place.

There _are_ smaller cameras available, as small as 1/4" square. Again, multiple cameras are available with a single receiver. A single camera and receiver runs around US $160.00 last I saw one. I've seen these installed _inside_ a Kato N scale RDC, and HO scale hood units. Transmission quality to the receiver seems to be better on these units, with fewer dropouts and better color. Again, a track power feed IS possible, but I've not seen details of this.

There _are_ advantages to NOT installing the camera inside a car or locomotive. The main one is the ability to run the camera car with the camera turned slightly off to the side (avoiding the "Land of the Giants" look and getting a much more realistic view) or in the back of the train facing to the rear ("out the back of the caboose") or just ahead of the caboose, looking forward up the length of the train (Conductor's View - this works best with a couple of flat cars ahead of the camera car so you see more than the end of a box car...) It's amazing how many people don't 'see' the camera car when they're looking over the train.

It sounds very interesting. Do you have a link for Chantilly? I tried googling it, got a lot of sites for perfume and one for lingerie(!!), but nothing model RR related.

-- Bill McC.

That was the Chantilly, VA N-Trak convention in 2004.

I got mine from a live vendor there. Their web site was:

but it is offline - don't know if that's temporary or not.

Google "micro color camera" for lots of potential sources.

LOL! Thanks for the clarification. I googled on "model railroad camera" and found one at Tony's

but it costs twice what yours did. I'll try the keywords you suggested and see what else come up. Thanks again.

-- Bill McC.

I got my camera from Micro Mark. I bought the sound cam and the DCC battery eliminator.

The Chantilly train show was a GT Expo Train Show. You can see their schedule on their web site at:

There was a link recently on one of the forums I follow to such a camera with the lowest price that I've seen - $33.00. I ordered one and have only played with it for a bit. Here's the site where I got it:

Worth a look anyway!

Bob Boudreau Canada

Here is one:

Go to

scroll down towards the bottom of the page until you see Peter Wisniewski's P42 model. That will give you an idea what is involved and what the pictures it takes look like.

There are many cameras available in various sizes for a wide range of prices. This is only one example.

IMO, the best thing about this type of setup (assuming that you also have a DCC wireless throttle which can control the train and turnouts) is the fact that you can run the loco from a remote location. Like sitting on a comfy couch with your favorite drink as you are running the train while watching it on a large screen TV.

Peteski

You have been reported to the Rule G police.

"Drink" does not specifically imply "alcoholic beverage". It could be a Diet Coke or a Ginger Ale . . .

:-D

Peteski

Depends who you're talking to! =8^)

I've made three of these, with different cameras as technology improved and transmitters got smaller and smaller. Basically, go to a website like supercircuits.com [1], pick a camera you can afford, and mount it in a flatcar. Some people use dummy engines or boxcars instead, but I've found that the flatcar gives you lots more flexibility (say, if you want to turn the camera to shoot from the side), and it's easier to get at the batteries if you don't have a shell to take off. Microcameras tend to suck power, so you might consider using lithium polymer rechargable packs you can buy at an R/C store - lots of capacity in a very small and light package. *

[1] These guys are expensive, but they make good gear. If you look around, you can find decent cameras on ebay for cheap, and just the other day I saw a security system camera at Home Depot for well under $100, that looked like it would mount in an HO boxcar just fine with a little hacking.

Thanks for the reply, Paul. If you have been following the thread, you will see that I got the camera into an F unit shell and have the DCC battery eliminator installed. I want to have a 'cab view' of the railroad at my club. Thanks for the thoughts about other cameras, I might look into them. (but not the lenses. Don't want to crack them.) (G)

Frank Rosenbaum spake thus:

I wonder if you might be disappointed when you finally get the camera in the cab. I'm pretty sure these cameras won't focus anywhere near close enough to capture the cab window frame as anything but a fuzzy blur. Of course, if that's OK, then no problem.

That's about it. I don't have the frame in view, but I do have part of the headlight bulge. I don't mind that it is a little fuzzy. It is there just as a reference that you are in a loco.

I made a tape last night at the club. I will watch it to see where we can improve on the track side scenery. At first glance, while it was being taped, the scenery looks great.

That would be my thought too. Depth of field tends to not be very good - Either the interior of the cab will be blurred, or the outside scene will. *

That is true. I am not using the window to frame the view. Instead, I am using the upper left corner (slightly out of focus) of the headlight casing to create the effect of being in the cab. I may also put a windshield wiper on the cab along with a piece of 'glass' that has the effect of the windshield wiper pattern on it. I will have to experiement with that.

Can I make a suggestion here? You're viewing this on a computer, right? Why not take a photo of the interior of a real locomotive, and use it to frame your video? I'm sure there must be software that would let you do this. Maybe Final Cut?

Mac B.