I just got a K-Line locomotive, I believe it's from 1994 (No catalog number as it was a custom specialty/promotion set.). What is the best way to tell if it's got AC or DC motors in it? Need to know so I know what command upgrade options I have.
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DC can motor in the truck. If going TMCC you'll want an ERR DC Commander or Cruise Commander.
Note that some of these truck mounted motors have excessive "cogging" and low speed performance with back-EMF cruise is poor. Before you opt for the Cruise Commander, manually turn the wheels (with no power obviously). If you feel fairly strong "detents" where the motor hesitates at regular intervals, back-EMF cruise is likely to be a problem. Not all of these had the issue, I've done some K-Line stuff with the truck mounted motors that worked fine with cruise, others did poorly.
^^What GRJ said.
My experience is this: As locos with these little Mabuchi motors accrue running time, the cogging effect seems to weaken. Seriously! I had a couple of steam locos with this motor. When they were brand-new, the cogging effect was so bad, it felt like the gears were binding! After dozens of hours running, you could turn the wheels smoothly. So either the gears really did have burrs on them at first, or the magnetic field weakened over time.
Either way it's not a premium motor. I tried to upgrade a Chessie 8008 (1980) with ERR and wasn't happy with the result. I reused the board in a Premier PS1 Pacific. YMMV.
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