Advice - TMCC issue -

Find the Railsounds/Signal Sounds slide switch and see if it is set to Signal Sounds.  Since the horn and bell work, this switch may be in the wrong position.  It should be set to Railsounds to get motor sound, coupler sound, etc.

Bob Bartizek

Thanks Bob, I'll check it when I get home this evening.

Bob's suggestion was good, but not for this engine, it doesn't have a signal sounds option.  I looked in the manual and if anyone is familiar with this engine the switches on the bottom are not labeled which is confusing until you get familiar with them.

Bill,  Are these the A & B units from 1998-99 or thereabouts?  If so, I think the A unit only has Signalsounds while the B unit has full Railsounds.

Sam that may be, I've only run them as an AB.  It would seem that it is a TMCC issue.

Can you manually control the Sounds from the CAB-1 with TMCC?  Raise diesel RPM, Whistle and bell?  Try a reset and reprogram features for the RS unit.  If that doesn't work, ensure all the harness are connected completely, especially the serial data connector.  Ensure boards are seated properly.  If no joy, do you have another R2LC of the same code you can swap into the unit?  If so, swap it in to see.  If it still doesn't work, swap in the RS Power Supply board from a good engine.  G

Thank you, I'll try the reset tonight. I've checked all of the wire harness connections and they are all snug and no wires were crimped or frayed.

While it may not have the switch, the option still exists within the RS board set.  Perhaps there's a jumper inside?  You might check the RS audio boards between pins 15 & 17, if they're shorted, you'll be in Signal Sounds mode.

Bill

  On your B-unit, you should have a program switch and a railsounds off and on switch. Put the switch in the on position and try.

Bill

The railsounds switch was(is) in the "on" position and the program switch was(is) in the Run position when I put the engine on the track.  Railsounds go on and sound good in conventional but when TMCC is connected to the track and you initiate start up the sounds stop completely within 2 seconds.

tonight I'll reset the engine number and see if anything changes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 If after reprogramming you still are soundless, put the switch in the off posistion. If you only have horn and bell, its a good possibly you have a bad switch.

Bill

After reading the manual again, I see that the "A" unit has "Signal" sounds, it's only the "B" that has the switches and "Railsounds." I'll run the "A" by itself just to see what it sounds like, I've always run them as a pair.

I won't be too disappointed if the TMCC doesn't work, I rarely run my Lionel engines with TMCC, they're the engines I bring to run at my "club."  I'll see what happens tonight and post back.

thanks again for the suggestions.

We had the sister PA's in NYC and the combination of Signal Sounds and Railsounds was interesting and harmonic. Considering how old these are, with two sound sources from both the A & the B, they sound quite good!

My understanding is Signal Sounds is only a horn/Bell.  No Diesel sounds.  Remember, reprogramming a TMCC Engine number is not like the AUX program reset.  G

Signal Sounds in indeed only a horn and bell.  The old ERR Sound Commander had more sounds, but it's no longer available.  It was a bridge between the simple and full RailSounds, too bad it's not still available.

It sounds like the A Unit is working properly, its the B unit that's losing sound.

Bill

ANd you can operate the B unit separately.  I believe it has it's own R2LC, PS and RS boards.  So all the testing I mentioned needs to be done to the B unit, not the A unit. 

You could move the R2LC between units to test the R2LC. G

The A unit has a LCRU.

Can you borrow the R2LC from another locomotive?

Thanks for all the help.  The "A" has signal sounds, the reverse unit and the motors.  The "B" has railsounds and the TMCC boards.  I did a reset and the railsounds came back to life, DCS even recognized it.  Now all is right in the TMCC world.

LOL Now the head light doesn't go on, I'll open it up again, I think the bulb may have come loose. 

Sell it quick while it's working!

Glad the Reset worked for you.  G