Atlas New Announcements 44 Tonner Loco

Yes. The TMCC locos will be replaced with ProtoSound 3.0 electronics.

I hope that Atlas O reissues thier older detailed models with DCS!

That is a shame, i have found tmcc/legacy far simpler to wire and enjoy all 4 of my atlas tmcc locos.  Offering dcs eliminates this from my want list.

No formal announcement has been made about former Atlas tooling which used TMCC. The MTH tooling Atlas has purchased the rights to use will apparently,  and unsurprisingly,  will be offered only with DCS/PS3.0.  Probably too difficult and expensive to redesign for another system, and, more importantly,  the factory has no experience installing TMCC/Legacy.

Makes sense but it will be interesting to see how this affects Atlas sales, since most surveys suggest the installed base of TMCC is substantially larger than DCS.  This isn't surprising since TMCC was around for six years prior to DCS's availability (approximately 1996 to 2002).  PS2 appeared earlier (2000), but not the TIU/remote to control PS2 in command mode.

@catnap posted:

Yes. The TMCC locos will be replaced with ProtoSound 3.0 electronics.

Hmm… I must have missed that announcement that Atlas was no longer going to offer TMCC locomotives. Please share!

@necrails posted:

That is a shame, i have found tmcc/legacy far simpler to wire and enjoy all 4 of my atlas tmcc locos.  Offering dcs eliminates this from my want list.

Agree, I am not installing and using two different operating systems on my layout. I have seen some MTH locomotives that I would be interested. However, since they cost just as much as the Lionel Legacy Locomotives it doesn’t make sense to pay extra just to locomotiotamy it to TMCC. Better off waiting for the Legacy version.

@Madockawando posted:

Hmm… I must have missed that announcement that Atlas was no longer going to offer TMCC locomotives. Please share!

The Master GP7's and Trainman RSD7's & 15's will presumably be the last locomotives to have ERR (TMCC) boards. Now that Atlas has acquired the license for ProtoSound 3.0 it would only make sense to offer PS3 in both the Premier (former MTH) and Trainman/Master (Atlas) models unless they plan on keeping those marques separate from one another.

Does anyone know whether it is feasible to convert an MTH/Atlas 44 tonner to TMCC? Of course I should just ask GGG, he is my go to guy. I run TMCC exclusively.

More and more I am faced with the decision: buy a TMCC loco and have it custom painted to what I want, or buy a MTH unit and swap out the electronics. I have a lot of MTH locos.

Decisions!

Jan

@HiramO posted:

Does anyone know whether it is feasible to convert an MTH/Atlas 44 tonner to TMCC?

I am pretty sure Gunrunnerjohn did a conversion on a scale Williams to run on a mini commander. Doing the same to an Atlas model would be very similar. It's tight fit no matter what's in there!

https://ogrforum.com/topic/41553381997294765

Might be easier to convert it to Legacy. The smallest ERR boards are not that small assuming you want sound too.

Pete

The MTH engine would have one wrinkle, the shell is metal so you'd have to isolate it for the TMCC antenna.  Also, the shell is narrower, and the ERR Cruise Lite is no longer available, so you'd end up without cruise control.

It's amazing how much money folks will spend to convert a perfectly good DCS locomotive to TMCC or vice versa.

@MichRR714 posted:

It's amazing how much money folks will spend to convert a perfectly good DCS locomotive to TMCC or vice versa.

I run both types so it doesn't matter to me. In many cases a particular prototype was made by only one company. I am more amazed that some will take a perfectly good TMCC engine and have it converted to Legacy for one or more special effects. Whistle steam??? Com’on.

Pete

@catnap posted:

Yes. The TMCC locos will be replaced with ProtoSound 3.0 electronics.

catnap,

I'm pleased that Atlas has chosen you to make the formal announcement that they will no longer offer TMCC in any of their locomotives in favor of DCS.  Are you going to issue a formal press release with the details?

(Thanks for letting us know.  It's hard to get straight news nowadays.)

Mike

I also run them all, so unless there's a good reason, I don't typically do conversions between command systems.  Before the pricing madness, my favorite target upgrade target was MTH Premier PS/1 steam for TMCC command upgrades.

Do we know for sure that Atlas will no longer offer tmcc? Or is this speculation?

I’m thrilled to see dcs in the 44 tonner. I ordered the Burlington paint scheme.

So far just speculation.

I have run both DCS and TMCC on my layouts for many years.  Having said that, TMCC is obsolete.  Going with PS3 in the former MTH tooled locos is the right thing, IMO.

Jim S,

And who appointed you the czar of determining obsolescence?  Thank you for taking on the role, but based on the anticipated future availability of core electronic parts DCS is likely no father ahead than TMCC (or Legacy for that matter), except perhaps in the short run.  Converting everything to native DCC may be a better choice if you don't like TMCC.

Mike

@ChiTown Steve posted:

Do we know for sure that Atlas will no longer offer tmcc? Or is this speculation?

I’m thrilled to see dcs in the 44 tonner. I ordered the Burlington paint scheme.

I sent an email to Atlas asking that very same question. No response. Which tells me they either haven't decided or they have decided but do not wish to make announcement. Both possibilities have interesting consequences. 

Well, I'm seeing the resurrecting of the old TMCC vs DCS arguments of over a decade ago. Come on, both systems have their pluses and minuses so let's leave it alone. After all, model railroading, playing with trains, or whatever you want to call it is supposed to be a fun hobby. Let's go run our trains, build our layouts, collect our tinplate, railroad memorabilia, or whatever, and stop the harping and speculation.

TMCC has been superseded by the Legacy system, so there's that.  The beauty of DCS is that it will run my TMCC/Legacy equipped locos.  This setup has worked well for me for many years, and I see no reason whatsoever to change it.  

Just because Legacy exists doesn’t mean TMCC is dead and obsolete. There is still a large consumer market for TMCC locomotives, system equipment, and upgrade boards. Many hobbyists like the simplicity and reliability of the system.
If Legacy and DCS have killed off “obsolete” systems, why is conventional control still around? Why is Lion Chief a thing? Why is 3rd Rail still producing TMCC locomotives and upgrade kits?

I think it's going to take a couple of years to see which locos are going to be produced with which electronics.  This is a transition phase and we don't know what the "final" phase is going to look like. Lionel will have two catalogs per year. MTH will have ? catalogs. Atlas will also be producing catalogs, as will Williams by Bachmann. Lots of opportunities for stuff that no one anticipated . As for TMCC being obsolete, I like it a lot better than my experiences with some other systems, and I haven't bought Legacy yet, but probably will eventually as I accumulate a few more Legacy locos.