do mods/upgrades hurt value

"Original condition" was important when toy train collectors and operators were buying and selling trains. As time took its toll, and "zinc pest" (impurities in metal) caused wheels and frames to deteriorate (and boiler castings on early 700E scale Hudsons), replacement frames and wheels were accepted. They still lowered values but not as much.

Since command control arrived around 2000, the market has changed. Most people operate their trains, and PS-2 adds value. Prewar, Postwar and "Modern" trains are smaller and much less detailed than command-control trains available today.

"Original condition" Prewar and Postwar trains are less valuable in that market today. A State Set or a Jersey Central FM Train Master may be worth thousands of dollars on paper, but a seller has to find a person who will pay that much.  Another sad fact is that as collectors of those trains age or pass away and sell their collections, old "original condition" trains command a premium among fewer and fewer people.

I like PS-1. I have installed BCR's and PS-1 systems work fine. The BCR Website is www.jandwelectronics.com

If command control is preferable, a PS-2 upgrade is the way to go.

Most modern trains are like cars, once you drive it off the lot, it begins to lose "value."

Rusty

thanks guys after reading your opinions i went ahead and put the ps2 upgrade in it yesterday.  

If you're going to run it, who really cares about the "value"?  I don't want to run conventional, so anything I have that I'm going to run has command.  If it doesn't come with it, it gets it.

I agree with Gunrunner.  I use my trains, and any consideration of value is my Executor's problem.  I suspect my 1950 Lionel #736 Berkshire may have been worth more to a collector if it had the original e-unit, but I do enjoy running a 63 year old engine under DCS control, and am about to also upgrade a #624.  Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to upgrade my even older Lionels with transverse armature shafts.

By the way, I did upgrade the first MTH articulated, a Challenger, and use it regularly.  If you run trains rather than shelve them, you'll never regret the upgrade.