ERR Cruise Commander 4.1 won’t switch to conventional mode.

Cruise off is not conventional mode. Cruise off is TMCC without cruise.

The only way to run in conventional mode is to disconnect the command base from the track so that there is no command signal.

Am I misunderstanding your question?

Thanks RoyBoy,

I was suspecting that. However, then what do you do to get it to run in conventional? The Lionel engines have a command/conventional switch. The ERR only has a Run/Program switch.

So If i put the engine on a conventional controlled track it will just automatically run conventional?

"So If i put the engine on a conventional controlled track it will just automatically run conventional?"

Yes, as long as there is no command signal present.

The Cruise Commander listens for a command signal from the command base. In old radio terms, this is called a carrier signal. If the Cruise Commander sees the command carrier, it will only run in command mode.

If you want the loco to run in conventional mode, you must remove the command carrier signal. That means you must take the command base out of the equation. That means the command base must be disconnected or have its power wall wart disconnected.

Merely putting the loco on an adjacent track will not work, as the command signal can jump to adjacent tracks. It's a 455 KHz radio signal, so there are some propagation abilities.

Pardon my asking, but you are not confusing conventional operation with lack of cruise are you? Conventional operation is what post war trains did.

I have never seen a command/conventional switch on a Lionel locomotive. there was one on the old powermasters, but that had a different function.

Some Lionel engines have an Odyssey on/off switch, which is equivalent to a cruise on/off switch. They did that partly because the early Odyssey was jerky and surged, and partly to support MU operation.

I guess I was not remembering the switch layout on my early Lionel TMCC locos correctly.

I have a separate test track which I can run conventional, however I failed to realize that the outer rails which are common throughout the entire layout also carried the command signal to the test track.

Temporarily disconnecting the command base solved the problem.

Thanks RoyBoy for pointing me in the right direction.

My pleasure.