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Good Find at the LHS Today!

Rod StewartRod StewartOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I went to the LHS to get a copy of the Trains BigBoy special today.

Earlier a good friend happened to mention that they had an incomplete Legacy set tucked away in the back somewhere; but he was not interested as he already has a new Cab-1L system.

So while there I asked about it, and in due course out came a fairly shelf-worn blue box with #990 on it.

We opened it up and took a peak.

 

You have to understand that I now run TMCC and DCS, and I have been thinking of getting a Legacy system, but there is no way I was going to spend some stupid amount of money on ebay, and so I was pretty much resigned to waiting until Lionel finally re-issues the Legacy system.

Back to the story. Inside the box we found a base, an antenna, a Cab 2, the correct wall wart, a coiled up Y adapter cable, two blue modules and two white modules, and a retro-green Legacy manual. The blue modules indicate software version 1.2

It even has an extra no-cost bonus: hair-of-cat! Looks like whoever owned it must have had a feline who roamed around and through the box once in a while.

 

The set is definitely used, but there is not a sign of use or damage on it anywhere. The attendant had no idea if it worked, or how to test it.

When I asked the price, and was told $150; I figured I had to have it.

 

On getting it home, I plugged in the wall wart and put the cab 2 into the cradle to charge it up.

After a while I pressed CTC and the screen and number pad immediatley lit up.

After a full charge I well maybe try hooking it up and trying it out. Who knows, maybe it will work??

 

I guess I will have to read up on how to update the software to V1.52. Any tips on how best to do this?

Can I just hook it up up to the outside rail alongside my Base 1 to get it working?

 

Rod

 

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gunrunnerjohngunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

It's as simple as connecting it to the outside rail.  Obviously, don't have the old TMCC Base connected and powered at the same time!

 

When you power the command base and press the CTC (red button) to power up the CAB2, it should display the version of the software in the remote and the base.

 

If it's 1.2 or greater, you can upgrade it yourself.  For 1.2, you'll need to get a pair of modules with the CAB and BASE update in them, for 1.3 or later, you can cook your own black modules.

 

If it's 1.0, it has to go back to Lionel before it can be upgraded.

 

Rod StewartRod StewartOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

It's as simple as connecting it to the outside rail.  Obviously, don't have the old TMCC Base connected and powered at the same time!

 

When you power the command base and press the CTC (red button) to power up the CAB2, it should display the version of the software in the remote and the base.

 

If it's 1.2 or greater, you can upgrade it yourself.  For 1.2, you'll need to get a pair of modules with the CAB and BASE update in them, for 1.3 or later, you can cook your own black modules.

 

If it's 1.0, it has to go back to Lionel before it can be upgraded.

 

John;

It's V1.2

How do I cook my own black modules?

 

Rod

PC9850PC9850OGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

If you're a vet, they'll pay shipping both ways for warranty repairs.  I guess that won't apply if you're a Canadian vet, never mind.

Actually, now that I remember, I only had to pay shipping TO Lionel. They covered shipping back to me. And this was very much a non-warranty repair. I bought my system second-hand from a private seller many years ago and simply registered it on their website. They still accepted everything and turned it around within a week.

 

Even if you're not a veteran, that's quite a nice service they're offering.

Last edited by PC9850
gunrunnerjohngunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by Rod Stewart:
John;

It's V1.2

How do I cook my own black modules?

 

Rod

You remember Free Black Modules For Legacy, right?  You can make your own from the now useless blue modules.  Of course, you can buy the black modules for $20 as well.  After you have them, you'll have to connect the Legacy base to a computer with a serial connection.  If you don't have a serial port, you can use a USB to Serial adapter, the one that I've used here is the Vantec USB to Serial Adapter that sells for $12 and ships free.

 

Rod StewartRod StewartOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

John;

Thanks for the black module info. I read that thread and the mod looks pretty doable.

Thanks for your pioneering efforts to discover the mod.

Is there any reason to preserve the old blue V1.2 modules?

They are the only ones I have, so I could mod them to do the V1.52 upgrade.

So as I understand it, I don't have to upgrade to V1.3 first, I can go directly from V1.2 to V1.52?

 

Rod

Last edited by Rod Stewart
gunrunnerjohngunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by Rod Stewart:

John;

Thanks for the black module info. I read that thread and the mod looks pretty doable.

Thanks for your pioneering efforts to discover the mod.

Is there any reason to preserve the old blue V1.2 modules?

They are the only ones I have, so I could mod them to do the V1.52 upgrade.

So as I understand it, I don't have to upgrade to V1.3 first, I can go directly from V1.2 to V1.52?

 

Rod

You can go directly to 1.52, I've done it with a couple of units.  There is no reason that I can think of to preserve any blue modules after you use them, as you can cook a black module with any version of software if you need it.  I have kept 1.4 and later around, but I've never needed them.

Rod StewartRod StewartOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

So I got the Legacy system working on the layout today, even if only running a couple of TMCC engines.

I am not gonna add any Legacy engines until I upgrade to V1.52 software, which will be a couple of weeks to get the modules.

I see in the manual that you can patch the TMCC Command base to the Legacy base using the Y cable, so as to run both Cab 1 and Cab 2.

What about DCS? Is there a way to patch DCS into the mix?

 

Antother thing; I notice the back of the Cab2 handheld just above the battery compartment gets really warm when it is charging. Is this normal?

I also notice that battery life is quite short with the three original NMH AA cells. No idea how old they are.

Maybe I need new rechargeables?

 

Thanks,

Rod

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