Help! need advise 4-8-4 Northern

I wouldn't make any assumptions about its performance prior to cleaning out all the old hardened grease, re-greasing it, and giving it a general swoop (brushes, E unit, wiring) to make sure everything else looks good after a long period of non-use.  I have had the same locomotive since I was a kid -- bought in 1987 or 1988 -- and I have put a ton of use on it over the years.  With regular maintenance it runs totally fine.  Yes, some of these did have problems but like many things with the internet really all you hear about are the horror stories, not the ones that are fine. 

Long way of saying that only after you baseline it properly can you evaluate whether it has other problems.  If it runs well after a basic servicing then I would run it and not worry about it.

I have that good looking beast.  Over 10 years ago a local chap no longer in the Lionel fix it business fixed it for 100 dollars.  Runs great now.  I have since added a smoke unit and RR sound commander to get a better sound from it.  So the smoke and sound was another 130 bucks.  Only you can decide if it's worth it.  Your local authorized service station should be able to help you.

You may want to contact either Marty Fitzhenry or Alex Malliae. They are both active Forum members who could probably get the engine up to your expectations without breaking the bank. If it were me, that is exactly what I would do.

There are still folks who do such work for minimum wage, but they are becoming more and more scarce.  What about selling it and buying an already up- graded version?  That is the economical way with antique autos and airplanes, and it sure sounds like the right thing to do with TMCC.

Try Brasseur's Trains (upper Midwest); also, "Trains by Johnson" (Florida Panhandle; do a Search; I've dealt with them).

Dave,

If you go to the ERR site you can get pricing for a TMCC conversion with Railsounds. It think this engine has a pulmore motor which will need to be replaced with a can motor if you want to install ERR cruise.

My guess is that it will cost you at least $350 to $400 to do the conversion.

Is it worth it? Hard to say. Depends on how much you like the engine.

I fix trains as well, I have repaired several of these locos with the new bearings. Let me know. This engine is worth having it run right!

If I recall correctly it needs some small shim washers under the motor to free up the tight backlash of the worm drive.  Would not hurt to try it anyway.