Is it possible to convert older Locos to Digital Control?

Sleeper, you must be sleeping.

There is a lot of info on this forum regarding Command Control upgrades.

For Lionel's TMCC system, check out the ERR (Electric Railroad) products.

Dave

Oh OK well I guess I am using the wrong terminology because my searches only came up with "Control towers and Switch controls. So I'll try searching for Command Control upgrades

Yes, do check out the ERR website and do not hesitate to call them, very helpful folks.

Ray

Sleeper,

First you have to determine... What control do you want?  TMCC or DCS?

As mentioned above the ERR products are a great fit for TMCC.  GunrunnerJohn and others have various threads on their upgrades.  As a mater of fact, here is a thread on an ongoing upgrade.

https://ogrforum.com/t...he-upgrade-has-begun

If you go the DCS route, you need to buy an upgrade kit or obtain an inexpensive donor engine and rob the parts out of that for the train you want upgraded.  I'm doing that now for some RMT BEEPS.

https://ogrforum.com/topic/ps3-upgrade-questions?reply=39441158242690081#39441158242690081

GGG here on the forum is also in the business of doing these upgrades or folks who don't want to tackle them themselves.

Good Luck.

Ron

Thanks Ron the links are a big help because I don’t know how to narrow the search down to “Command Control upgrades” because all I get is making switches work with Command Control and not upgrading engines.

And I just now checked out ERR (Electric Railroad) which is kind of exciting. I have to sort through it to see what I need.

You are welcome...

Change your search to ERR Upgrade and you will be busy reading all day.  Lot's of good information here about that.

Do you have a Lionel Legacy or TMCC Base1L / Cab1L system already?

Ron

Thanks Ron, No I don't have anything but I'm currently looking to buy a new train although I'm not sure if I want to go with Lionel or MTH. I did hear that the new Lionel remote controls are specific to the Loco and I don't know if i want that.

The Legacy and TMCC are not specific to a loco, you have 99 loco IDs available. Take time to spend at ERRs website. I myself spent several months before taking the dive, once there you will never look back. This part of the hobby really makes trains much more fun.

Ray

Sleeper don't be confused; "The new Lionel remote controls" specific to the locos you are referring to are part of their LionChief product line. There are no upgrades available to convert engines to LionChief.  You'll be looking to convert to a digital control system by Lionel or MTH as already suggested above.

Sleeper,

   I suggest you talk to GGG & Guns (GunRunnerJohn) here on the OGR, tell them what you would like to accomplish with your older engines and let them tell you the best way

they can accomplish it for you.  The men know what they are doing and will provide you with a quality upgrade of the engines you want made into remote control.

Also what many people fail to understand is that you can run your older conventional engines via DCS thru the TR mode with your hand held remote, no fancy sounds, but control to run, and the trains run smoother than with the conventional transformer alone.  I have been thinking about upgrading one of my old Tin Plate 264 Engines & a 50's era Special Forces Military Engine and one of these two men will probably be contracted to upgrade the engines.  Remote control upgrades can definitely be accomplished.

PCRR/Dave    

This is a picture file on an older Weaver set of Pennsy E8's that was upgraded to, a now obsolete, EOB/TMCC drive system.  Click on Start Slideshow.  There are (4) pages of pictures.  This required coupler change, motor change, addition of a speaker, and eventually some detail parts work.

Oooo! Now I really like that. It’s funny because I was looking for a Pennsy E8 yesterday.  Thanks Mike

Oh my, I spent most of the day looking at MTH control systems and I haven’t even looked at Lionel.

I’m really confused right now because of the AC/DC and being rated for both HO and O scale. My head hurts now so I decided to find a train first and then pick a system that works with it. I figure once I get that far along I should be able to pick conversion system for my old locos.

So right now I’m looking at the MTH 20-3535-1 FEF Northern Streamlined Passenger Set w/Proto-Sound 3.0 and the MTH 30-20253-1 Pennsylvania E-6 AA Diesel Engine Set with a set of matching Passenger cars. I’m torn between both and I haven’t even looked at what’s available for Lionel, but I plan on looking at their catalog next.

I like train sets so that I don't have to do all the research and I’m not searching everywhere to complete a consist.

JohnnyB,

MTH 20-3535-1 FEF Northern

I have that engine. It's a good looking model and runs well!

Speaking of upgrades from ERR, do the Railsound and TMCC upgrade kits for Steam Engines come with the 8 Pin wire harness to go from engine to tender? I cant remember if I had to buy that extra when I bought the kits in the past or not...

ERR does not include the tether, you'll have to supply that yourself.  The ERR kits are actually not specific to steam or diesel, they're just generic control boards and an assortment of the RailSounds boards in both steam and diesel/electric sounds.

The PS/2 upgrade kits are complete kits with most that you'll need for the conversion, with ERR you do have to add some bits and pieces.

Well it looks like my 1^st remote controlled train is going to be a Lionel LEGACY™ Control System because the MTH trains require O-72 Curves and the Lionel 6-82270 4-6-0 Ten wheeler is a O31 curve. I just can't fit O72 curves into my space. Oh how I wish I lived in a house with a large basement.

Anyway I want everything to be compatible so I’m researching for what I need for an all LEGACY™ Control System. I hope my search for LEGACY™ equipment isn’t as exhausting as it was for the MTH stuff.

If you're going with an all-legacy system, first stop is the Legacy #990 set, the cornerstone of any Legacy layout.

If you still want to run conventional, I'd add the Legacy PowerMaster, you'll need one for each power district on the layout.  For smaller layouts, probably one will do the trick.

Other than a quality transformer, that's all you need to get started with Legacy.

Thanks John, that's a huge help.

I saw a YouTube video suggesting a power supply from Radio Shack of all places. Yikes! Well it made me wonder just how critical the power supply is and could I use one of the many CW-80s I already have?

Yes there are. but I'm looking specifically for a Steamer Passenger Train that would be in the South West and had a control system. My second choice would be a Pennsy.

I spent a lot of time looking through both Lionel and MTH and really couldn't find anything in MTH. I had my heart set on the MTH 20-3535-1 FEF Northern Streamlined Passenger Set until I saw the O72 specification.

GunrunnerJohn, Who is a good source for the tethers???

Thanks That's what I originally saw when I put it on my list, but then I realized after looking at it at a suppliers site that it was actually 072 for the Engine and O42 for the passenger cars.

You can use the CW-80, but you may end up needing additional power, depending on the specific consists you end up running.

I use a variety of tethers, for some I buy the MTH 10-pin tethers, they usually have plenty of wires for all the functions. I have a variety of connectors and tethers in my parts box, sometimes I can find something suitable there.

For small stuff, I use the MiniTronics MicroMini Connectors.

Thanks! I believe I will need the 6 pin ones for the NP and Lackawanna Northerns I am doing...They are the same as my Lionel 18007 GS2

According to Lionel, that model uses a 2-pin tether: TETHER / 2-POSITION / MALE / SP DAYLIGHT #4410

I updated the GS2 a few years ago to TMCC and RS4, the connector I got with the kit, was a 6 pin clip and lock type

Have you considered the MTH 30-1485 RK Imperial UP FEF?

  That is compatible with O31 curves, and the RK Imperial models have very nice upgraded detailing while still maintaining the ability to run on O31 track.  I have this exact locomotive, and it's a very good looking model.

I suspect that was something like TAS?

Hmm, well no I haven't seen that one, but that would work and the yellow UP passenger cars would add color to my layout.

Was that in the 2014 catalog? I only looked in the current catalog because every time I tried to buy in the past, everything was already sold out so I decided to only look for the latest stuff.

I believe this came out in 2008.  I buy much of my stuff used, and this is no exception.

I enhanced mine just a bit, I added the red MARS light that the #844 prototype has, and also installed an LED headlight, much better looking as a result.

Thanks,  I just did a quick search and I couldn't find it available anywhere. I'm going to look on eBay, but they usually want too much for used stuff.

No, it was ERR products I got from a Hobby Shop in Jersey.

The tether I have on the GS2 is a 6 pin Molex male and female tether.

Mark, is that the rather large connector?  Those were pretty common.  I like to find the smaller connectors to make them look a bit more "finished".

Yeah its a little large, its the one I photographed in the other thread about losing pulling power.

I am looking for smaller micro size 6 pin connectors, for my next few upgrades.

One very valid question is whether or not you can get GE locomotive sounds with ERR, and while one is at it, Amtrak's specific horn that they installed on these units (Nathan KL5a, if I'm not mistaken). I don't recall seeing GE sounds available in anything other than a DCS kit (since you can download sound sets into those).

I mention this because I'll eventually upgrade my Williams Amtrak* units to command. and look around for this capability every so often, and last time I checked, GE prime movers were not yet available with an ERR upgrade, much less the Amtrak horns.

---PCJ

*correct spelling

Mark,

  I have some 6 pins that are about half the size of the molex connector. Pictured is a 5 pin. I have smaller connectors also but would not use them for tethers.

Those are what I am looking for!!

I need at least 2 sets right now.