Legacy and Conventional New Layout

Cab2 and one ZW-L. That is what I have on my layout and I run everything from pre-war tinplate to Legacy on 3 different loops. The Cab2 and ZW-L work perfectly for your application.

Hello,I did not see an e-mail in your profile,but I did notice you live in Ohio,the same state that I am from.I can get that #746 running like the day it came out of the box if you are interested in getting it tuned up.I see no reason why it should have lost power besides lack of maintainance.If interested,my e-mail is in my profile.If you don't have me do the work,take it to an authorized Lionel Service center for a tune up.It will cost you $$$$$ compared to having me do it,but I see no reason why it should have lost pulling power.Those old engines are superior mechanically to anything you can buy today,but they do require a tune up from time to time.-kennyb

I run Legacy/TMCC and conventional at home and I use the ZW-C and Legacy command set.  Works great.  So like Jeff said, the current ZW (The ZW-L) and Legacy command set is the way to go.

Yes, another vote for either the Legacy / ZW-L combo or the Legacy / ZW-C combo.

 

Either one will give you the flexibility to run both Legacy and Conventional from the Cab-2 remote. 

The ZW-L is self contained but is large and expensive.

The ZW-C uses bricks (up to 4) so it has more cords to plug in but can be found second-hand for a reasonable price.

 

Advertisement break - I happen to be selling my ZW-C with 4 135w bricks if you are interested.

Is anything needed besides the zw c or L and the cab2 to run the conventional locos from the remote? How does the transformer vary the voltage to the track without a powermaster or tpc?

With the ZW-L and ZW-C the 4 power masters are built into the unit. One for each of the 4 handles.

No need for separate power masters.

Very clean.

Just to expand - When in command mode (meaning that you want to control the zw with the Legacy remote) you simply set the ZW handle at the max voltage that you'll want. However, no power is delivered to the track until you "dial it up" from the remote. You can then control your conventional locos on their track(s) this way.

On your loops running command engines, you dial up to the full 18v. and then address the command locos directly with the remote.

 

 

Well this clears up a lot for me, I guess now I have to find more room in the hobby budget!

I am still unsure about one thing. Lets say I am running my command layout from the CAB2, can my father or nephew still operate the conventional lines from the ZW? With the switch in the conventional location the command track line would just be left at 18V on the handle while the others are operated manually right? Then if I wanted to run everything from the CAB2 I'd just change the switch in the back and power cycle the ZW? Or do the tracks need readdressed each time the CONV CMD switch is cycled?

Not sure about the zw-l, but with the zw-c, i beleive that any of the 4 handles can be manually "throttled down" from the physical handles and thus, you could manually control conventional loops right from the two big zw handle while someone else controls the other two throttles from the remote.
However, upon first startup in command mode, the two outer handles' power read at 0 until you dial it up w the remote. The two inner handles come on full at whatever the physical handles are set to.
This the outer handles work better for conventional locos while the inner are suited to command locos.

The ZW's do not have a command/conventional switch like the PowerMasters do.  If you want a ZW to ignore the command signal, you set it to TMCC ID 0.  So just to be clear, the ZW-C (which I have) can be controlled with the Cab handhelds when a command base is attached to any of the U terminals or the base attached to the outside rails that are attached to the ZW-C.  When you power up the ZW-C in command, the two outside handles will be at 0 volts, no matter the handle setting.  The inside handles will power up to full voltage as they are set.  By addressing the ZW-C with the Cab handheld, you can turn the voltage up and down, but it'll never be higher then the handle is set at.  So I leave all my handles up at full throttle.  I Place my locomotives on the track and turn the command base on.  I then turn the PowerHouse I have powering my ZW-C on.  If on outside handles, there is no power to the track so I address it with the Cab and turn the red knob to get power.  Conventional locomotives start as if you physically turned the handle.  Command locomotives sit and wait to be addressed.  If on the inside handles there is no full power to track, command locomotives will sit and wait to be addressed.  Most (about 95%) of my conventional locomotives are MTH Protosound (aka PS-1) locomotives so they start in reset and I use the red knob to turn track voltage down to 5-6 volts and then push the direction button on the Cab to move them out.Once the outside handle is set to full voltage with the Cab, you can move the throttle handle and push the direction, bell, and horn/whistle buttons as you like and conventional locomotives will act like they do with any transformer.  If it'd really help you, I guess I could try to make a video this weekend.