Legacy Santa Fe PA's - MARS light?

This came up when these were first released, its another "corner cut" by Lionel. to go along with no whistle steam, no bi colored marker lights etc,etc.

https://ogrforum.com/t...-legacy-pa-1-6-34568

Lately it seems Lionel is trying to see how many previously offered features they can "pull", and still sell products. I now watch my Lionel purchases/features very closely as catalog descriptions mean nothing.

I stick by my Polar Express hobo quote.

Cheap bast**ds. How much can proper light cost in a $700 engine?  We have a Williams L&N E7 with a decent MARS light that was a LOT less then $700....

Exactly Sam! They keep re-releasing the same old stuff by calling it Legacy....just like their new catalog, it SUCKS!

Although there's no excuse for the lame MARS light, you can pick up an excellent MARS simulator from ngineering that is better than anything I've seen the manufacturers install.  The module is tiny, and you just replace the bulb with an LED and power it from the light power, very easy install.

I have to admit, these re-releases where very dissapointng. They have cheep metal frames, no operating fans, and non working mars lights. I think I will buy the old TMCC versions and put the ERR board in them... that way with 100 speed steps its close to legacy.

I don't know why they did this, but it greatly reduced their pulling power and quality of their product. I have seen them blown out as low as 400 for the A-A pair.

I'm not a big fan of the original Odyssey, but the ERR Cruise Commander M will make an excellent upgrade for that unit.

yes, that is what I ment to say, the Cruise commander boards will change your early TMCC engines into nice slow creeping machines.

The early Class A's, T1's and anything with an Odessy lurch (jump) will be eliminated.

My collegue just updated a 1999 1601 Allegheny for me and the change was simply amazing  . I have not done a later diesel but I have a C420 NKP that maybe recieving a new board soon.

Any locomotive, both diesel or steam, that I have with the modular TMCC has a Cruise Commander M installed, night and day!  The other bonus is that you get operating ditch lights and marker lights for free from the CCM board.

John,

Thanks for the heads up... I think I will be adding lighted number boards to the 1601 as well!

Now that you mention it, these do feel awfully light compared to other diesels this size. Are they constructed differently from the earlier scale TMCC models?  I've not seen any of them but I do have the D&H B unit from that era that I have run with these. In checking just now, the B weighs 3.2 lbs while the non-powered Legacy Santa Fe A weighs 3.6.

This would seem to indicate that the construction is similar between the two models.

(the A has lights, smoke, an other details lacking on the B)

I have not run these pulling any cars as yet however so can't attest to the pulling power...

The CCM has the LED direct outputs from the board, no resistors or diodes required, makes it convenient to light things.

Lionel's Lackawanna FM Trainmaster that came out a few years back also claimed that it had a MARS light in the catalog. When I received it, I was very disappointed to learn it was omitted. It's a shame because the loco is an excellent runner.

See my previous post, it's easy to add a MARS light, and they look great.

The exact reason I am buy ing some earlier steam engines like the 2003 Mohawk because it sounds much better then the legacy version. Of course it was upgraded to 4 chuffs, still 40% cheaper to do this then buying the legacy model. 

Just snagged a JLC greyhound challenger for a great price and after some upgrades to the challenger it will be even better. 

There was an earlier thread on these, I believe Scrap Iron bought a set and had a tough time pulling a set of cars up a grade. I have the D&H set and the bases are castings.

Thanks John.