Lionel Jersey Central Camelback 6-18097 upgrade

You should need the R2LC-C08 (or the R4LC-C08) for the locomotive.  The antenna is already there, it's the handrails on the locomotive.  The models that come with Signal Sounds (whistle & bell only) require two boards for the tender, the audio power and the command RailSounds.  If you have the full RailSounds, you should just need the audio board that's command capable.  If you want an electrocoupler, you'll need to add that as well.

You are correct, the upgrade kits aren't still sold, though there may be some floating around on the secondary market.

It only has signal sounds, so it'll need the audio power and the RailSounds (hoping both will still be available). 

You can usually find a generic steam sound board, and the RS power boards are readily available.

Was looking on ebay, and some folks are charging more for used boards than Lionel is selling them for new. Did find one place selling a "kit" (not the actual upgrade kits, but one with the parts from them, including coupler, with instructions to measure the original so they ship the correct one) for $145. I'm not in any legitimate hurry to get this done, so I guess I can wait until Lionel gets their parts website back up and running and see what they'd charge. I'm assuming the actual RailSounds upgrade just came with a generic steam chip, since the part number seems to be the same for everything (6-22963).

I believe you are correct.  Have a little patience, and when Lionel has their half price sale in November, buy the parts you need, it'll be less than $100.

Do you have instructions on engine, some of those early ones did have complete instructions on how to do it since some mother boards required jumpers to be moved.  But in general, Radio Board, RS Power Supply Board, RS 4.0 Camel Back or Generic Steam Board, and coupler of the right size and mount style. G

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I believe you are correct.  Have a little patience, and when Lionel has their half price sale in November, buy the parts you need, it'll be less than $100.

Do they have the sale every year? I'd heard they did in the past, but didn't know it's an annual event. If so, I'll definitely wait.

GGG posted:

Do you have instructions on engine, some of those early ones did have complete instructions on how to do it since some mother boards required jumpers to be moved.  But in general, Radio Board, RS Power Supply Board, RS 4.0 Camel Back or Generic Steam Board, and coupler of the right size and mount style. G

Yes, it came with instructions (strangely enough, for a 4-6-9 camelback, guess it's a typo). I believe there's a jumper in the engine and one in the tender. 

Magicland posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I believe you are correct.  Have a little patience, and when Lionel has their half price sale in November, buy the parts you need, it'll be less than $100.

Do they have the sale every year? I'd heard they did in the past, but didn't know it's an annual event. If so, I'll definitely wait.

They've had it for the last few years, and I'm assuming it'll happen again this year.

Okay, the Lionel parts site is back up and running! From the looks of things, I may not need an electrocoupler, as the parts list for both the TMCC and "command ready" versions show the same coil coupler (6108129550). And it seems I can order the CNJ camelback railsounds board rather than just the generic steam! Now, do I have the patience to wait until November for the sale, or...

Just an update. Despite the Lionel parts diagram for the conventional camelback showing the electrocoupler, the actual unit does NOT have an electrocoupler.

So, for reference, if you're doing this "upgrade" yourself, you'll need:

• 691R2LCC08 R2LC
• 691PCB10A5 RS4 board
• 691PCB104D RailSounds PS
• 6108129550 Coupler

This will get you the CNJ Camelback sound chip rather than the generic steam one. The only issue is the locomotive's number in the chip's announcements will be #771, while the number painted on the unit will be #770. If you're doing an upgrade on another camelback, check the Lionel support site for the correct RS4 board number for that unit.