Lionel Rectifers Electric Locos help

The later engine might have a GG1/EP5 sound board. Adding coil couplers is not a problem. When you remove the C-clip on the bottom of the coupler, be careful, the spring will take a aeronautical path off the work bench. Pull-mors do need a little more juice, but you may want to set the stall.

Bill 

The Virginian defiantly has the better soundset. I like the high voltage electrical buzz you hear between speed steps 4 an 5. The single note horn sounds kind of eerie.

 You will need to swap power supply boards also.

Gregg-

To add coil couplers to the EP-5, you will need two Lionel part #610-812-9550 couplers. Boxcar Bill can easily help you out there. There should be two empty two-pin male plugs on the TMCC motherboard - one on each end, marked with something like J3 or J2. Each one is for an electrocoupler - one for the front truck, or one for the back truck. Simply plug the two-wire connector into each plug, and you'll have couplers. Bill is right though - the c-clip/washer/spring assembly will fly away (and never be found), so I recommend covering the locomotive with a cardboard box to contain the "explosion".

The clicker wheel on the bottom truck is a microswitch/cherry switch, which early TMCC locomotives used to determine how fast the locomotive was moving to set the appropriate engine "roar" level. It's similar to how steam locomotives of the same era were able to have synchronized chuff sounds. EOB was a feature developed by Train America Studios, and is only found on TAS boards, Electric RR's cruise commander, and on later Atlas O products. It is unlikely your EP5 has such a board installed.

-John

Wow - thanks for the information guys,  I wondered what that clicker wheel did.  I wish they make a Virginian with legacy - maybe a scale on with 6 axles.

You can swap the chips in the newer one for the GG-1/EP5 chipset and get more "electric" sounds.

update on the Lionel E33's .    I bought another E33 rectifer in Penn RR - the 2003 model but this one new in the box.     The sound board is different and seeems to be the right one for this model.     This and a few other things lead me to say the used 2003 model I bought used has been tinkered with.    I think these models are really neat trains - something different.   Now Lionel needs a 6 axle scale E33 with Legacy.