MTH 2-Rail Premier Diesel... Controller?

Good news here.

The MTH Protosound 2 (Proto-2) locomotives with scale wheels can be operated conventionally on DC, AC, 2-rail, and 3-rail. The 3-rail caveat is that the scale-wheeled locomotives need to be run on "flat-top" 3-rail track like Atlas or MTH and the curves must be 40" or larger radius for long-wheelbase 6-axle diesels.

In 2-rail operation on DC, the locomotive will behave like any other DC locomotive. If you use an AC transformer, you can control the horn and whistle. DCS will allow you to access all of the locomotive's features.

In your case, basic 2-rail track such as Atlas or Micro Engineering will be fine for this locomotive and a transformer capable of putting out more than 2 Amps should be enough to get it going with a train in tow.

DCS will operate with either an AC or DC power source of up to 10 AMPs per channel (there are four channels on the TIU.) The AC4400 is a Proto-2 engine and therefore is polarity sensitive -- i.e., you need to set the switch inside the engine (under the radiator fan shroud) to the right or left rail depending where the "hot" lead is located. I keep mine set to the right and whenever I get a 2-rail operation set up, I will use "Old School" methods to handle track polarity -- relays and optical sensors on reverse loops. This will eliminate the polarity issue.

The new "Proto-3" engines contain an internal DCC decoder and are not subject to polarity issues. There are opinions to the contrary, but if you wire your layout to DCC guidelines, DCS will operate on it just fine. You just can't run DCS and DCC at the same time.

Hope this helps.

More good news:

You can get some of the common DCS features with the DCS Remote Commander for under $50.

Limits :

It only runs one engine at a time, the engine must be in Factory Default settings. (If it's never been on a DCS layout its good to go)

It's IR, not RF, point it at the receiver, not at the train.

Features You get to control;

Bell on/off

Sound on/Off

Startup / Shutdown (The engine will power up dark and silent)

PSA Sound sequence start (Hit DIR to step to the next stage of the routine, repeat)

Throttle + - (Rocker switch) 1 SMPH increments or Hold down for more accel / decel

Whistle (While pressed)

Volume (hit Vol then + or - to adjust)

Coupler (hit then + for front - for back)

Dir (RED) Cycles; N, F, N, R N...  (Also steps the sound bytes in PSA)

Can you provide a link to a good quality power pack for DCS that I can use to drive up to say 5-10 locos?

Thanks!

Moderator: How do I get this topic back into the 2-rail side of the forums?

Thanks.

Rail Dawg:

The remote commander (50-1033) is the basic unit used in starter sets. As Russ mentioned, if the locomotive has been used on a full DCS-equipped layout, the locomotive's address will likely have changed and the remote commander won't operate it until it has been factory reset (which requires a full DCS unit.) Other than that, it allows access to most of the DCS features people use.

MTH also sells the [Full] DCS commander with a suitable power supply. The part number is 50-1029. This allows you to re-program engines, etc. over and above the Remote Commander. The down side is that it's stationary like a trackside transformer. More information is at http://www.mthtrains.com/content/50-1029 and the power supply is approximately 5 amps. The output is AC, but works in a 2-rail configuration (keep in mind my post above regarding polarity as the "hot" should be on the engineer's side rail.)

Russ:

Been using DCS so long, forgot about the DCS commander. Good call.

I like the DCS Commander idea.

It's great to be into the O scale. I did HO for many years using Digitrax and I really like the size of these O's.

I've just purchased an MTH and have decided to try their DCS system.

Let me ask you something about the Commander DCS. The web site mentions it's for HO... can I use this for O and if so how many loco's would be the max?

Is the MTH AC-4400 2-rail loco I bought a 3-volt? I know it's Proto 2.0 but not sure of the 3 volts.

Thanks.

My entire layout is "command only" with MTH DCS system, plus Lionel Legacy & TMCC. I have four MTH handhelds for the DCS system, two Lionel Legacy Cab-2 controllers, and three Lionel TMCC Cab-1 controllers. When ever we have a "Run Beer, Drink Trains" session, everybody runs what ever they bring or want with ANY of the controllers,,,,,all at once!

You simply can't beat it!

I have one DCS locomotive and a Commander.  So far, I have not been able to find anybody who can reset the locomotive.  The hobby store was initially convinced that 2-rail locomotives could not be reset, but when I showed them that the outer rails could be used for opposite polarity, they tried.  The reset sequence was straightforward, but if you do not use the full- on DCS drivers (TIU, etc.) it won't "take".  We gave it five or six attempts, and always at the last step the computer inside the handheld seemed to hang up.  I don't know what the setup was;  it could do whistle and bell (all I care about) but it was not a full-on system.

3-volt refers to the generation of the boards. The originals (circa 2000) were 5-volt and would only run on AC. The later 3-volt boards were more reliable and could run on AC or DC track power. Both boards use the same command structure.

The DCS commander was originally introduced for H.O. Proto-3 engines, but the current one which is on the link is designed to support the O gauge/O scale Proto-2 and Proto-3 engines. I have the AC4400W and it is definitely a 3-volt Proto-2 which is covered by the Commander unit.

Bob:

You need to have a full DCS Commander or TIU and Remote to do a factory reset on a Proto-2 or Proto-3 engine. Using the bell/whistle sequence doesn't do it completely (as I found out the hard way.) The Remote Commander is now included with starter sets and can only address a single locomotive that has not been assigned a number or has been factory reset.

Thanks Matt.  That is very helpful info!

Chuck

Thanks for the info here too. All of this makes the decision easy.

You're welcome. I've used DCS for over 10 years down at the club and on our annual display for the City of LA at Pershing square and it has been a lot of fun. I've also used it to run my scale-wheeled engines in 2-rail mode (they come set up in that mode right out of the box) and it works great. Once you go command, you don't want to go back.

Well, I want to meet you anyway.  One of these days I will bring the Hudson up and get you to help me reset it.

Rail Dawg:

It is true that MTH's DCS and Lionel's TMCC/Legacy work together but just so you know Lionel does not make 2 rail locomotives and currently has no plans to start. Just my opinion but I seriously doubt they will go into 2 rail anytime soon.

Just curious but are you sure you want to go 2 rail? 2 rail takes up a lot more room than 3 rail and the track selection isn't as plentiful as 3 rail. I'm not trying to talk you out of 2 rail, I personally like it lot, but since you are just getting into the scale, now is the time to really think things over before jumping in too far. Do you have enough room for a 2 rail layout? Your first engine is a good choice since it can run on 2 rail or 3 rail track.

What kind of layout do you intend to build?

Good luck.

Contact me off-list. Planning a day trip to your area next month.