MTH GG1 #4928

https://mthtrains.com/20-5553-1    Manual does not indicate there is an off switch for the pantographs.

OK, thanks for finding that.  Guess I'll just have to be careful running it.

You can turn off the automatic pantograph operation with your remote.  Find and press the soft key MOP.  Press the button under MANUAL then use the up and down button to raise or lower the pans.

Ultimately I just went in and disconnected the power wires to the pantograph motors.  I like boxcabs and GG1s, but the raising and lowering of the pantographs is more of a hassle with bridges and tunnels than it's worth.  Plus I actually like the look of the pantographs in the lowered position more anyway.  I know it's not prototypical, but I don't have a catenary wire over my rails so the raised pantograph connecting to thin air just seems silly as well.

On the MTH models with automatic pans, you can just latch them down and they'll stay down.  They're just raised by a spring. the motor just allows them to raise by spring tension.  That's why there's no switch.

Don't try that with Lionel!

Isn't there an issue with the motors trying to raise and lower the pantographs and meeting resistance with them forced into the down position?  The manual even says to free them upon first running as they will be locked down for shipping.  Anyway, I suppose it's 6 of one / half dozen of another considering my solution of just unplugging the power leads to the motors is completely reversible.  I made sure that the pantos were in the original starting position when I disconnected them, so as long as I reconnect them in the same state, the GG1 will never know the difference.

@Knight007 posted:

Isn't there an issue with the motors trying to raise and lower the pantographs and meeting resistance with them forced into the down position?

Not with the MTH design. The only thing that raises them is the spring, the actuating mechanism just gets "out of the way" and lets the spring raise the pans.

There is a problem locking them down with the Lionel design, they actively push them up, and holding them down will bent/break something.

Yeah, outside of post-war and a few MPC era engines, I don't have a lot of good things to say about Lionel anymore.  Top dollar pricing and lousy quality control / customer service.  Many people seem happy spending $2000 on a Vision Line engine, but good luck if it breaks, which they seem to do often.  Unfortunately now that MTH is out of business and Lionel getting a bigger market share I only see these issues getting worse.  God bless those old 50's Lionel Hudsons etc... you can open them up and fix anything with a screwdriver.  The solution to most of these Lionel / MTH problems seems to be replacing an entire circuit board aka $$$.