I responded to your e-mail last night but it was rejected so check your spam file. Or e-mail me your phone number and I can call you. Drop off is fine. G
ok George, will do
the J is headed towards George's shop tomorrow......will let ya'll know whats up with her
Board tested fine on bench. Dressed up wires in tender and engine. Replace smoke fan motor, and added 2 screws to motor mount. Reset engine conventionally to restore sounds. Did look like the previous owner was sort of a hack. The volume and smoke controls under the tender hatches where in the wrong spots. So turning one marked volume would control smoke and vice versa.
One thing on this unit, it has quillable whistle, so putting a upgrade board in looses that function since you need a flash board. G
GGG, why did your conventional reset restore chuffing sounds when multiple resets by the OP only restore the startup sounds?
George just has that "touch". 
the J runs like a top George!....beautiful work!....as mentioned before the owner before me was a hack job....George got it all straight......its time to upgrade these antique transformers to some modern units, or as George suggested at least one for the test bench...great job George...Thanks..
I can't fully explain chuff, as I did not test engine before pulling board. But the smoke unit did not ohm right and was soaked in smoke fluid. This most likely was the culprit. G
I can sympathize with you fellas . I'm not sure I fully understand this PS board stuff. I've had amplifier chips burn out on numerous locos and had to pay to get a new replacement board, meaning, you can basically add another $100 to your already expensive loco. Right now my problem is a locomotive that's 10 months old with a PS 3 system and it quit on me one day just starting it up with no address, no sound, no nothing. Not a response of any kind. Can't reset or recover it! Nothing. After checking with MTH they gave me a return authorization number and said if the board needed replacement I'd cost 75-90$ U.S. ( I'm from Canada) ,now we know where this is going and how it's gonna end up. And in my carelessness, I have misplaced the purchase bill, it's here somewhere but its not in the box with the Loco as I usually have them. Since I have no proof, I'm out of luck. The shop I purchased it from, down east, is closed down. Bad luck again, I can't even ask them to check back past sales receipts for me. This shouldn't be. Dependable electronics, (PS3), in a $500 loco shouldn't go bad within a year. I don't know, am I lucky enough to be the only one!! Someone one once told me I'd better buy a lotto ticket with a one in a million chance, but if the Loco control system fails on me within a year, then how's a ticket gonna be any better? (except I'd be able to afford to replace more system boards!)
