MTH Western Maryland M-2, 44 Tonner, and 2-8-0

Buy a MTH DCS system. 

They will run conventionally, but not in command mode.

I used to be Legacy only, but branched into MTH recently because they had a lot of items I wanted that weren't offered by Lionel.  If you're getting even one MTH protosound 2/3 locomotive, definitely, definitely invest in a DCS system.  Running PS2/3 in conventional is like running a Legacy in conventional.  You're missing so much.

Can't speak for those specific units, but I've never been outright disappointed in an MTH Premier locomotive.  Detail is always good, especially the steam engines.  Also really like the feature that I can change the sound set if I don't like the one from the factory. 

If you are only going to have those three DCS items, you could just get the DCS explorer.

I do not have the 44 Tonner but have both M-2 Challengers in Proto 2.0 and 5 of the H-9 2-8-0's in both Proto 2 and 3.  I really like all of these engines especially with a long coal drag. A couple of the  H-9's had a few problems going slow over switches until I scraped the blackening off of the tender connection screw. Then, they worked perfectly.  I run them with DCS and think that is the best option. There is a current batch of DCS TIU's and remotes that just shipped from MTH this week at various train shops. If you are interested in a DCS system, I would not wait long. As far as pictures, there are numerous videos on You Tube of the 2-8-0's. These trains show up on e-bay once in awhile but they are getting hard to find. I believe there are two M-2's listed on e-bay currently. speperak

@rplst8 posted:

If you are only going to have those three DCS items, you could just get the DCS explorer.

Which won't co-exist easily with the Legacy, you're also limited to one power district and 6 amps max on the tracks.

I guess I am the Lone Wolf here. I was thinking if they are PS3 they will run under legacy with some buts.

But you still have to buy the legacy base and the Lionel SR2. They will run with the DCS Remote but to get almost 100% of the features you need the premier DCS App.

I run my legacy with both the remote and app and am happy with both.

Barry's DCS WiFi book revision 2 has all the ainfo needed to hook up and run. SOLD AT MTH!

Curtis

Lionel SR2?  What you need is the Legacy PowerMaster, it has macro commands for MTH PS/1 and PS2/3 locomotives.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Which won't co-exist easily with the Legacy, you're also limited to one power district and 6 amps max on the tracks.

Can’t do the passive mode trick with that?

Passive mode does NOT work with the DCS Explorer.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Passive mode does NOT work with the DCS Explorer.

Bummer.  Well, disregard my suggestion then OP!

John I was following MTH and Barry's method of hooking up Legacy.

I still don't know what the Lionel SR2 is.

You got me. SER2 Page 10 on the MTH 2020 Volume two catalog.

OK, having brain fade, I didn't connect SR2 to SER2.  That's only needed if you want full Legacy command capability, for TMCC compatibilty, you can run the MTH TMCC/Legacy link cable direct.  In order to use Legacy commands, you need to have the SER2 in the picture.

If those are the only DCS locos you have and you're not likely to buy more, your best option is to cross-grade them to TMCC with the ERR Cruise Commander.  My $.02.

John No problem. I did state in my first post I did state Legacy. You can use it for tmcc commands no problem.

You can use the Legacy base without the SER2, just can't do full Legacy commands on the DCS remote without the SER2, it'll only pass the TMCC commands.