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Need Advice on Engine Upgrades

Richard WhipkeyRichard WhipkeyOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

To All of the Great People on This Forum,

I need some advice and direction on engine upgrades.  A little background will put my hopes in perspective.  First of all, I will be 75 in January and feel some urgency to "complete" my layout that I started in December 2019.  My layout is totally TMCC as I bought TMCC equipped engines in the early 2000's for my grandsons with the hope of building a permanent layout in their house.  They really never caught the "bug", however (they are all now in college).  All we really ever did was to set up small, temporary Christmas layouts at my house.  All their trains have been stored at my house.  When our basement family room flooded in 2019 and my wife and I decided not to refurnish it,  we decided Grandpa should build a layout (which I dreamed of for years).

My layout is built at this point (thanks to the help of kind folks on this forum) and what remains is scenery work.  However, I would like to upgrade my engines if possible.  All of my engines are Pennsylvania (as is the majority of my rolling stock): 3 Lionel Baby K-4s and 3 Lionel diesels (twin A PA1's, a GP9 and an RS-11).

Regarding the K4's, I've never been happy with the smoke (or lack thereof) from the mechanical smoker.  I saw a video of the new LionChief Plus 2.0 Baby K4 and it smoked beautifully (I believe it is fan driven).  The thought occurred to me that, since its basically the same engine dimension-wise as my K4's, could I buy the new smoke unit from Lionel to replace the old ones.  Then, I thought, do I rally want to.  The ERR units seem to be very popular.  I need advice on which way I can go.  Can I install an upgrade?  Can someone do it for me?  This is my highest priority issue.

As far as the diesels go, my PA1 has a smoke unit (which I have never used yet).  The GP9 and the RS11 do not.  Can smoke units be added?  This would be my second priority.

Third, I have read a lot on this forum about upgrades to speed control.  This is my lowest priority as I'm basically not unsatisfied with the speed control these older engines have.  However, I might consider it, especially if it goes hand in glove with upgrading the smoke units.

At my age, I'm not going to go to the expense of upgrading to Legacy control and Legacy engines.  TMCC is fine and I've learned how to set it up on a larger layout (mine is 10 x 22) and it works to my satisfaction.  That is why I'm interested in improving the engines that I have.

Could you kind folks point me in the right direction?

Rick

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H harmonyardsOGR Forum Member

Give us the item #’s on the engines in question, …list the item# and the locomotive….

when you say fan smoke, do you want puffs in time with chuffs if these are sound system equipped engines? ….do you want 4 chuffs? ….most older Lionel from the TMCC era are 2 chuffs,…..4 chuffs is prototypical, ….

biggest thing is knowing which models you have by item # to steer you in the right direction,…

Pat

TS Ted SOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Your Baby K4s can almost certainly be upgraded, and if you don't want to do the work yourself, there are some real wizards on this Forum that you could contact privately via email.  But unless your current locos have enormous sentimental value, a quick, effective solution would be to sell them or trade them in on the newer LionChief Plus 2.0 versions which are still widely available.  I'm not a fan of the bluetooth apps.  But since you already have TMCC you could enjoy them that way immediately.  My $.02

Last edited by Ted S
TS Ted SOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

There is a "For Sale or Trade" sub-forum on this Forum, which is the only place here that selling is allowed.  Please be sure to read the rules before you create a "for sale" post.  There's also eBay, Mercari, and other online auction sites.  Finally there are the good old-fashioned in-person train swap meets like York, and your local TCA meets.

Some large O gauge dealers might accept your locos in trade against brand-new ones, especially if they're in good condition, you have the boxes, and all of the features are working.  Some might be willing to give you cash outright.  Just like trading in a car, a dealer/seller won't pay you as much as another hobbyist would because they're assuming a risk, and they want to make a profit.  I can't speak for any of them specifically, you would have to call and propose the deal.  Obviously if it's someplace close enough to go in person and bring your locos, that'll be easier.  Good luck, whatever you decide.

Last edited by Ted S

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