New to Legacy Questions!

I have made the move to legacy. Before I start hooking it up I need my first questions answered. I am using the ZW C with two 180w bricks. I just finished watching the Lionel video explaining options for powering the legacy system.

Question - do I need to have a Power Master Bridge to control track power from the ZW C through the Legacy Cab 2? Mike Reagan discussed the ZW C, but the control of the power masters built into the ZW C by Legacy is not clearly explained.

No.  You do not need a Powermaster Bridge.  The ZW-C gets it's signal from the 455khz track signal (the output of the command base regardless of it being TMCC or Legacy).  Legacy will control the ZW-C much like TMCC.  There was an issue where Legacy exposed a problem with some ZW-Cs where it would shut down power but Lionel supplies a chip for the ZW-C if this is an issue.  See this.

Question - In the instructions for Legacy there is a diagram showing the TMCC command base connected to Legacy command base with the Y cable. In this configuration can the TMCC cab 1 be used to control track power as I am doing now, and once the track power is set to 18 volts through the ZW C control  all other command and control functions through the Legacy cab 2? Is the only advantage of running TMCC trough the Legacy system is allowing the ability to run trains on separate loops on Legacy and TMCC at the same time?

The "Y" cable will give you the ability to use your Cab1 to do anything it did before.  Run trains, control the ZW-C, or what have you. As far as separate loops, there is no need to do this.  Legacy and TMCC are basically the same system.  Legacy is just beefed up with newer hardware and command structure but the delivery is the same.  TMCC and Legacy engine will run together just fine.

Just for a point of reference...  The CAB1 will communicate with the TMCC Base.  The TMCC base will send the commands via the serial "Y" cable to the Legacy base.  The Legacy base will then send the commands to the engine/ ZW-C / other devices.

Thanks for your help. I hope my questions make sense.

Richard