Hello all!
I've had a pretty large collection of pre-and-postwar Lionel for some time, which I have mostly stored and occasionally set up using old tubular track and a postwar ZW. This year I found myself purchasing my first modern Lionel trains - which turned into quite the spree when I was able to buy a few trains at the MTH close-out auctions.
It all started by buying the Polar Express set for my children, which led to me buying the Santa Fe scale Goldbonnet set for myself, which led to me buying a Lionel Bluetooth controller, which led to me buying the MTH trains (both of which are Proto-Sound 2.0), which led to me buying a Lionel 990 Legacy controller set, 2 Lionel 180W Powerhouses and a Lionel Legacy 360W Powermaster.
I got the Powermaster so I could use some of the bells and whistles on the MTH trains as well as ensure that I'm not frying the electronics on both the Legacy and MTH trains. I got the Powerhouses when I realized that it did not seem possible to use the old ZW to provide current to the tracks with the Powermaster.
My understanding from reading the manuals and this board is that I can use the Powerhouses to go into the Powermaster, which I can push power to the (still old-school, tubular) track using a (still old-school, tubular) Lionel lockon. Then I can connect the Legacy 990 to the Powermaster to control trains on the tracks controlled by the Powermaster. I expect to use the ZW to run conventional trains on tracks controlled by the ZW.
Based on the foregoing, I though that If I ran the Powerhouse through the Powermaster straight into the tubular track, I could use the Bluetooth controllers for trains without the Legacy 990 (I still haven't had a chance to figure that thing out yet). But when I wired the layout PH 180W -> PM360 -> lockon -> tubular track, and placed a Bluetooth loco on it... I got nothin'. Part of the sell for me on all this Lionel gear was that it can talk to all the trains and accessories that I have currently (or at least allow them to be used like a conventional set-up).
Am I missing something, or do I need to go back to school on all this?
Best,
Eli
