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About 3 years ago I purchased a second Legacy control system based on advice provided here that I most likely had a defective remote with the older version.  Older version is 1.3?; newer is vs 1.52.  Main problem with older remote was malfunctioning reverse plus a few other issues.  Thus, I bought a newer system and relegated the old to operating two pair of remote switches on my Christmas layout, which it worked fine.  Never got around to adding my engines to the new Legacy unit until now.  I recently bought a new Legacy Polar Express Berkshire, cab #1225.  Decided to add that one first.  Opened the engine owner’s manual to see the steps required to get the engine going in Cab 2.  The instructions appeared simple enough, but did not work.  The remote came on as Cab 1 and the center touch screen did not work.  Note that no mention of using the prgm switch beneath the engine in the initial start up instructions.  The program switch is first mentioned in the manual 4 pages later and  the wording indicates it is used to change the engine ID #.  I left the switch in run mode as it was set at the factory.  The only sign the engine was alive was the two engine # boards on front were lighted.  Should I have switched to program mode?  Did not want to do that until I consulted here.  If that is the issue, then great.  Otherwise, please provide some guidance as what to do next.

 

Last edited by BILL HUDSON
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Turn the power off and set the switch on the engine to (PROG). Turn on the Legacy base and remote. Place the engine on the track and turn on the power to 18VAC. On the remote, press (ENG), 12 (the first two digits of your cab number for this engine - assuming you don't already have another engine programmed in as #12 - if so, use a different two digits), (SET), and the engine should respond with a horn sound.

Turn off the power and return run/prog switch to (RUN).  Place the engine back on the track and turn on power. The engine should now respond to (ENG) 12.

 

Last edited by Richie C.

Also, the remote will always say Cab-1 mode unless you change the mode in the remote.  The instructions on how to change that should be in the manual of the locomotive.  The short of it is with the locomotive selected push the info button.  The screen will change and say Engine Info at the top. Turn the red knob until the 'Control' tab is selected.  Use the soft button and select 'Leg', and now turn the red knob to 'sounds' if it didn't already advance to it and select LRS.  Now you can hit the Info button again and you should now have Legacy control.

Richie C. posted:

Turn the power off and set the switch on the engine to (PROG). Turn on the Legacy base and remote. Place the engine on the track and turn on the power to 18VAC. On the remote, press (ENG), 12 (the first two digits of your cab number for this engine - assuming you don't already have another engine programmed in as #12 - if so, use a different two digits), (SET), and the engine should respond with a horn sound.

Turn off the power and return run/prog switch to (RUN).  Place the engine back on the track and turn on power. The engine should now respond to (ENG) 12.

 

Ritchie,

When I turned the track power on after moving the program switch to run, the engine immediately started up with engine sounds, lights, whistle (but no quilling), bell, smoke, ran forward and reverse.  No cab chatter.     Keep in mind the engine started up at application of track power, not the start up function.   The center touch screen has yet to illuminate  the function icons. I then turned all power off in order to help my wife with a chore.   When I later returned I proceeded to follow Sinclair's instructions on getting the remote to Legacy/Cab-2 function.   See my response post to him re what happened.

Regards 

Bill

sinclair posted:

Also, the remote will always say Cab-1 mode unless you change the mode in the remote.  The instructions on how to change that should be in the manual of the locomotive.  The short of it is with the locomotive selected push the info button.  The screen will change and say Engine Info at the top. Turn the red knob until the 'Control' tab is selected.  Use the soft button and select 'Leg', and now turn the red knob to 'sounds' if it didn't already advance to it and select LRS.  Now you can hit the Info button again and you should now have Legacy control.

Sinclair,

Fyi, see my response to Ritchie re doing the program function.  I followed your instructions above and I think I made it to Legacy control.  As previously mentioned in my post the engine again started up via track power.  There are no observable icons on the center touch screen.  The number keys work even though you cannot see them.  This time the engine ran, but no other functions I tried worked.  I ran it about 10' to reach a bridge in order to make sure it would go through (fit).  As it approached the bridge it began to slow down as if I was using the red button, then it stopped completely with all lights off.  Only thing functioning was the engine idle sounds.  Now, that is it.  Will not restart.

Regards 

Bill

Continuing saga re my Legacy control system:  in desperation i got out the older remote, charged the batteries, and turned it on.  Surprise, the center touch screen lit up with icons including the start up function.  The Berk appeared to be fully functional except for reverse.  The reverse function was the main problem with this remote.  Next I charged up the batteries on the newer remote.  It’s worse now than before; it turns on for a split second then turns off.  FYI, batteries I am using are Duracell rechargeable NiMH and were charged in a stand alone charger.  Do I need to purchase another remote?

comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Bill

I'm still confused.  The symptoms of the engine starting up before any commands from the remote are clearly not related to the remote, they would be a command base issue of no TMCC signal.  I can't imagine how a different remote fixed that!

I have no idea either.  What I do know is the newer remote never activated the center touch screen, thus no way to select a function icon.  With the older remote, the touch screen lit up full of selections including “start up”.  But, reverse direction does not work as mentioned earlier.  I feel the reverse function is essential.  I would be willing to buy a new Legacy remote, but have not found one for sale. Only seen cab-1s for sale.

Just to be sure do you have another TMCC or LEGACY engine that you could try to see if the Direction change works on it. If both remotes are truly bad I wouldn’t buy another Lionel has been repairing these under warranty. That being said Lionel is closed for obvious reasons, and every now and again a 990 or 993 set shows up on eBay real cheep. I recently got a 992 (Cab-2) and 994 (Charging base) with no box or AC Adaptor for $100. 

I was mistaken in saying the new remote turned itself off a split second after turning it on.  It stayed on but top display went solid dark blue.  Center display remained unlit as before.  I may have inadvertently caused the contrast darkening while pushing, in frustration, on the blank center screen.   The # keys work; you just can't see them.  The contrast function selection  is accessed at the top display using the red button.  Wish the remote had a factory reset button.  I got a bad feeling that I have 2 faulty Legacy remotes.  While I can afford to purchase a 3rd set, it would bring my investment in these to about $1,000.  Not what I envisioned 6 or 7 years ago.

There is a very very small reset button on the back of the remote. If your looking at the back it is in the top right section on the remote. It’d be worth a shot I don’t know what exactly it’ll do. Honestly kinda forgot about it  

 

As I said before I wouldn’t just chunk that legacy set, unfortunately we are in some choppy waters but Lionel has been repairing theses under warranty at no charge and they pay the shipping both ways. 

The reset button is the same as taking the batteries out, so that's not going to fix it.

While these units are not super robust, your issues are a bit unusual.  I have had to send one back to Lionel, but the other one has worked for years.  The repair came back and it's also fine, and has been for a couple of years.  Mine do some traveling as I use one of them for the modular club, so they do get knocked around.

If one just has an issue with the reverse key, consider a temporary work-around of configuring the Velocity Throttle to automatically reverse when you spin the big red knob backwards when stopped.

I had high hopes on the work-around  , but no cigar.  That feature was factory set to on, and it was on.  Manual says to bring  engine to a stop from forward motion.   Then wait a second  or two (my words as I don't have manual in front of me) until brake hissing sound and then quickly rotate the red button counterclockwise .  The engine should reverse direction,  but not with my luck.   I tried this feature 3 times.  Will try again later.

Tried again.  This time I spun the button like I was on Wheel    Of Fortune and it worked.  Now I need to know how to reverse the process to go forward.  The Legacy owner’s manual did not mention it.  I presume one would spin the button clockwise in the same manner, but did not work.  Might not have spun fast enough if that is the correct method to return to forward direction.  This engine still powers up when track power applied. The start up and turn off keys on center display are visible. The turn off key does shut the engine down while track power remains on.  In this situation the start up key works.

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