Original protosounds survey

Original PS1 engines usually go from 30% to 50% MSRP. Better detail than Williams at about the same price. They are good bargains used if you run conventional like I do. Just add a BCR and they work good. If the electronics go I just run them forward only with a bridge rectifier.

 

Dale H

I see the same as Lionelzw2012 concerning proto-1 pricing. These engines don't seem to be selling for 50%-60% less than original MSRP on the major on-line websites.

 

I'm okay with proto-1 engines. Some of the premier versions are very nicely done, and a BCR fixes most, if not all, of the the battery issues. I've got a set of Santa Fe blue and yellow Santa Fe f-3's that are proto-1, and they are still my favorite engines.

I think it is the quality and detail of the trains from that period.  Plus you can convert them to PS-2.  From a conventional operator perspective they have far superior control, sounds and features than a comparable conventional engine with air whistle or even the electronic sounds from that period.  G

I have dumped or converted all of my PS/1 engines except one, and that one is on my table at a train show this weekend for well under $200, NIB. People are not "selling" PS/1 engines at prices at or above those of good used Legacy, TMCC, or PS/2 engines, they are "offering for sale." Nothing changes hands at those ridiculous prices unless the buyer is a fool. As Dale H says, actual selling prices (as opposed to offering prices) are 30-50% of original MSRP. 

 

PS/1 is just fine if you prefer conventional operation, want sound, and are familiar with the many quirks and problems of the system, but market prices reflect the fact that PS/1 is obsolete. 

I have one PS-1 engine and had to replace the battery before I ran it, the battery was more then 10 years old. The other thing about PS-1 is to keep the battery close to fully charged, so you don't damage the circuit board.

With my PS-1 engine I can not get the coupler to open on the tender, I have checked with an auxiliary power supply and found the coupler will open with electric supplied to it. It's cab # 117, a Reading Crusader steam locomotive.

 

Like Dale H. mentions, if the electronics go bad in it I will replace it with a 6 amp bridge rectifier. I don't do anything other then run it in forward right now, so it will look good pulling some aluminum color Reading Company passenger cars.

 

Lee Fritz

My original PS-1 NYC Box Cab electric which was stolen from my house back in 2007, as we were moving from TX to VA, was my favorite engine despite being PS1.

I had no issues, except to make sure the battery was always charged to avoid the board from being scrambled.

I have eight original PS1 type engines on the layout. I kept them because they are all beautiful pieces of equipment and run extremely well. I did convert them all to TMCC when TAS was still around.

 

Mike's original Challenger from the early nineties is one of my favorite engines. This piece set the stage for all big scale O-Gauge engines to follow in the future.

I have several PS-1 engines and I think only 5 were purchased new. The rest were purchased used at prices from 30-60% off original MSRP from various sources. They run nicely and were pretty cutting edge for their time with respect to sound and control features. The ones I really went after were the EMD Demonstrators which will most likely be a shelf collection, though I've considered converting them to Proto-2.

I have three former ps1 diesels. All have been converted toTMCC.

About 11 PS1's here.  All with BCR's, all work well in my conventional world.

 

I purchased 1 set of F3's w/PS1 which I quickly had converted to PS2.  Reason: It was the most early of editions of the PS1 which had funky caveats for bell-ringing.  I decided to try a conversion....and I'm very glad I did.  It's been checked out under DCS control, but I continue to run conventionally....for now. 

 

Exec. summary...love my PS1's.  All keepers.

 

KD

Still have 3 PS1 Diesels, and 1 PS1 Steamer, they make up about half my locomotive fleet. Though they don't have speed control (my favorite ps2/3 feature) I have figured out about how many cars each can pull to get a decent realistic speed control. 

 

I did upgrade the original RK NKP Berkshire I have to PS2 earlier this year, and really enjoy it, but I also have a fondness for my other PS1 engines and don't see me upgrading or getting rid of them anytime soon. 

I have 6 or 7 and I would never get rid of them. IMO their very good looking engines. I'm always looking for those 30 to 50% new ones in my favorite RR lines. I guess as always, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Larry

I have 6 PS1 steamers. 4 Premier and 2 Railking. I came from old school HO where there was no sound at all, so the latest and greatest isn't that important. These engines, especially the Premiers, are the best bang for the buck there is, with great detail and smooth running. The chuffing sounds good to me, and while some of the whistles aren't the best, its not worth $100-$250 to me to upgrade the sound. Heck I can buy another engine for that!

I have exactly 10 left. I had a high water mark of 32 but in 2005
I had a mass sell off of 22 locos. I took the money and bought 9 PS2 locos with about 80.00 left over.

I have 7 of them-love them-all premier-when these engines came out I couldn't afford them-they were the hottest trains to obtain-I feel the proto one sounds are more robust.

I placed bcr batterys in all.

I went to a reain store and brought aroto one diesel in for a bcr battery-after the battery was replaced they placed it on a test track and ran thru the sounds-everyone in the store came over to see my diesels and listen to all the robust sounds coming out-it was a 1994 burlingon f3 aba silver diesel set.still a beauty-remember these engines weremade by samhoungsa of korea-quality control by this firm was the best\I have the Allegheny.class a ,nyc Hudson ,sf alco pa aba ,dm &I Yellowstone.still beautiful engines after all these years.

Everyone thanks for all the great responces! It sheds some light and a little  insight I did not see on these old models.

I own one myself. I bought the santa fe premier aba set back in the day. It was all I could do to save up for it back then. Just had to have it. I belive it was $600 or around there. Very beautifull looking set. I hardly ran it as I was still collecting and had just a floor layout. Then I took the next step and bought  my first tmcc engine and cab 1. Then a year later my first ps2 steamer and full dcs. I was on the road to command control, hooked line and sinker and never looked back.
I still have those old protosounds engines still new in the box under my layout. I want to upgrade them still some day as I said they are beautifull engines and I love the blue and yellow santa fe freight paint scheme.
What would I have to do to them after all these years to get them operating again in there as is state? Other than using a conventional transformer  I don't know much about this as I belive there was a battery issue and it could scramble the boards.

I started back into this hobby  with PS 1

I love my sounds of the  PS1s " Jack-we're going right out the north end"

I have a 1996 RailKing Dreyfuss Hudson, which I purchased used for 2/3 MSRP.  Out of my five locos, it is my most technologically advanced, as it is the only one with a full sound system.  I installed a BCR early on and will be getting a wire harness soon to hook up my Protocoupler.  Overall, I think it sounds good, although the chuffs at higher speeds some times sound like they are not evenly spaced (don't know if that is because I am using a Lionel 30W PowerMax Plus transformer).

 

Aaron

I have four PS1 engines and enjoy them.  One I did try to sell one and as mentioned above, selling prices are probably around 35% of original msrp. I got kinda disgusted with the low prices the ps1's were actually selling for and decided to keep it for a possible repaint in the future.   Frankly due to the evolutionary march of the electronics it kind of like having an older cell phone - state of the art when new, every thing functions fine, but the newer stuff is just considered better.

 

heck I have a railking GG-1 without protosounds at all and its a family favorite.

 

I have had to change a few batteries along the way, and dealt with the occasional scrambled board but over all have been very satisfied with them. 

 

My first mth engine was a HS graduation present, a Conrail C30-7, the second batch of diesels mth produced.  I will always keep it for sentimental reasons and also because my son loves it when "the big blue engine" comes out of the box.  If this one ever shorts out I will probably have it upgraded to the new ps3 conversion kits coming out.

 

Well....I guess I am the hoarder here!  I was a collector at one time and bought nearly every locomotive that MTH produced in the early years.  Currently I still have around 200 PS-1 locomotives.  About half of them have BCRs with no problems at all.  The electronics in the PS-1 system "seem" to be more robust..don't know if that is true...??  Anyway, I know I have too many as I was once a collector that loved to display the trains.  Now that I run them, I need to let most of these go to good homes because I will never be able to use all of them!!

 

Alan

After having experienced running  a PS2 locomotive, first in conventional mode and then with DCS, I started selling-off all of the PS1 locomotives on my railroad. Today, there are no PS1 engines left on my roster.

 

I am having second thoughts about PS1 steam engines:

1. The best whistle I have heard to date is the one in the Rail King PS1 2-8-0. This engine has the quintessential earth-shaking steam engine whistle. Unfortunately, most of the Pennsy engines since have the whimpy Banshee whistle;

2. I think it is less expensive to buy a PS1 engine or a dead Lionel engine and have it upgraded to PS2 or PS3 than it is to buy a new engine. Current MTH Rail King and Lionel catalog prices are unaffordable to me.

If I get a new battery will I have to charge it first? What kind of batterys other than the bcr's will work? Can a new energizer nine volt work?

I look for nice Premier PS/1 locomotives for candidates for command upgrades.

 

I have several and love them.  Got them all used, and way less than MSRP.  When I want a new locomotive I first look to see if I can find a TMCC with RS locomotive, and if not, then I look for a PS-1 version.

PS-1 locomotives were a good product and still are a good product.  They hit bottom (price) a few years ago and are going up a bit.  I have great respect for them and do see many for repairs as guys pull them out of the closet and try to run them after sitting for years.  I enjoy running them with the DCS remote.

 

If you replace the battery, do it right and buy the new green battery MTH sells.  Stay clear of bargain batteries.  You only get what you pay for.  The BCR is the way to go with PS-1.

I converted one, and had three others converted to Proto2.

 

Still have some unmolested, but do have upgrade kits on the shelf for them if I get some spare time ... and interest in up-converting them.

I don't know if it is an act, but some dealers seem clueless about Protosound levels and what it means.  At a show yesterday there was a guy selling a 1999 MTH Challenger for MSRP from the MTH web site.  I asked him what level of Protosound it had and he shrugged and showed me the box.  It had a DCRU.  He said "Oh I see it accepts Protosound"  Many items listed on the bay don't even say anything about Protosounds.

I trust and thank you for the battery advice marty!

Can I assume that the ps-1 I bought in 1999 and have just taken out of the box probably has a bad battery? I can get the whistle to work but no sounds.

Turn it off NOW and replace the battery!  Some PS/1 models will scramble their memory and require a reset with a bad battery.

 

Yes, a 15 year old battery is about 99.9% sure to be bad!

 

I own 15 ps1 steam and diesel. A couple are more than 15 years old without a single issue. I have ps2 and tmcc locos , but I run conventional only . I really enjoy running anything, and mth has been the most  reliable. thanks!

 

A wise man once told me, if you want something done right in a place, forget the young folks and find someone who has grey hair- they'll know!

A- he was right

B- yup, he had grey hair.

 

...you shoulda said I'll pay 20% more if you can add a new proto-sound board for it... 

A pic of the board will confirm that..."probably" a QSI DCRU with whistle- no battery, pre ps-1....I consider ps-1{proto-sound} as the sound units{biased assumption I guess}, otherwise it's just old QSI.

Edit- ......change old to "older QSI"

Southwest Hiawatha, what a great idea. I think I'll try that. Don

I have mth F3A with ps1 and i had this engine for 9 years. When first got this engine had to have reset done. So far been great engine and it has BCR as well and i have mth SD40-2 with ps1 and haven't had it very long and had to replace front motor and put a BCR in as well and its runs great so far and i have a weaver U25B with QSI and had get power board replaced and put a BCR in and it runs great now.     

yes, you are correct. It ends in "0" so I don't have ProtoSounds. I guess that means it is a candidate to get the 2 boards installed by ERR that will make it TMCC and RailSounds.

Thanks for the info folks. That's one of the five reasons I just love this forum.

Being new to the hobby, a few years ago, I bought two steamers with Protosounds.  Didn't know at the time they were QSI.  But, they were at 30% to 50% of MSRP.  One, the T&P Mohawk scrambled the chip.  Not knowing the peculiarities of PS1, I sent it to MTH and they installed a new chip.  That engine is on the list of the three clangs of death, so not surprising.  After that I have done a lot of research on the subject, and determined that I will not avoid engines simply because they are PS1.  I will be sure they are equipped with the BCR battery.

I have also discovered that their peculiarities vary from year to year, so some are more susceptible to chip scrambling than others.  But, don't take a chance, and equip them all with BCRs.

I have seen PS-1 engines "Listed" at prices that are to me outrageous for that old of technology/equipment. I will not pay over 50% of original,value for a PS-1 as the cost after upgrading it wouldn't be worth it and I run only command. I feel sorry for those that bought this stuff new, have never taken it out of the box and are selling it now expecting to recoup what they paid for it. Looked at an ad on the Sell Forum this morning with all PS-1 MTH engines, wish the seller well, but there is no way I can see him getting close to what he is asking on the Forum here, where the buyers are better informed then on say eBay.