ProtoSound Upgrade

John, Protosound 3 upgrade kits are available from MTH.  A lot has to be changed out besides the boards.  That includes, electro-couplers, leds, speaker, wiring harness.  The kits come with everything and detailed instructions.  I have done them for my own engine.  Last I checked they are $199, with a discount if you join the MTH Club.  Many folks on the Forum and other certified MTH technicians will do them for a charge.  As you can see, it isn't an investment to be taken lightly.  I think you need to decide if the engine is worth the cost to upgrade versus buying another engine and selling the current one to a conventional operator.

Case in point.  I bought a Protosound Western Maryland BL2 and upgrade kit thinking MTH would never produce such an oddball again in the foreseeable future.  No sooner had I completed my upgrade, MTH announced a PS3 BL2 in Western Maryland colors.  I saw the new product and it is better detailed for about the same cost I have in the one I upgraded.    If I had paid someone to do the upgrade, I would have had more money in the less detailed upgrade than I would have had in a new one.  It was an experience.

I would say some of the experts will chime in with details. 

Yes to upgrade, but that is a very basic early GG-1 with big bulbs and hardly any features.  They also had a mechanical coupler integrated into the truck and in some cases not changeable with a proto coupler.  It was like a Post War Design.

For the cost your probably better off getting a newer RK model with PS-2 3V.  Or splurge on a RK PS-3.  G

Thanks for the input, I will look around and see what I could get for this engine and the cost of a newer one with the bells and whistles.

I'm with George here, probably more cost effective to shop around for one already done.

Thanks all! I will test out the market for this unit and wind up selling it.

Yes John, two of the heavyweights on upgrades and DCS in general just chimed in as I had hoped.  You can't go wrong following John's and George's advice! 

Yes I will follow this good advice and take some pics and put it up for sale on e-bay I guess. Unless there is a better idea for where to sell it?

Thanks All

John, I post my for sale items right here on the For Sale or Trade section of this Forum.  You have a better chance of getting an honest buyer.  While OGR has no responsibilities for sales going bad, I have always dealt with first class people here.

Mark Boyce posted:

John, I post my for sale items right here on the For Sale or Trade section of this Forum.  You have a better chance of getting an honest buyer.  While OGR has no responsibilities for sales going bad, I have always dealt with first class people here.

So far I have also had the pleasure of dealing with first class people on this forum. I will look into how to put something up for sale.

Thanks Mark

I have done two or three of these.  One was the gold version, some have sentimental value and folks do for that reason.  It just has real limitations as a PS upgrade compared to the later RK versions MTH made.  G