PS1 to PS2 or TMCC conversion

When you convert from PS1 to TMCC or PS2 all the original PS1 parts are removed, including the sounds.
If you convert to PS2, new sounds are included.
If you you convert to TMCC, a separate railsounds board will be required. May or may not be included in the TMCC installation depending how it's done.

I have done a few PS1 to TMCC conversions myself and am happy with the results.

quote:

Originally posted by Jdevleerjr:
Ok I know this has been covered many times before but I was wondering who I could send my PS1 MTH E-8s to get converted to PS2 or TMCC. I would like to keep the original sound if possible but speed control is more important.

So who does conversions and about what should I expect to pay?

We can do the tmcc, our price including parts, cruise and RS4 $224.95 for a diesel. We have our prices posted on our web page.

Bill

Check your email.

If by plural "E8s" you mean these are a set of AA units and both have motors in them, which the Premier ones do, then you are going to have to pay for both "A" units to be converted to DCS. There is no "slave" board for the trailing "A" unit in PS2 as there is in the PS1 engines.

The conversions to PS2 cost about $250 each plus shipping, plus about an extra $25 each if you want a BCR put in instead of a battery.
.....
Dennis

I could be wrong about this but I thought that I read somewhere that MTH was considering producing a slave kit for upgrading AAs/ABAs to eliminate the need for a second PS2 upgrade kit. The up side to this would be that you would not have to create a "lash up" to run your AAs/ABAs.
Has anybody else seen or heard anything along these lines.

quote:

MTH was considering producing a slave kit for upgrading AAs/ABAs

They've been considering that for 5+ years at least!

They've also been considering making scale proto-couplers and many other things.

Go with what is available now and don't hold your breath for things being "considered" :-)

I've converted many PS/1 ABA sets to PS/2. You just have to do both A units which in the end you end up with 2 A units you can run independently which is fairly nice.

Diesels are by far the easiest to convert to PS/2 and doing PS/1 to PS/2 diesels is even easier still. You may consider doing them yourself!

I've done a number of conversions to TMCC from both conventional and PS1 locomotives. The basic conversion is very easy, and one nice thing about a PS1 conversion is you already have the electrocouplers. I normally spend the most time customizing the lighting.

Now if only PS2 upgrade kits became available again...

I've decided to start upgrading my fleet to command, with MTH units getting PS2 and others getting TMCC. Couldn't find either at the last York though.

---PCJ

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis:
If by plural "E8s" you mean these are a set of AA units and both have motors in them, which the Premier ones do, then you are going to have to pay for both "A" units to be converted to DCS. There is no "slave" board for the trailing "A" unit in PS2 as there is in the PS1 engines.


Dennis

Do all Premiere diesels with both A units powered have two complete (independent) PS2 systems in them? I had thought that the trailing A had only a slave board?

You can also run 4 motors with only one Cruise Commander board. I did an A-B-B set with four motors as an experiment and it works great.

I used an extra heavy heat sink on the cruise commander and added a computer processor fan blowing on the CC board.

This setup requires motor power to go through the tether, but MTH did that on the steam locos anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by RoyBoy:
You can also run 4 motors with only one Cruise Commander board. I did an A-B-B set with four motors as an experiment and it works great.

I used an extra heavy heat sink on the cruise commander and added a computer processor fan blowing on the CC board.

This setup requires motor power to go through the tether, but MTH did that on the steam locos anyway.

I tired this with a 6 motor K-Line A-B-A all powered, but even with a really large heatsink, the Cruise Commander would give up after a spell, so I scrapped the idea.

quote:

If by plural "E8s" you mean these are a set of AA units and both have motors in them, which the Premier ones do, then you are going to have to pay for both "A" units to be converted to DCS. There is no "slave" board for the trailing "A" unit in PS2 as there is in the PS1 engines.

quote:

Do all Premiere diesels with both A units powered have two complete (independent) PS2 systems in them? I had thought that the trailing A had only a slave board?

MTH makes a slave board as that is how their 4 motor AB and ABA units are set up, however as I understand it the slave boards are not available to the public. Check with your local authorized MTH dealer and I am sure that he can do the upgrade you want.

MTH has 2 slave board kits: II-0001905 for ABA ($160)and II-0001903 for Big Blow Turbine or similar($168). They are not always available. These also require regular PS2 upgrade kits. These kits are not for the faint of heart. They require small metric taps and several number drills. If anyone is interested, I can send the instructions. Email me at aglenney@sbcglobal.net

c.sam,

Premier diesel "AA" sets do have a slave in the trailing "A" unit as built from the factory, but my conversion guy says they are not available to the public. So, you have to have both "A" units converted. The trailing "A" unit can be programed to start in reverse quite easily, he said.
.....
Dennis

We have a pair of older Weaver SD-40s (Blue/Yellow Santa Fe & Yellow/Red 'Merger') that I'd like to run as an AA pair with DCS but can't see putting so much $$$ into them with TWO complete PS2 sets!

The cheapest thing to do is remove the motors from the trailing A unit and convert the front one to either TMCC or PS2. I have just completed a MTH PS1 KCS E8 ABA conversion to TMCC. The 2 motors will pull just about anything you need. I have also converted several PS1 engines to PS2 using slave boards.

I would like to convert a Proto 1 Galloping Goose to run under TMCC.  The Goose has some special sounds that are unique to it that I'd like to retain.  Would it be possible to use an ERR board and instead of running the outputs that are intended for the motor directly to the motor run it to the supply side of the Proto 1 board so in essence it "thinks" it is getting variable voltage?  Or perhaps some hybrid of both?  Since the Goose's sound sequence is mostly controlled by increases/decreases in track voltage I was thinking I could fake it this way.  

 

Thoughts?  Experiences?

If you used the ERR AC Commander, you might be able to fool the board into thinking it's getting track AC.  You'd have to control the sounds separately from the actual TMCC drive using a different engine number. 

 

You'd need a DC Commander or Cruise Commander for the drive motors.