PS2 upgrade for UP Gas Turbine

Ah, a slave unit - interesting. Well, two PS2s, even if one is slightly cheaper, plus professional installation (was thinking of doing it myself) probably puts it out of my league for now, at least until I forget how much the locomotive set cost to begin with. I'm sure it's worth it in the long run, though.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the cheap running of PS1 as suggested in other forums here. 

Thanks for the info!

Fred

GGG,

 Thanks for that reply. I have a PS-1 Coal Turbine that I'm going to upgrade. It will use the same components, as it also has 4 motors in two different un its.

MTH sells slave kits to dealers & asc's only...dealers & asc's can sell them to whomever they want.  

Any idea what the cost of the slave kit is?

Fred

I had mine converted.  The MTH Tech installed two master kits to avoid the tether problem and sent back the slave.  Not what I requested, but what I got.

It works okay but sometimes the lashup gets confused and I have to put it together again after deleting it.  So it gets on the layout once in a while for a demo tour, and that's it.

The gas turbine set I also had converted was "done right" and it runs on the layout all the time.

My experiences with having PS1 upgraded has been hit and miss; some done right, some not quite as well.  And I've passed on having the MTH Cab Forward upgraded when techs said "that one is a nightmare to do ...."

That response raised the big "oh oh ..." flag, so we passed.  It just sits on the shelf.

Kerrigan,

It works okay but sometimes the lashup gets confused and I have to put it together again after deleting it.

That should be alleviated with DCS 4.30.

I upgraded a Cab Forward, it's not any more difficult than other steamers, at least I didn't think so.  Many locomotives offer some little mechanical challenges during the upgrade process, that's what makes it fun.

That should be alleviated with DCS 4.30.

Sure would like to try it.

Fred you can contact me via my e-mail for the kit cost.  G

GGG - mail sent.

I admit the thought has crossed my mind that initially, I could just remove the motors from the second unit. It's not like I'm going to be dragging 50 cars around. I don't even own 50 cars. 

Fred

The reason some don't like doing these upgrades is the complexity of the harness in the Lead and wire management, along with the need to swap trucks between units to get the harness alignment correct.  PS-1 have the harness come out of the Lead A, PS-2 reversed that and have the PCB on the lead A.  That way if you run the Lead by itself you don't have the harness dangling out the back.

The trucks by direction also need the 2mm mounting holes drilled and taped to 2.5mm for the PS-2 mounting hardware.  There are tricks around this, but overall these are not like a basic upgrade.   G

True, but you won't get the same level of feature control on the smoke unit.  It is an option though.   G

Didn't think about the smoke unit - of course you're right.

The set did arrive this afternoon, and it's amazing! Pieces like this are the reason I love O scale. It just has presence. Took a bit of cleanup, and it has the white battery so I'm not firing it up until I get a replacement.

I took all the shells off to clean them and can see where it would be very handy to have a pro tackle the upgrade. Just have to wait until the piggy bank fills up a bit.

Fred

Yes that is a magnificent train.  You can use a fresh 9V alkaline to scratch the test itch.  Even run it for a session or two.  Just don't want to leave it in long term.   G

Good info, thanks. I will absolutely try it this evening when I get home.  

Fred

Hey Fred ,
I upgraded one of these , if you are not pulling long trains , just remove 2 motors in the middle unit , make it a dummy . put motors on the side and save all screws ,the unit pulled 18 freight cars on a level layout .Then you only need one proto 2 upgrade kit.