Hey, Everyone! Hopefully I'm asking this in the right area.
A while back I bought a K line Hudson with TMCC. As luck would have it, within a couple of months of purchase, it started acting up, and progressively got worse. After running it for a bit it would stop responding to TMCC input, as if something was heating up and losing contact. Now it doesn't respond at all and I can't even get my new Base3 to recognize it. When running in traditional mode, it acts strangely as well... Speed is very erratic.
Anyway, instead of trying to fix the above issues with the existing hardware, I've decided I would finally like to try and "hot rod" an engine on my own, pull out the existing electronics, and add PS3. Before I spend the money on parts, I just wanted to take a moment to asked those who are experienced exactly what I need.
1. First, a PS3 upgrade kit will fit in that engine, right?
2. I need upgrade kit 50-1911
3. I need to pay MTH a $25 programming fee, as I do not have the equipment to do that (I only have a DCS Explorer and a Remote commander, although I have a deposit on a DCS 2 system, if they ever actually come out with it).
4. I need a PS2 smoke unit if I want fan driven smoke (not sure where to get that since it is apparently out of production)
Am I missing anything? Any suggestions for an alternative/superior upgrade path? Thought about selling my K line at a loss/as parts and just buying another Hudson, but the K Line looks so good, and used MTH scale J1s still pull strong money on eBay. Could get a Lionel 6-18056, I suppose, but that engine is getting pretty old at this point, and I never liked the incorrect tender on it.
Thanks!