Questions for someone coming back to trains.

medelmanOGR Forum Member

I've been a fan of model trains for most of my life and about ten years ago I bought a lionel steam engine starter set which included TMCC built into it but came with a conventional power pack. I don't recall the name of the set as it is currently packed away. I've been hoping to set it up again and then moving forward start adding more sets and/or engines. I'm a firmware engineer and have actually worked on bluetooth development so the whole new lionchief plus 2.0 looks great. The question I have is am I still going to need a cab1/cab2/legacy system in order to control my original tmcc based engine remotely?

I never had any switches for fasttrack but am debating on getting command control switches if I stick to fasttrack. I don't have much fast-track so that is up in the air. Again I'm assuming that my only option for controlling these is with a command control system? Can a non legacy command system control these switches or only legacy based?

Thanks,

Matt

10/31/197:03 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Yep, for the old TMCC locomotive, you'll either TMCC or Legacy. Fastrack command controlled switches require you to have a TMCC or Legacy system. TMCC can run any TMCC or Legacy locomotive or accessory. What you might miss out on with TMCC vs Legacy is some "Legacy only" features, the quilling whistle comes to mind, as well as enhanced lighting and sound features on some Legacy locomotives.

10/31/198:43 PM

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bmoran4OGR Forum Member

Your existing TMCC locomotive can be controlled to its full capabilities by a TMCC or Legacy system. It can also run in conventional mode, but that appears to be outside your desire.

LionChief+ 2.0 introduces TMCC capabilities built into the engine - that means the engine speaks the TMCC protocol and can (amungst other methods) be controlled by a TMCC or Legacy remote.

The LionChief family of remotes will only control LionChief family of locomotives and does not interface with any TMCC/Legacy components.

Most newer Legacy engines support being controlled by Bluetooth/LionChief, but it is possible that all advanced legacy features are not exposed through that interface.

Might want to check out this thread with details: