Questions on older Lionel command upgradeable equipment?

I did one of these last year when I won an upgradeable locomotive in a raffle (actually wife won since I had nothing but bad luck..)  and got the R4LC board which does replace the R2LC board and bought the rail sounds power supply and steam board. I ended up getting a bad power supply board from Lionel and they warranted the board and since I really wanted another person to take a look I sent in the locomotive and it came back perfect. I have heard that the upgrades do not always work but Lionel can get it sorted. In short, sounds like you have the right parts and I would do it again.

Obviously, the different types of steam boards have different sounds, the whistles, bells, and chuffs are different, depending on the specific sound set.  What specific locomotive are you upgrading?

You need the three boards, the R2LC (or R4LC), the RS4 audio board, and the RS4 power supply.

You are correct, you need a 691-R2LC-C08 radio board, 691-RSPR-A00 RS power board and the 691-PCB1-060 Generic Steam. Easy to install.

Bill

Thanks to all 3 of you  for your replies. It's very helpful as I'm learning here.

I made a separate post on the main board asking about a 6-28044 Hudson. I thought it might be better to ask about the engine on the main board, and ask about command upgradeable TMCC here. It is a command upgradeable locomotive, so out of the box it is conventional (no R2LC board) and signal sounds.

The upgrade manual talks about a R2LC board (I'm assuming R4LC boards didn't exist at the time). But, Captaincog mentioned he used a R4LC board, so I'm guessing if it works, 4 is better than 2?

For sounds, if there is a difference in the Railsounds 4.0 generic steam boards, I'd like a NYC Hudson if a board is available.

Boxcar Bill, on my other topic, you mention you have boards available. I know you have the ERR equipment, do you also carry the Lionel boards we are talking about here?

Thanks again for all the info.

Lionel stopped making the R2LC boards, but the R4LC with the C08 code is functionally the same and is plug compatible.  There are still R2LC boards around, but new from Lionel will probably be R4LC.  ERR supplies R4LC boards with all their upgrades nowadays.  It's not "better" for your application, but it will work as well as the R2LC-C08.

You might cruise through the available RailSounds 4 boards on Lionel's parts site and see if there is a Hudson board that you might like better for the upgrade.  From a brief search, several use the generic steam, so maybe that's the best one.

Boxcar Bill can fix you up with all you need.

Thanks for the additional info.

It's very easy to do.  It's plug and play.  Just make sure you get the right boards.  Had an issue once with a command upgradeable Alco C420 that way.  Are you changing to electrocouplers?  Not that it's difficult, but that is the most challenging part of the deal.  Nothin' to it.  Good luck.  Converting an engine to TMCC is like bringing it to life.

I'm new at this, so I hadn't even thought about converting to electrocouplers until you mentioned it. I like the electrocouplers on the command control engines I have, but I'm not sure how much I might use them on a Hudson locomotive. I'll have to think about it.

Well, the Hudson would probably only get one on the rear unless you're double-heading it, and even then you wouldn't have an electrocoupler on the front.  It's pretty easy to do, if it's fully upgradable, it should be a plug-n-play affair.

I also recommend you look at the instructions that came with your engines.  Usually the Series 28000 engine that were upgradable come with detailed instructions.  There may be a jumper to switch or two on the Mother Boards.

It is easy to do, I have 3 of these 28000 series engines and upgraded a signal sounds engine.  Works fine.  G

gunrunnerjohn and GGG thanks for the additional info. I found the manual for the sister locomotive on the Lionel website and it explains the electrocoupler upgrade. It looks pretty easy.

Just make sure you get the right length electrocoupler, they come in a number of different lengths.  That's probably one of the shorter ones, longer ones stick out and look kinda' odd on most tenders.

Thanks for the tip.

The old engine manual mentions this part:

"Begin the rear tender ElectroCoupler
upgrade (Lionel part No. 602-2957-000) installation..."

But that part didn't produce any results in a search.

The following part came up in a parts diagram for a similar semi-scale Hudson (6-28007):

6108129550 Coil Coupler / MNT B / length 2.03" / 2.0 mm LEOCO