Running Lionel and MTH locomotives together

It's mostly straightforward if you plan on using DCS (PS2 / PS3) locomotives.

You'll need a TIU to communicate with the track, then you have your choice of routing power to the track through the TIU, then to the track. Or you can use the TIU in a "passive" mode (with a little more setup to prevent the DCS signals from being stepped on by the legacy signal).

Your choice of control is a remote with the original TIU, or via phone app with the new WTIU or the addon Wifi TIU box connected to an original TIU.

Do you have a "standard" setup? (ie - PH180 / ZW(C/L) to track power) - if so then it's mostly "plug and play" operation. If you wanted to create a multiple unit lash up between the two types, you may run into some issues though.

With an MTH-Legacy Cable Adapter (50-1032), the MTH remote in addition can connect to the legacy base to provide you control of TMCC/Legacy engines (in a basic TMCC mode mostly).

The only problem right now is TIU availability, but if you can get yourself a REV L TIU/Remote for a good price, then the sky is the limit.

Depending on the size of the layout, you may have signal issues with the DCS if you haven't wired taking that into account.

@SirCaptain posted:

Or you can use the TIU in a "passive" mode (with a little more setup to prevent the DCS signals from being stepped on by the legacy signal).

Actually, the 22uh inductor recommended at the transformer for passive mode is to prevent the transformer low impedance from affecting the track signal, it has no effect on the Legacy signal.

Thank you both.  I use a powerhouse and a cab 1.  (I think it's the 990).  I purchased the original cab 1 and then moved up to the newer one.  (But not the new system that is coming out).  MTH has a locomotive I am interested in but I don't want or need great difficulty when trying to run it.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Actually, the 22uh inductor recommended at the transformer for passive mode is to prevent the transformer low impedance from affecting the track signal, it has no effect on the Legacy signal.

Oop thanks for the correction, scatter brain moment on why the 22uh was needed.

@Stephen Johnson posted:

Thank you both.  I use a powerhouse and a cab 1.  (I think it's the 990).  I purchased the original cab 1 and then moved up to the newer one.  (But not the new system that is coming out).  MTH has a locomotive I am interested in but I don't want or need great difficulty when trying to run it.

There's a few different remotes you might use:

• CAB-1 - Original TMCC Remote, uses the Eye Poker 9000 Antenna to communicate back to base station
• CAB-2 - Legacy Remote (all the fun features) - #990 Set (Remote / Base) - Looks very different from the CAB-1, can charge from the base cradle, uses 2.4Ghz radio instead of the Eye Poker 9000 Antenna
• Cab-1L - Legacy Remote "upgrade (I guess you could call it)" from the original CAB-1 - maintains the same design but has legacy specific features (This remote can talk to a CAB-1L base or #992 Base). Gets rid of the Eye Poker 9000 antenna from the CAB-1 and uses the 2.4Ghz band to communicate to the base like the CAB-2 Remote.

Regarding operation of the locomotive you're interested in, as GRJ mentioned above, if you have an expansive layout you may run into fun quirks out of the box trying to run DCS for the first time. If you're a Carpet Central or Oval Loop Lover, then dropping a TIU in should be (relatively) straightforward.

@Stephen Johnson posted:

MTH has a locomotive I am interested in but I don't want or need great difficulty when trying to run it.

If you want to dip your toe in DCS with just one MTH locomotive, you can buy a DCS Remote Commander. As I understand it, it's designed to work with a single MTH locomotive. I believe you could plug it onto your existing layout and run the MTH loco with the simple remote and continue to run your Lionel with your Legacy system. But, remember, it's only designed to control one MTH locomotive.

The DCS Remote Commander doesn't output the same signal strength as a TIU channel, so anything more than a loop of track will likely experience some signal issues.