S gauge Northern hunt this weekend

The discounted price on the Flyerchief Northerns is about $420. After conversion you would have close to $700 invested.  I suppose if you don't want it you could sell the Flyerchief boards and controller to regain some of that.

I don't do DCC, but an alternative to converting a Gilbert Northern might be to look for a recent Flyonel version like the 6-48047 Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern.  I have seen them sell on eBay for around $300.  They already have a can motor and you can gut and sell the electronics to recover some of your investment.   

 Just my thoughts.

 Dean

Hi Dean,

Misunderstanding, the flyer chief would not be converted to DCC (it works on that already) I have the Polar Express Berkshire.  It would be converted to look more like a Reading T1 (steam chest, Wooten fire boiler etc).  The biggest problem would be a suitable tender, especially because of the tetherless hook up and sound.

My mistake.  Good luck with your search.  

Francine, take care to verify your thoughts on FlyerChief. The engines will operate on AC or DC track power but according to the manual FlyerChief engines are not DCC compatible like the newer Legacy engines. I suppose it is possible the FlyerChief engine will accept commands from its own remote when the source of track power is a DCC supply. Perhaps someone on the OGR Forum has tried this and can provide an answer.

I don't believe that FlyerChief locomotives are DCC compatible. To my knowledge only Legacy equipped locomotives offer this, and only the more recently produced diesels (SD70 and ES44).  The Big Boy, Challenger and Y3 do not offer DCC capability, nor does the U33 diesel.  I don't know about the Legacy Alco units.

Nick C.

nctrains posted:

I don't believe that FlyerChief locomotives are DCC compatible. To my knowledge only Legacy equipped locomotives offer this, and only the more recently produced diesels (SD70 and ES44).  The Big Boy, Challenger and Y3 do not offer DCC capability, nor does the U33 diesel.  I don't know about the Legacy Alco units.

 

Nick C.

DCC compatibility with Legacy started with the first run of SD70ACe's.

FlyerChief+ is compatible with itself and conventional control.  It think a DCC system may be used as a track power supply, but you still have use the FlyerChief controller to operate the locomotive.

Rusty

flyer Chief plus will operate on dc ac or dcc track power with the chief plus controller although i keep it running and dont let it set still to long on dcc power