For awhile, I've had the very first MTH Premier model of one of my most favorite trains since childhood - the Blue Comet. Despite being somewhat dated in its electronics, the locomotive detailing still looks sharp and the whole set just looks gorgeous.
Nonetheless, it's age and ability to find for bargains (I purchased the engine for about $350, and the whole 7 car set for $250 years ago) made it a perfect choice for upgrading. I at first wanted to upgrade to Proto2, but after an...let's say unpleasant experience with the upgrade kit and the service station that offered to do it, I finally dived headfirst with Lionel electronics.
I'm currently upgrading the locomotive right now to ERR Cruise and Blue Comet RailSounds (if I can find the latter chip...), as well as a Super Chuffer, Chuff generator, and new LED lighting.
But before I get to finishing that, I did take the time to upgrade the baggage car (excuse the 1998 typo on the Barnard name) to Lionel StationSounds electronics. I want to thank GunrunnerJohn for his topic here https://ogrforum.com/t...station-sounds-diner that was a great guide to how to do it, as well as PaperTRW for supplying me with the Station Sounds complete assembly and LehighValleyRailroad (Chris) for the Blue Comet diner sound chip.
The hard part for myself was drilling the holes in the right spots for the volume pot and the program run switch, and the most time consuming part was drilling holes for the speaker in the frame. I also had to file a bit off the under body boxes for the screws, but nothing that affects the exterior look. The 'clickety clack' sensor was also tedious to get to mount on the MTH heavyweight trucks, but did find a way to make it work. The electronics mounting was very easy. At worst, I had to cut and shorten some wires to tidy up the innards.
The result is a car that already brings a lot more life to it.
I still have to change out the incandescent lighting for the car for LED strips, as well as the other 6, but I'll do that for a later date, as well as to upgrade the insides of the passenger cars...
To be continued...
