In response to the questions/comments after my last post...
Professor, I'm not sure what you're asking, but if you only want to trigger the interactive dialogue with a CAB-1, then, of course, you only need to create the train with a CAB-1 in accordance with the instructions in the caboose's owner's manual. That's straightforward. However, if you want to trigger the automatic interactive dialogue with a CAB-2, simply creating the train with the CAB-1 will do nothing to the CAB-2. If you want to be able to trigger the automatic dialogue with the CAB-2, you first need to set up the train with the CAB-2 in the normal way. This will take you halfway there. You'll be able to use TrainLink to toggle between the train and the caboose and create the dialogue manually. To accomplish the necessary "tweak" that allows the engine and caboose to communicate with each other automatically by simply pressing TowerCom or CrewTalk when addressing the train, you need to create the train with a CAB-1--in accordance with the special instructions in the caboose's owner's manual--after having created the train with the CAB-2.
Nick, we're only talking about the four CrewTalk cabooses that Lionel produced:
6-19742 Erie - 1998
6-19749 Southern Pacific (part of a set) - 1998
6-19889 Pennsylvania - 2001
6-19890 Santa Fe - 2001
I have no experience with the TrainSounds cabooses.
It is indeed simple to MU the CrewTalk cabooses with a TMCC engine--as long as you follow the special directions in the owner's manual. It's trickier if you want the automatic interactive dialogue to function when addressing a train from a CAB-2.
John, the issue is not with TrainLink. My base is running 1.60, and my CAB-2 is running 1.61. I confess to being OCD about keeping up with the latest versions. As I mentioned above, TrainLink works fine in allowing you to toggle back and forth between the train and the caboose and trigger the interactive dialogue manually. But, to me, the really cool thing about the CrewTalk cabooses is how they automatically produce a dialogue between the engine and the caboose by simply pressing TowerCom or CrewTalk when addressing the train.
I think the issue may be that this special functionally was developed when Legacy was just a melody beginning to form in Neil Young's head. There was no thought to how it would work with a CAB-2. And when Legacy and the CAB-2 were being developed, it's quite possible that with all the many things they were trying to make the new system do--and that it does--no thought was given to accommodating the special functionality incorporated into the CrewTalk cabooses.
Cheers!
Keith
