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Reply to "Help Guide - What to do if Lion Chief Locomotive Stalls when Activating Operating Track, Uncoupler, or Crossing Gate - Expanding an O Gauge Set"

I just went through this myself and ended up buying the MTH Z-1000 for $129.  AT that price, the power pack was a significant percentage of the cost of a starter set.  The Z-1000 provides more than enough power to the track as well as fixed accessory power at 14v, which was exactly what I needed to resolve the type of issues you described.  It also obviously supports conventional operation, which I didn't have.

The Lionel DC wall wart pack had its benefits for newbies, even over the Z-1000:

  • Super affordable
  • Extremely small and light
  • Simple disconnection of track power via barrel plug
  • No screw terminals/no soldering
  • No need to reset circuit breakers
  • Very quick and intuitive to set up and operate
  • No "control panel" - everything was on the wall outlet or on the bluetooth controller
  • No wires/no busses/no different voltages - all power ran through the Fastrack
  • Power light was on the track
  • Enough power to run two engines through a 4x8 layout with very modest accessories


The issue as I see it is that the newbie will buy a few upgrades and not understand why their stuff fails to work.  There ought to be some sort of idiot light in the Fastrack for "Need to upgrade power pack".

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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