Thanks Bill for your response.
From what I've gathered so far, if I wanted to have the CW80, (or another transformer, perhaps a 135W powerhouse ?), inside a cabinet, could I then use a Cab 1 remote with the command base to control lights, engine sound and smoke?
What little bit I have learned so far, is what I've gained just since this morning, so everything is really quite new to me. I saw a video that mentioned a power block(?), do I need one of those? Will the engine (Zephyr 6-51008, 2004 model) need to be programmed? I downloaded the Lionel manual today, so I'm sure I'll gain a lot from that.
Thanks again, you guys are proving to be most helpful