@rplst8 posted:Nothing stopping one from turning off the smoke and sound and running anything from MTH conventionally.
As for being more “repairable” if all you’re interested in is conventional operation, it’s simple to rip out a fried controller board and install a reversing unit and a rectifier.
There is a "back and forth" that crops up on the OGR board from time to time. When it comes to new tinplate, there are those that prefer to have the innards faithfully reproduced as well as the exterior. Can motors do not have the growl and the whiff of ozone of traditional tinplate and some prefer air whistles to electronic sounds. The contemporary tinplate appears to some as soulless appliances -- modern trains dressed up as old ones -- compared to the character intrinsic to the traditionally powered trains with open frame three pole motors.
As for repairs, if one wishes to restore failed DCS PS2/PS3 functions, the sourcing of parts is and will be a challenge. The conventional trains can almost always be repaired. Let's see where we are with this in 5 to 10 years.
Respectfully,
Bob
