Took the B unit to Roundhouse Trains, an authorized Lionel service station. After the initial check we determined that the R2L2 (or something like that) was dead. He has a specific checker to evaluate that. We also found out that the 19B body style didn't have a smoke unit even though the parts list on line showed one. He thought that I may have a "Grey" market unit—one that may have been sent back to Lionel as defective and then somehow gets onto the market—except he had an exact same B unit in stock that was obtained from a customer and guess what, it had no smoke unit either.
Also, it seems that the motor with the speed sensor had a lot of drag in it. He feels that it's enough to increase the current flow through the circuit to overheat them and cause failure. He say engines that have sat for a while can have congealed Chinese grease in them. Possible...
He'll evaluate everything. If it costs too much to get it running, I'll pull the motors off the trucks and run it as a dummy unit.
Meanwhile, the A unit is running nicely. I've figured how to get it to shut off. I lower the throttle to idle in neutral and then kill the throttle. It shuts off nicely in about 10 seconds.
They were telling me all kinds of things I didn't want to hear about TMCC. For instance TMCC engines don't like derails since the power surge can toast the circuits. They don't like certain transformers. Again, I'm leaning MTH.
I'll let everyone know the final determination on the B unit.
