Atlas and MTH Electric Trains....GOOD NEWS!

@H1000 posted:

Marty I scraped the MTH Website a while back and grabbed EVERYTHING. Manuals, schematics, and every single sound file. People talk about 100's of MTH sound files, it's more like 10's of thousands. The MTH sound Library is currently free and public, If you are worried, go get em now I say.

Great minds think alike!

I have downloaded all the sound files I wanted/needed for personal use, manuals for engines I have, and all the catalogs. It all comes to a cool 9.42GB. I have backed this up on two thumb drives and a 2TB solid-state external drive. I have one of the thumb drives at a relatives house heaven forbid there was a fire or some major catastrophe.

Bryce

DCS has always been MTH’s albatross. If Atlas could re engineer DCS to be as reliable as Legacy they could easily part ways with their TMCC/Lionel licensing agreement and become a real competitor. If Atlas could acquire the steam tooling I believe Lionel would be forced to step up their game and we’d all be elbow deep in quality trains again.

one more request......change the truck mounting so the screws are on the bottom of the car,instead of the top so we dont have to pull the car apart......

@Steve Harris posted:

DCS has always been MTH’s albatross. If Atlas could re engineer DCS to be as reliable as Legacy they could easily part ways with their TMCC/Lionel licensing agreement and become a real competitor. If Atlas could acquire the steam tooling I believe Lionel would be forced to step up their game and we’d all be elbow deep in quality trains again.

It's funny, but I always avoided full DCS because of what I perceived as it being complicated and and prone to problems. I've only had small, temporary layouts, sometimes with switches.

But the remote commander, and the new DCS explorer, have been completely and totally reliable for me. If MTH had simply unlocked a few features on the app, like subway sounds, for example, I would have gladly paid for those upgrades and been very happy to stick with the Explorer forever. As it is, I'll be running one or two MTH locos going forward as I always have--via Explorer, or most likely remote commander, and subways using the transformer commands in automode. Combined with LionChief and LC+, and sometimes conventional running, this makes for a perfectly workable layout.

My only concern is my DCS Explorer dying, or the transformer controller. The hardware. Which means, I suppose, I should buy backup hardware, like an extra Explore, transformer controller and remote commander.

Speaking of the Explorer, here are two suggestions to any possible future DCS company.  Firstly, include the power supply (wall wart) for the Explorer in the purchase, as was true for MTH sets, but not for the separate sale Explorer.  Or at least specify a few inexpensive power supplies in the 10-20 dollar range. Suggesting the Z1000 is a non-starter and borders on bizarre in terms of both overkill and expense.

Secondly, either include printed instructions with the device,  or the web address where you can download the .pdf instructions.  I've never previously purchased an electronic device that failed to include at least "quick start" type directions.  Don't cheap out or stay half-baked going forward.

@pdxtrains posted:

It's funny, but I always avoided full DCS because of what I perceived as it being complicated and and prone to problems. I've only had small, temporary layouts, sometimes with switches.

But the remote commander, and the new DCS explorer, have been completely and totally reliable for me. If MTH had simply unlocked a few features on the app, like subway sounds, for example, I would have gladly paid for those upgrades and been very happy to stick with the Explorer forever. As it is, I'll be running one or two MTH locos going forward as I always have--via Explorer, or most likely remote commander, and subways using the transformer commands in automode. Combined with LionChief and LC+, and sometimes conventional running, this makes for a perfectly workable layout.

My only concern is my DCS Explorer dying, or the transformer controller. The hardware. Which means, I suppose, I should buy backup hardware, like an extra Explore, transformer controller and remote commander.

Pdx, I also initially avoided dcs because of some of the comments I read here. But it’s like reading restaurant reviews on Yelp - some people love it, some hate it, and the only way to tell the truth is to try it out for yourself. I’m glad I finally did 15 years ago. I’ve never had any problems with it and all my command and conventional engines run superbly, and I’m far from an electrically proficient individual. My layout is in a 10x14 foot room, has four levels, over 20 blocks and sidings, and all are connected to the tiu with excellent results. I think dcs is even better for smaller layouts like ours. The explorer doesn’t give you nearly as many features as the full dcs for subways. As a fellow subway fan, I can tell you that you don’t know what you are missing, being able to control mixed consist subway trains, easily operating station stops, programming your own out and back loops, and all the other great subway features with dcs.  I regularly run seven or eight different engines at the same time on my subway themed layout and dcs really makes it work flawlessly. I have conventional tracks that run my conventional engines as well via dcs. It’s truly amazing. Ignore the noise and give it a try like I did. You’ll never look back and now that you can see that dcs has an afterlife, the decision should be even easier.

I just hope Atlas builds complete DCS systems for the 1000s of us who prefer the remote over their phone for train operation.  I also hope they do it to STOP the robbery on Ebay of people selling either just the tiu or just the remote for outlandish prices.

Pretty sure Atlas won't be making dcs components like TIUs and remotes. MTH has spun off the DCS group into its own organization to continue the production of DCS  components. Atlas will be a reseller and licensed oem provider of these parts.

As for the eBay prices, that's all supply and demand. If you want a better price there are other more obscure sources that require some searching to find. I bought an unused TIU and remote set with an AIU last month for $375.... Not on eBay. While this price is rare and a real gem to find, they are out there.

eBay is the last place to look for a good deal on this stuff.

I agree with Rich (Trowbridge).   I'm hoping Atlas will continue to produce the 100 ton cylindrical hoppers.  I could use several more to populate my 42 x13 foot Mexicali Grande portable show case layout that's growing in size every year!   ( A few more ''Government wheat'' cars on the home layout wouldn't hurt either) .   I'm sure Atlas will consider the advantages of all the molds MTH produced for future releases!