Waiting on delivery of two Lionel GG1s that I put on lay-away about 9 months ago right after I moved. Finally paid it off. The .one I really wanted is a 2360 but to get it I had to take another newer model with electronics in it Forget the number and it will go for sale since I am not in to the electronic stuff. Have no way of testing it either. Maybe the local club. I will post it on the "for sale" site
Waiting on delivery of two Lionel GG1s that I put on lay-away about 9 months ago right after I moved. Finally paid it off. The .one I really wanted is a 2360 but to get it I had to take another newer model with electronics in it Forget the number and it will go for sale since I am not in to the electronic stuff. Have no way of testing it either. Maybe the local club. I will post it on the "for sale" site
Jim;
Don't most engines "with electronics" also run as conventional??? I know the Lionel engines I have can also run conventional (if I didn't already know that, I would have found it out the day I powered up the layout with the legacy base disconnected!!!).
I am one of those ignorant of the electronic systems that have been developed over the last 20 or more years. I run strictly conventional. I prefer to buy post war and MPC era locos, but I have some newer locos with electronic horns and E-units. Other than that, I am DCC, TMCC, DCS, Etc., challenged. I will stay away from locos advertised with these features when buying.
That said, how do we, in the conventional arena, know when it's safe to spend money on these newer products ?
In my experience, the early dcs locos are the the ones to think twice about. They seem to cook as easily as a hot dog in a microwave. The tmcc while not perfect, seemed more robust.
A static charge from carpet can fry your tv, but how often does it happen? Steps can be taken to protect the trains; fast breakers and transient voltage suppressors on the track would do a lot to prevent issues. Many are dc motor units. Should a board cook, a bridge rectifier (under $5) quickly gives you a forward only loco (4 wires). An e-unit BOARD is about the same price as a "mint" mechanical one. If it is a pulmore, an old e unit can revive it. Sounds would be the only catch, but if sound isn't needed, who cares?
I don't get into command. The "feel" is different, sure; but you have others to scratch that itch with. My can motor GG-1s are the one train that caused me to sell off my PW style Lionel GG-1s (k-line/Williams). Smoother, quieter, track better, less of a jack rabbit start.
I've only seen TMCC that switch to conventional automatically, but I imagine a switch on the bottom may have been utilized very early in tmcc production; read the instructions. (even on newer, there are only two switches. One for choosing "full" or "signal sounds" (so there is some sound while cycling throttles). The other is to lock the loco dirrection, like an eunit switch. (Also PGM does nothing in conventional.)
Overvoltage, especially from an prewar transformer might be a concern as 18v is supposed to be the max. that tmcc can handle. But I'm not sure if that applies to conventional use as I have used a prewar Z (spec would be about 25v, actual..?) and quite a few times have maxed it with tmcc running in conventional, before I had heard the 18v max. issue.
My advice would be to not stick your nose up at E-locos when the price is right; at least until you try one or two out. As far as this one goes, I only know I wouldn't be able to resist running it.
