I just tried hooking up my 180 watt brick and Lionel Legacy 990 directly to my track without going through my TPC in order to try to isolate a problem with a new engine (see New Lionel E8 Problems thread). I was able to run the train, blow the whistle, etc., but the red Halt button no longer worked and Aux 0 no longer shut off track power. I’m just curious, can anyone explain why that would be?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
The brick alone does not respond to the Legacy remote.
It's just a transformer with an on off switch.
The TPC takes commands and can control the track power from the Transformer going into it.
Thus the name," Track Power Controller.'
The halt button should still function with just the brick and the Legacy system, but it will not cut the power. It will just stop the trains and make them idle.
James,
The TPC handled those functions. Once you removed it they no longer operate.
More specifically when the TPC was in the system Aux 0 told your TPC, at the address you assigned to it, to drop its output voltage to minimum. Halt instructed any and all connected TPC's (regardless of address) to cut power completely.
(Now, I would have thought that Halt would also command all engines to stop movement, which would work without a TPC. I must admit however that I've never checked to see if it actually worked that way because I always have TPCs connected to all my track blocks.)
Mike
Thanks for the explanation!
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
