cost of TMCC replacement boards?

Hi Roy,

As per Lionels website, a Railsounds board is $45, and R2LC and RS supply board is $40 each.

You can typically score them cheaper on the used market, but new is as Chris states.  Too bad you missed the Lionel half price sale.  

I hasten to point out, if the boards have been pulled, there may be some other issue that you'll have to address, I suspect there was a reason they were taken out.

Could this have a TAS Saw board or does it in fact have a DCDR, non cruise Lionel motor driver? If the former then the Saw board is likely dead and the reason the other boards were taken out.

Pete

Thanks Chris.

GRJ, I had some spare boards and installed them. The loco works, but performance without cruise control really shows when you are used to cruise control.

I got lucky on the Lionel half price sale and bought what is needed to power my E-6 dummies and my AlCo PB dummy. The 2-8-0 did not come until Monday, the 21st.

I'm guessing that this is the TAS SAW board, no cruise.  In order to get cruise, you'll be replacing the whole shooting match, so no sense buying the boards.

I was hoping to use an ERR cruise M. I have not opened up the loco, assuming the motor driver board is in the boiler. Is the motor driver circuitry on the SAW mother board or does it use the Lionel modular motor driver board?

Additional tests show that the smoke unit does not work, either.

Interesting to find so many problems with a loco that had not been run. There were no running marks on the wheels or rollers and the original traction tires were unblemished. There were some slight chips on the driver flanges, probably from setting the loco down on the basement floor too roughly. Additionally, there was some slight corrosion on one edge of each driver that I attributed to dust and moisture from sitting on display. My thought is that this loco is 12 - 15 years old.

I thought the price ($271) was good for this loco, but fixing the problems eats into that quickly. The seller bought some locos from a local widow who has a huge collection. He said he got them cheap. I wonder if she only sold the ones that did not run?

From the same fellow, I got an MTH DD-1 and it does not run, either. That may be as simple as a battery, since it is PS-2 and the sounds work. Unfortunately, the ornamental bell on the roof, and one coupler mount got smashed in shipping.

The SAW board is an all-in-one, the drivers are on the board.  Is it fan driven smoke or the Seuthe smoke unit?  Obviously, the boards have to be installed for the smoke unit to wake up unless this is the old Seuthe and is wired to track power.

Hmm... a coupler mount means you have to replace the truck, right?  That may or may not be available.

The 2-8-0 smoke unit is not a Seuthe. Too bad about the motor drivers.

I installed one of the earliest UCUB2 boards years ago and thought the system was quite ... lacking.

The DD-1 coupler looks like it broke the T-bar, so that should be a simple fix.

T-Bar, no sweat.  Truck mounting, big problem!

You probably have the TAS smoke unit, that should keep you busy getting it to work with a different electronics package.

Well, the silver lining is you can now upgrade to Cruise and better Railsounds for not much more than the three boards plus Cruise M you were considering.

When I buy used Command engines I assume the electronics are toast and bid accordingly.

Pete

Yep, I agree.  I'd just bite the bullet, toss the old TAS board out, and move on with the ERR package.

Thanks guys.

It goes into the YADP pile - Yet Another Darn Project.

I have a really large YADP pile, someday I'm going to do all of them!

Do what John stated. If you got a deal on the locomotive and it is in good shape, update it with modern electronics and you will be happy.  I would send it to John and have him trick it out with his boards.  I would shove it back on the seller as it looks like he did you up on purpose.

I'm thinking that the seller really was ignorant about trains in general and of the loco's condition in particular.

I think he got a deal and flipped it, not knowing what was wrong with it.

At least, that's my hope.

What was the engine?  If the price was right, you have options on the way to go with it.  

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

What was the engine?  If the price was right, you have options on the way to go with it.  

Weaver diecast 2-8-0. A nice, slow freight drag loco - if it had cruise to make it run slowly..