I see Pete had the same idea. 
Okay, Ill take a look into this.... I have ERR and Legacy boards laying around....give me a few days
Shucks, and here I was angling for a free RS6 board. 
It'll be interesting to see what you come up with, I'm kinda' curious myself.
I went digging in my sound board box tonight, and found the only RS6 board I had. I first installed it in a good Legacy chassis with an R4LC (from the 6-18993 C&NW S-2 Switcher) to make certain everything worked properly.
The one hiccup is that I think this particular RS6 board, which is unlabeled, is the "front/loco" board for the UP Challenger two-board system that doesn't have all the sounds populated (like CrewTalk, TowerCom, rear ElectroCoupler) in the usual locations in the ROM. Having said that, this particular RS6 board appears to work identically with either an R2LC (C13) or R4LC (S03) installed.
I also tried a Legacy RS5.5 board, this one from the Santa Fe Atlantic #1484, with the full sound set contained on the single board. Same thing here -- it seems to work the same regardless of either an R2LC or R4LC installed.
One more thing to note: while these RS5.5 and RS6 sound systems worked fine with an R2LC in place of an R4LC, the Legacy motor driver in the S-2 chassis would only respond to an R4LC.
So I think it's encouraging that what Thomas proposed above could work. But since I don't have any early Legacy steam locos around to test the R2LC/RS6 with an IR tether (not needed for Thomas' installation) or the rear coupler/back-up light functionality, perhaps Mr. Bruk can specifically check this out as well as verify my findings above.
Hope this helps.
TRW
I've asked the same question before, "can you run a legacy sound board with the ERR cruise commander?". My theory is yes, myself and my fellow repair guy Dustin at Eastside trains asked the same question a few years ago. We had a long discussion about it, but we never had a chance to try it out. Since then I have acquired some legacy 5.5 and 6.0 and RS Lite boards and I have an ERR package not yet installed. Ill try and find time to test this. Because I do seek an answer that I have asked many years ago (3).
Bruk, if you want to try out your Legacy sound boards all you need is an engine that has Lionel modular tmcc boards and swap out the audio board. It doesn't have to be ERR. ERR uses a standard Lionel R2LC or lately an 8 bit R4LC.
Pete
Yep, if I had the RS6 board, I was just going to slap it into my test setup for TMCC to see if it worked. 
The problem you may run in to is incompatibility that varies board to board. I am the guy that built a Legacy GG-1 from a William's Scale engine with the back EMF Legacy board, and hooked to a TMCC RS 5.0 GG-1 sound set. I went through hell working on this with consults to experts until I found the right combination of R4LC Code along with a buffer to get it from corrupting the serial data and ceasing to function after a set time.
Second issue is the reliability and standard of those Powered Mother boards. They all do not work right. I have had several NOT work right out of the package. Or have issues degrading the serial data.
Third this will be an expensive proposition and time consuming endeavor, so you better under stand the architecture and how the system works, or you will be chasing your tail.
If you get the parts for free and you have nothing better to do with your time, go for it. At this point, I just go ERR for those wanting TMCC upgrades. The mix and match was consuming too much time, and your unsupported if a part you get from Lionel does not work later down the road when you use it.
With ERR you get full support with a defective product. Just my 2 cents. G
GGG posted:Second issue is the reliability and standard of those Powered Mother boards. They all do not work right. I have had several NOT work right out of the package. Or have issues degrading the serial data.
After you told me this, I checked all of mine. There was one that was dead from Lionel. Since I'd had them for some time, I just bit the bullet and tossed it in my dead boards bin. If I work up a lot of energy some day, I may try to see what failed on it.
Norton posted:Bruk, if you want to try out your Legacy sound boards all you need is an engine that has Lionel modular tmcc boards and swap out the audio board. It doesn't have to be ERR. ERR uses a standard Lionel R2LC or lately an 8 bit R4LC.
Pete
I already know for a fact that it works if that's what you guys wanted to know, I have tested that many times before...
The rail sounds 6 board was just a newer version of the 5.5 and previous versions to get away from the chip design and be able to program directly. If you guys have Legacy 990 you can actually run your LEGACY locomotives in the TMCC mode and with the speed steps. You have to change the settings. You can even run your engines in TMCC mode and with Legacy RailSounds on. Anyways I thought what mikado 4501 wanted to know was if he can use the ERR commander with a Legacy RS6 board. He said he wanted just the Legacy Sounds...and my guess is he is trying to get it from a Vision Line Hudson. which is equipped with a RS6 package. Not the "6.5" which is the RSLite board.
Bruk posted:Norton posted:Bruk, if you want to try out your Legacy sound boards all you need is an engine that has Lionel modular tmcc boards and swap out the audio board. It doesn't have to be ERR. ERR uses a standard Lionel R2LC or lately an 8 bit R4LC.
Pete
I already know for a fact that it works if that's what you guys wanted to know, I have tested that many times before...
The rail sounds 6 board was just a newer version of the 5.5 and previous versions to get away from the chip design and be able to program directly. If you guys have Legacy 990 you can actually run your LEGACY locomotives in the TMCC mode and with the speed steps. You have to change the settings. You can even run your engines in TMCC mode and with Legacy RailSounds on. Anyways I thought what mikado 4501 wanted to know was if he can use the ERR commander with a Legacy RS6 board. He said he wanted just the Legacy Sounds...and my guess is he is trying to get it from a Vision Line Hudson. which is equipped with a RS6 package. Not the "6.5" which is the RSLite board.
But can the tmcc R4LC send the 9 bit code needed for legacy sounds like quilllable whistle?
Santa Fe 3751 posted:Bruk posted:Norton posted:Bruk, if you want to try out your Legacy sound boards all you need is an engine that has Lionel modular tmcc boards and swap out the audio board. It doesn't have to be ERR. ERR uses a standard Lionel R2LC or lately an 8 bit R4LC.
Pete
I already know for a fact that it works if that's what you guys wanted to know, I have tested that many times before...
The rail sounds 6 board was just a newer version of the 5.5 and previous versions to get away from the chip design and be able to program directly. If you guys have Legacy 990 you can actually run your LEGACY locomotives in the TMCC mode and with the speed steps. You have to change the settings. You can even run your engines in TMCC mode and with Legacy RailSounds on. Anyways I thought what mikado 4501 wanted to know was if he can use the ERR commander with a Legacy RS6 board. He said he wanted just the Legacy Sounds...and my guess is he is trying to get it from a Vision Line Hudson. which is equipped with a RS6 package. Not the "6.5" which is the RSLite board.
But can the tmcc R4LC send the 9 bit code needed for legacy sounds like quilllable whistle?
In theory yes..... Since Legacy is mainly 9 bit serial data and the R4LC is a 9 bit radio board it should work.
I have used the ERR R4LC board that comes in the kit as a temporary board replacement for my early LEGACY FEF-3 Northern. while waiting for a new one. From experiences in the past I believe the Rail sounds board knows the difference between 8 and 9 bit data and it will respond accordingly.
But I still need to test this on my bench. I haven't had anytime to do so this week.
The R4LC-08 firmware doesn't know anything about the quillable whistle, so I'd be amazed if it can make that happen. The ERR R4LC is a drop-in replacement for the R2LC-08 and doesn't have any expanded capabilities.
Just because it is the R4LC hardware does not mean is works with Legacy if it has TMCC C08 Software installed. The Software won't use 9 bits. When testing this you also need to run for a significant period beyond a 5 min test. Getting it to work for 5 minutes doesn't mean it will work for 15 minutes. Trust me:-)
Guys that want to try this should do it. See if it works under operating conditions. If so report what specific hardware with software codes you used. G
What makes you think that George? 
Something about the burning wagons around your pioneer cabin?
It was an interesting learning experience, that has carried over to some issues I see with other Legacy products. Still can not be explained why though. 
Of course that is a week of my life I will never get back either G
GGG posted:Of course that is a week of my life I will never get back either
Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. However, you typically learn some valuable lessons in the process.
Thomas, any new progress on this?
Matt,
Sorry about the hiatus.
I sent my 18005 Hudson loco to Frank Timko a couple of weeks ago, and he said I should be getting it back soon with the DC can motor and new fan driven smoke unit. While it was away, I plopped in Electric RR Cruise in its tender, plus a new baffled speaker, but otherwise no progress on the sounds.
Bruk's been busy, too, and I'm still trying to find a Gold Hudson audio board somewhere, so I may just try and test out the 6.0 board on a whim. Pete's doing a similar project on the Hi-Rail forum.
I had some time this morning and this is what I found in my tests.... using a ERR Cruise Commander and RailSounds 5.5 board from a ATSF E6 Atlantic.
- The ERR R4LC board that is included with the kit, does not put out a 9 bit serial data. Only 8 like John and GGG were saying.
- The Legacy R.S. Board in this case the 5.5 version did see the 8 bit and will operate in TMCC mode with no quilling whistle feature.
- I put a Lionel R4LC board a true 9 bit board from the E6 Atlantic on the ERR cruise commander. I did get lighting and coupler control but no motor control in LEGACY Control Mode. But I did get Legacy RailSound control (Quilling Whistle)
- Now, If you go into the #900 LEGACY Cab-2 Controller and set the engine to TMCC control and then set the Sounds to LEGACY. You will be able to control the motor function with the Lionel 9 bit R4LC and also be able to control the LEGACY Sound features such as the Quilling Whistle/Horn.
- Have not tested this with the CAB1-L. I don't have one. I don't know if it is possible due to the basicness of the controller system.
