Lionel and MTH Control Systems

It would be good to know approximately how many feet of track you have ; how many main loops are running and whether they are electrically connected or not; and possibly a diagram of your layout.

In general, I would recommend the Lionel 180w brick or the MTH Z4000 for power. You should not need a separate transformer for each block unless your blocks are extremely long (see above).

In order to run both MTH and DCS and Legacy you would probably want to get both systems. You will need an MTH TIU and remote (or Wi-Fi hook-up) and the Legacy command base and remote. The Fastrack switches are fine and you can run them off of track power with no issues as long as you install a 22uh choke in each switch to avoid any DCS signal issues. There is a thread on how to do this on the Forum. No soldering is necessary. 

Basically, everything runs through the MTH TIU. You will need some special cables to integrate the Legacy system into the TIU. Again, there are threads on how to do this.

You should buy a copy of Barry Broskowitz's DCS Companion (3rd Edition) which will be invaluable on showing you how to hook everything up.

You also have the option to run everything (not Lionchief) via the MTH Wi-Fi, which would eliminate the necessity for handheld remotes.

No problem running Lion Chief with its separate handheld.

You should also know that newer Legacy, Lion Chief and Premier engines come with a blue tooth option and the new Lionchief 2.0 + can be integrated into the Legacy system.

Hope this gets you started in the right direction.

As someone who recently attempted this combination...This can become a very frustrating endeavor.  Not to mention costly.   I too vote for buying both systems.  Knowledge that would have helped me up front, was knowing that the MTH system is not Atlas engine friendly.  Having several Atlas pieces in my collection... ended further attempts by me for getting this combo to work on one system.

Team Ridley posted:

As someone who recently attempted this combination...This can become a very frustrating endeavor.  Not to mention costly.   I too vote for buying both systems.  Knowledge that would have helped me up front, was knowing that the MTH system is not Atlas engine friendly.  Having several Atlas pieces in my collection... ended further attempts by me for getting this combo to work on one system.

That's odd, I have no problem running my Atlas engines with the MTH system.

I could not get my MTH/TIU to find the Atlas engine (my attempt at combining systems was a MTH/TIU with the Lionel 180 power brick and legacy command base plus necessary cables).  The only engine this combo was finding was the MTH engine...and some of my Lionel TMCCs...it was calling for yet another process for the Atlas engines...which was getting more expensive than simply buying the MTH system and moving on for me.  When you start adding those cables and piecemealing the systems together it gets expensive and it makes you feel like you are going down a $$$ hole.

Thank you. I may just sell my MTH O Scale Premier 4-4-0 American Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0  from 2010. It is such a beautiful engine but seems like a pain to combine systems. I guess I now become a Lionel only O tinplate operator. Thank you everyone. D

It's really not that bad ….. basically transformer or brick and Legacy into TIU and TIU out to track. Just need a couple cables to make all the connections.

At that point you can operate all your MTH engines with the DCS remote; all your Legacy engines with the Cab 2 remote; and all your Lionchief engines with their remote.

I wouldn't be scared off with one person's bad experience anymore than I would let one person's bad review prevent me from trying that new restaurant and seeing for myself. There are many, many people on the Forum who will attest to the benefits of being able to run both systems, but it's your call. 

Thank you. I will be patient. D

Wow...I am totally confused...Beforehand, I was running my engines with their own remotes without the TIU...I thought it was the purpose of the TIU to run all the systems from it's remote!  That was the only reason I invested in it.  Sorry for the confusion...I had a different expectation of the TIU!!!  And I'm really confused as to it's purpose now...but it does not fit for me.

Compared with the current LC2.0, Legacy and DCS  are based on 50 year old technology.

BOB WALKER posted:

Compared with the current LC2.0, Legacy and DCS  are based on 50 year old technology.

Which means absolutely nothing.  Besides, LC + 2.0 is TMCC based with added BT capability, so apparently that 35 year old technology (don't know where 50 comes from), is still viable.

Team Ridley - "As someone who recently attempted this combination...This can become a very frustrating endeavor.  Not to mention costly.   I too vote for buying both systems.  Knowledge that would have helped me up front, was knowing that the MTH system is not Atlas engine friendly.  Having several Atlas pieces in my collection... ended further attempts by me for getting this combo to work on one system."

I too  am confused by your comment. I run TMMC, Lionel Legacy and MTH DCS and Love it. This includes Atlas which I have no problems with. Maybe you should have come here and ask for help?