Lionel TMCC L3 Mohawk

If you install a can motor then you will want to get a Cruise Commander. They also offer the DC Commander that allows TMCC control but not Cruise. Then you need a Railsounds Board. Basically your choices are small, medium, or large steam. The difference is primarily in the whistle. I would suggest large steam for this engine. Electro coupler is optional for the tender. Lastly you will need a way to generate the chuff sounds. 3rd Rail offers a reed switch for the tender with a magnet. That is the easiest and least expensive option. Others offer a more sophisticated way to generate chuff and synchronized smoke.

Pete

What Pete said about electronics is correct, ....I do extensive mods to the 18009, & 18064 Mohawks...these are kinda my specialty......same platform as the CSS, & T1 from the same time period....you need to be prepared for extensive modifications to the chassis and the boiler shell....best fit is Pittman 9433, that allows to barely leave the factory body mounts intact.....this is a very invasive procedure, but if you take your time, and measure, measure, & measure,....it is achievable....pictured is an 18064 chassis, the 18064 chassis uses a cam on the most forward axle, so I use a 4 lobe cam to achieve 4 chuffs ( Pete makes these for me) I need no flywheel.........the 18009 does not have bolt on drivers, so a flywheel for John’s Super Chuffer and Chuff Generator is a must. A small flywheel can be fabbed that will handle this chore. Another option if all of this is too much cutting, is to contact Frank Timko, he has bolt on motor swaps for this application, however, IMO, it’s way underpowered to do what I want to do.......but it is an option for the DIY guy ......no cutting required...good luck, enjoy the project....keep us up to date on your progress, I can lend any help I can on here....and stop calling those Mohawks “old” ...they ain’t that old!!!....😝😝😝

Pat

Okay so my understanding now is that I should probably get a cruise commander kit, railsounds kit, coil coupler, pittman motor, and superchuffer. Do I need any of the "accessories" in addition to the kits? On err's website they have stuff like antenna wire with pin connector and sound commander cable set and fatboy speaker set. Are those included with the kits or would I have to buy those separately?

Also Pat, my bad for calling these mohawks old. Cut me some slack though, they were delivered 8 years before me after all! 😂

Thanks for the help so far guys!

@TrainDane3768 posted:

Okay so my understanding now is that I should probably get a cruise commander kit, railsounds kit, coil coupler, pittman motor, and superchuffer. Do I need any of the "accessories" in addition to the kits? On err's website they have stuff like antenna wire with pin connector and sound commander cable set and fatboy speaker set. Are those included with the kits or would I have to buy those separately?

Also Pat, my bad for calling these mohawks old. Cut me some slack though, they were delivered 8 years before me after all! 😂

Thanks for the help so far guys!

I’d get with John, GRJ, he’s a ERR dealer, and he can set you up with what’s needed electrical wise....as far as speakers go, the as advertised speaker in the kit is pretty crummy IMO,....John sets me up with these boomers...these things pound the ground!....this was John’s suggestion and now standard practice in all my Mohawks.......I got weak in the knees when I fired up this one...all my others are single speaker, they’ll all be getting this upgrade on top of the upgrade.....😁.....we’ll let you go this time calling that thing old, but next time, check with us first.....

Pat

You forgot the Chuff-Generator, that gives you the 4-chuffs/rev of the drivers.  You will likely want to go with a upscale speaker, or even two if they fit.  Pat can certainly guide you in respect to installing the Pittman motor, he's the resident Guru on that upgrade.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

You forgot the Chuff-Generator, that gives you the 4-chuffs/rev of the drivers.  You will likely want to go with a upscale speaker, or even two if they fit.  Pat can certainly guide you in respect to installing the Pittman motor, he's the resident Guru on that upgrade.

Darn it, there goes my commission sale.....and I usually never forget my sales jingle for the super chuffer.....oh well, next time....😞

Pat

FYI T.D. The ERR Railsounds kit comes with a 40mm speaker Lionel calls the Baby Fatboy. The speakers that Harmon pictured are 50mm Fatboys. Bigger is better but sometimes only the smaller speaker will fit.

To be clear its the guys giving advice that are older than dirt. That engine can barely vote.

Pete

Other than upgrading to TMCC/Legacy what have been the issues with the 18009 Mohawk?  

@Windy City posted:

Other than upgrading to TMCC/Legacy what have been the issues with the 18009 Mohawk?  

Other than the technology used was the same that powered the Ark, .........nothing,....

Pat

What cost is involved in TMCC upgrade with the sound enhancements per GRJ?  

What cost is involved with a can motor conversion, what do you gain, and who does these upgrades?

TrainDane,

With the 18009 Mohawk you should be able to use the small drop in can motor offered by Timko. I say this because the 18009 does not have traction tires allowing the wheels to slip it overloaded eliminating motor overload. Also you’ll retain the ability of running on 042 curves with no modifications to the frame. Don’t get me wrong, Pat has the best offering but if doing the upgrade by yourself hopefully you’ll have the proper tools needed to get the proper cuts into the frame an such.

Without traction tires, you're pretty safe.   I had the 18006 Reading T1 that I recently sold with the Timko motor upgrade.  AAMOF, I had two of them.  They would pull a decent amount of cars, but it was hard to overload the motor as the wheels would just spin.

Is it feasible to add traction tires or magna-traction to the 18009?

Traction tires would be possible, I don't think magna-traction is practical if it doesn't have it.

What is Timko's contact info ?

Thanks

Google is your friend...

http://timkorepairdepot.com/

@romiller49 posted:

TrainDane,

With the 18009 Mohawk you should be able to use the small drop in can motor offered by Timko. I say this because the 18009 does not have traction tires allowing the wheels to slip it overloaded eliminating motor overload. Also you’ll retain the ability of running on 042 curves with no modifications to the frame. Don’t get me wrong, Pat has the best offering but if doing the upgrade by yourself hopefully you’ll have the proper tools needed to get the proper cuts into the frame an such.

You are correct on everything Rod, but the track radius part....my mods do not affect the track radius....they’ll still run on O42 if so desired....I make doubly sure I’ve pitched that big motor to clear the rear truck’s centering/pivot pin....outward appearance remains stock as a rock....that’s why you’ll notice that 3 degree pitch that motor sits at in the above reply & pic.....but you guys are quite right, and there’s no harm no foul using Timko’s motor for the DIY guy with minimum hand tools....my mods are quite invasive, and quite extensive ....and with out specialized tools and machines, it’s out of the reach except for a few of us on the forum...I’m still trying to get to Pete’s ( Norton) level...he’s got me beat by miles...😉

Pat

Is there any way to get something close to a new york central whistle on this thing? Or is it just small/medium/large steam for err? I've heard the weaver models use the sound set from the century club niagara (which would be kinda perfect) but is that even worth looking into?

@TrainDane3768 posted:

Is there any way to get something close to a new york central whistle on this thing? Or is it just small/medium/large steam for err? I've heard the weaver models use the sound set from the century club niagara (which would be kinda perfect) but is that even worth looking into?

Just small, medium & large,....I use large steam in my Mohawks I build .....I’m quite happy with it, ...now, the 18064 Mohawk, which is a whole lot easier to mod up, since it has bolt on drivers, and is already TMCC, has probably one of the most haunting whistles from the early era...and doesn’t sound bad at all....I have only one 18064 Mohawk, and I left that sound system alone....the other 4, I’ve used ERR large steam, and it sounds “ appropriate” albeit it’s got a N&W tone to it IMO.....there’s a video I posted of one my Mohawks on Hump Yard Mike’s thread about smoke units.....you can hear how the large steam sounds packed into a Mohawk work....you’ll have to forgive me, I don’t know how to link you over to that thread,...beings I’m old an all...🤣🤣....maybe somebody will share the link for you, or you can dig it up, it’s only a day or two old.....

Pat

Traindane.....Just a thought. I use a ERR commander and a small Lionel tender board to test RS4 and RS5 sound boards. Works great to test the boards that I just bought from Lionel recently. Many are no loner available but I just looked up a Lionel Mohawk sound board and it is available. The question is, is that the sound you are looking for? I like and use ERR products but I don't like "large steam" for a NYC Hudson I am working on. I just received a Dreyfus Hudson sound board to try. Might or might not be what I am looking for but for $22.50 It's worth a try.

Richard

This is how I test most TMCC and early Legacy boards.  This keeps expanding as I find new things I have to test.  It's getting where I think it needs a rework, getting pretty busy.

Pat, I found the video you were talking about (here's the link in case anyone wants to see https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ines-fan-smoke-units ). You may have just persuaded me to use the large steam sound set because that engine looks and sounds incredible! Even if it isn't the most prototypical. Definitely gotta fit a super chuffer in there too.

@TrainDane3768 posted:

Pat, I found the video you were talking about (here's the link in case anyone wants to see https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ines-fan-smoke-units ). You may have just persuaded me to use the large steam sound set because that engine looks and sounds incredible! Even if it isn't the most prototypical. Definitely gotta fit a super chuffer in there too.

Yep,....I wouldn’t lead you down the Brimrose path, be conned, or duked, have the wool pulled over eyes, or taken for ride, ....railroaded!....seeing is believing.....am I right?....🤣🤣🤣🤣

it works well with the Mohawks, I was on the fence when I first did one, but once I heard it, I was very pleased.....as mentioned before, get with John to set you up with a pair of his speakers that upgrade from the stock ERR.....a pair will fit in a Mohawk tender....( see pic above in previous reply) I didn’t have to do any enclosure work .....I let the shell be the baffle, you will have to modify the speaker grate area to allow the sound to travel down and out,.....get with me when you get started, and I’ll send along pics of my builds if you’d like the advice....no lie, I got weak in the knees when I fired the one up in that video......John knocked it out of the park on speaker selection on that one.....it literally will rattle the walls if I want it to!...

yes, if using the 18009 chassis best to use John’s Chuff Stuff, again, I’m being John’s salesman .......for the DIY guy/gal it’s the easiest way to reach four chuffs and smoke in rhythm.......the 18064 chassis has bolt on drivers, so a 4 cam lobe is easily added.....the loco in the video you saw is actually an 18064 chassis under a 18009 boiler.....a lot of parts interchange between the two......upgrading the valve gear, and adding the better looking and operating valve guides and linkages brings a 90’s ( antique to you) model up to this century....enjoy your project, let me know if you need any guidance....

Pat