MTH PS 1, what to do before anything else?

Yes... By all means, A new battery or BCR.

There is no command and control in PS1.  It is strictly conventional, so you should be OK with how you normally run trains.

Some may also recommend an EBL.  I do not have any experience with them, so I will let those experts chime in.

Have Fun!

Ron

Thanks!!  So just any 8.4v nimh or better rechargable battery in the 9v form factor?

You do need to add power to it and let it sit there about a minute, before you try and get it to go. Other wise you can scramble the board is my understanding. This of course after putting a new battery/BCR etc in it. 

Read the instructions in the PS-1 manual.  Yes, new battery.    So first, is this steam or diesel?  Does it have smoke or not.  Get familiar with the switches and volume pot.

For PS-1 apply power around 10-12V and let engine startup with 2 dings and then idle or steam sounds.  Lower throttle to slightly less than 10V and press direction button.  Engine should start to move forward.  At that point you can move throttle as you desire.   Also can do some searches on this topic.  Plenty of wordy instructions posted.   G

I highly recommend a BCR. It snaps in place. Apply 10 volts for 1 minute and a locomotive is ready to run: www.jandwelectronics.com

It is diesel.  I accidently bought it at a train show.   It is the Pennsylvania Centipede AB set with PS1.  It does have 4 smoke units in the two engines.  

bobotech posted:

 I accidentally bought it at a train show.  

I have that same problem. 

bobotech,

I run my Lazy L all conventional. I use 2 separate MTH Z1000 controllers and have a BCR in every train I run. BCR is more reliable and less expensive in the long run.

Hope you have it figured out by now.

Enjoy the HOBBY.. You are in the right place for help.