New Life For The PW C&O 624 Switcher? ERR AC Commander?

First I would take motor apart clean all that old grease out and put in new ( today's grease & oil ) there is many I still use some I bought about 10 years ago from a hobby shop and Lionel Grease. then I would make sure it is running fine . The upgrade is basically a walk in the park. It instructions are right on ERR website and it is straight forward and if I can do it and say this anybody can do it. Parts for trains I use www.ttender.com the guy's name is Jeff Kane great guy will help you anyway he can and at times as talked me thru doing some things. (my understanding he started out as a repair shop and switched over at some point to just parts so he is very knowledgeable on repairing post war trains ) 

One of my all-time favorite Lionel locos. This one still going strong. Mine will always be conventional but good luck with your upgrade.

First off, the previous advice is good, get it running properly in conventional mode. That will be key to it running well in command mode once you do the upgrade.  This is the same as having a sound foundation to build your house on.

From the looks of this picture, there was no sound.  There's probably room for the AC Commander and sound if you wanted it, you'll just need to provide a platform at the base to mount the stuff.  The installation of the AC Commander and the RailSounds Commander is pretty simple, you should be able to do it.  You can even get the electrocouplers working with a little creative wiring, I've managed to use the old PW coil couplers connected to a modern board.  Yes, the AC Commander comes with the R4LC as part of the package.  Of course, you have directional lighting capability with the AC commander as well, so you can wire those too.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

First off, the previous advice is good, get it running properly in conventional mode. That will be key to it running well in command mode once you do the upgrade.  

The installation of the AC Commander and the RailSounds Commander is pretty simple, you should be able to do it.  You can even get the electrocouplers working with a little creative wiring, I've managed to use the old PW coil couplers connected to a modern board. 

John,

Taking the motor apart strikes me as intimidating.  Could I get a little more information on how to go about that with one of these PW pull-mor open frames?  

Is the RailSounds Commander a board that plugs into the AC Commander just for sounds or does it stand alone?

Creative wiring on the electrocouplers?  They seem to have 2 wires on them.  What do you mean by creative?

Was hoping gunrunnerJohn would come in on this as to me he's the one with the info for this your asking. 

I upgraded a 624 to PS2.  Process is described in a thread about a year ago.

Taking the motor apart isn't bad.  You just remove the top two screws and lift the brush holder off.  You can then pick the armature out. Occasionally, there isn't enough slack in the field wire to remove the brush holder, then you will have to unsolder it and replace it after cleaning.  Once it's apart, you can clean out the power truck gears and replace the grease.  Another thing I always do when I have them apart is to clean and polish the commutator surface of the armature.

You will also want to change the brushes to shunted brushes for noise suppression, see image below.  They have a wire that gets soldered to the brush holder for better continuity.  The AC Commander kit also includes some 1uf 50V NP capacitors to go from each brush to frame ground for noise suppression as well.

The RailSounds Commander is a separate little board that just plugs into the AC Commander, it's a trivial install.  Plug in the included speaker and you have sound.

One of the wires for those electrocouplers goes to frame ground.  Since that's the same as for the AC Commander, you just take the other wire to the non-grounded wire of the couplers, and you have functional command controlled electrocouplers.

RJR posted:

I upgraded a 624 to PS2.  Process is described in a thread about a year ago.

You obviously replaced the motor, right?

I installed a Timko 5-pole motor, for I wanted a smooth running loco.  The Pulmor 3 pole won't hack it.  Loco can crawl along at 2 smph.

This is sounding more and more like a fun and not so intimidating project.  I can appreciate the attraction of 2 smph but I'd really miss that smell of the open frame AC.  That smell really takes me back to a time when my grandfather could actually watch me run his trains.  I don't want the project to get me too far removed from that time.  Eventually I might try to make this my first weathered engine.  It's already got the "beat up" look from flying off the track all those times.  Weathering might make it a lot more prototypical looking.  

Which one of these diesel sound options would most closely match the prototype? Alco PA/PB, Alco 420, F3/F7, E8/9, GP7/9, Dash 9, FM, SD 

I have several old Lionels, and don't recall any smell.

As I'm researching the various ERR Railsounds Commander kits for which would be the best sound match for the NW2 switcher, my current guess is the E8.  There are a number of EMD sound options in my post above but I think the E8 is the only V12 EMD in the list.  The NW2 was also a V12.  All the other EMD's in the Railsounds Commander kits are V16s.  Maybe there's no big sound difference at all.  They all cost the same so it's just a matter of which would sound closest coming out of the NW2?

I'd answer, but I"m not really sure.   I think your guess is as good as any.  Truthfully, I'd be as interested in looking to match the sound of the horn, I think the NW2 has a single chime horn.

Well I'd appreciate your listening to the E8 at https://soundcloud.com/rrsounds/e8-e9 and tell me if that sounds like a single chime horn?   The F3 at https://soundcloud.com/rrsounds/f3-f7 sounds pretty much like the E8 and seems like a single chime if I had to guess, but I've never heard a diesel horn that I can recall in real life.   The GP7 at https://soundcloud.com/rrsounds/gp9 sounds very different than the first 2 and if I had to guess would sound like a multiple pitch chime.  Thoughts?

If you haven't converted it yet DONT DONT DONT DONT DONT!!!!!!! If you want a TMCC C&O NW2, get one, don't convert a classic!

I'm sorry, but I want to actually see the engine my grandfather touched and gave to me running around the track.  This is a connection to my childhood.  I'm not running a museum.

I know that feeling, mopac.  No other reason why I'd expend the dollars, time, and effort to get 2 of my 65 year old Lionel locos running under DCS along with my newer locos.

Also even if you do convert it, it can always be converted back and if done correctly you would never know it was. It all depends how you do in most cases the only thing you might have to drill/cut for is the switch program/run but even that can be done to where not really damage/noticeable  

Too many people trying to direct other folks lives.   If you want to upgrade it or run over it with your tractor, it's your engine!  The GP9 is indeed a multi-chime horn, the F3 or E8 sound like a single horn.