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OK, terribly confused here. Legacy CAB-2 control, Legacy Powermaster, Lionel Powerhouse. One train, one track, couldn't be simpler. Everything worked fine last time I used it a month ago.

Powered everything up today, no movement or sign of life from the train. All status lights on Powermaster and Legacy OK. Checked voltage at Lockon, nothing. No power at Powermaster terminals either. All wires connected as before. No changes whatever to anything.

What could be wrong?

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Last edited by Rich Melvin
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When you address the Powermaster from the CAB2, and turn the Big Red Knob on the CAB2 to increase voltage, does an LED on the Powermaster blink - indicating CAB2 and Powermaster are communicating.

I do not know if this is true for CAB2 controlling Powermaster as it is for CAB2 controlling engine, but worth a look. The CAB2 has the slide control on the left - the Train Brake Slider. Make sure it is all the up to the top.

@Mannyrock posted:

And we wonder why 12 year olds are no longer interested in this hobby.

Actually. 12 year Olds don't have any issues with the legacy controller. My daughter could navigate it when she was 8.

Lionels Legacy remote is actually very "low tech" when compared to any device used to access this forum.

The O.P. neglected to address the power master .

If you don't type ogrforum into your browser. You'll never get to the forum.

I can only speak for myself, of course: I find Lionel's user manuals very hard to understand, and the various procedures hard to remember.

I observe the many questions posed in the forums about Legacy and TMCC, and the complex answers provided that are full of technical terms, which indicates to me that this is too complicated for an occasional user like me.

I bought into Lionel because of the R27 set. Otherwise, if I were to enter the hobby fresh today, I honestly don't know what system I would adopt.  DCC seems simpler than Legacy, and yet there are numerous DCC systems out there, so even that choice is not straightforward.

I'm expressing these thoughts only once, because I don't want to start a control system war, and I am grateful for the help I received. I just wanted to get that off my chest, because it has been bothering me that I find it so hard to use the Legacy system. Maybe it's just that Lionel's documentation just isn't very good.

Or maybe that I really am a dummy. 😂🤣

Last edited by West Side Joe

I can agree with you on the documentation Joe. I recommend  viewing the numerous videos Lionel CS has put out over the years as well as what other forum members have done.

In the end, once the locomotive is given an I.D.#, the meat and potatoes of the Legacy handheld are your everyday train functions. Throttle ,brake, whistle and bell.

The Legacy handheld has one big advantage over DCC and DCS for that matter. All of the main train functions can be accessed without ever actually looking at the handheld due to the tactile feel of the different controls.

Compared to a traditional transformer, it may seem complicated. Its really a matter of getting familiar with it, and as I said earlier. Its no more difficult than logging on to this forum.

I had some headaches before I could  figure out how upload pictures and video onto this forum.  After some time learning, it became easy.

If all else fails. You post your question on the forum, and get your answer just as you did. There is no manual with enough pages to contain all of the information available on this forum.

Funny thing though. You already knew how to work your Legacy system a month ago.....you just forgot

Last edited by RickO

Another thing you can do about the Legacy remote.  Buy yourself a CAB1L "Legacy Lite" remote, it is the same as the old TMCC CAB1.  I have a couple of those around, they're actually very easy to hold and perform most of the functions I need for running trains.  I use the Legacy CAB2 remote for Legacy equipment that has special functions that can only be accessed using the CAB2.

I started with the Cab1 and TMCC, and then I found there was no way to fast forward to a specific station stop announcement on the R27 set with the Cab1; you had to cycle through all the stops (including opening and closing the doors each time) to get to the one station announcement you wanted.

Cab2 and Legacy allow you to fast forward to the desired station announcement. Not the greatest reason to get Legacy. Another reason I am neutral with respect to Lionel.

@MED posted:

Believe it or not, while in College, considering bio-engineering as a career, my Professor said that the main problem solution to equipment not working in the College's hospital was that the Nurses and Docs and medical students had not plugged the equipment into the wall!

Whenever I had to call IT and they would ask me that I used to get upset with them, now I just ask them "How do I check that?"



Jerry

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