Upgrade MTH hybrid to Tmcc?

I think that's a high-risk conversion. The LED headlights and ditch lights aren't a big deal, though tying them to horn operations under an ERR board might be interesting, but the charge/discharge chase lighting seems to be tied to changes in motor speed. I don't know how you'll be able to set the detection for those to work properly. All that in addition to losing the sound system and other features. You might be better off trying to get hold of the Lionel version and selling the MTH unit.

david1:

Why not use a Legacy Powermaster. They work great with MTH engines. That way you need not make any changes to the engine.

Getting the Lionel version is probably not going to happen, those are selling in the stratosphere!  Running conventionally is probably possible, but that limits you to that locomotive only on the loop.  In addition, you'd have to use a Powermaster on every loop you plan on running it.

I don't know if the charging lights on those are controlled with a separate circuit or through the DCS electronics directly.  If there's a second board that does the charge light processing, the other stuff can be accomplished without breaking the bank.  It could certainly be cheaper than trying to buy the Lionel version until they get back to reasonable levels!

I'm not buying the Lionel version considering the prices they are going for. Also running it under conventional is not going to happen either.

If I could or somebody else could do the conversion I would be very happy but it seems there is no easy answer. Looks like it may hit the for sale forum if it cannot be done.

I'd have to see it to evaluate how the lights are driven before I could say it would be reasonable or unreasonable to drive the lights.  I've never had one of those apart.  If they have some separate control board that would be reasonable to trigger, it might work out.  I'm guessing that may well be the way it was done, but there's no documentation that I can find for how it's managed.

Since you're in Exton, you could plan a field trip and we could take a peek inside.   I'm in Worcester Tw'pt, probably about 1/2 hour away.

Thanks John, I'll send you a email to set up a time to get together. 

10-4, over and out.