Railking upgrade to proto 2.0

[Anonymous]

Most of my trains are railking with older proto units or none at all. I've read a little on upgrading and just want to hear some feedback from anyone that has had an older mth or railking converted. If so, how does it run and sound now?
Did you install it yourself? If yes, at about what cost? and was is difficult? If it was done by an mth service station, what was the complete cost? And either installed by self or by service...would you do it again?
Thanks for replies!

[wrmcclellan]

martinw,

I have upgraded a MTH Premier C&NW Hudson from Proto1 to PS 2.0 and DCS.

1. It is tedius and some good electrical/electronic skills are needed, particularly since the upgrade kit is generic and you may have to perform some mods to wiring and in my case, to the wiring and circuit board assembly that is used for the loco-to-tender wiring harness socket. The generic board assembly did not fit into the available location in the C&NW Hudson. It is also useful to have a good grasp of how the locos are typically wired before you start.

2. The MTH instructions are good. Follow them carefully, particularly when you are downloading files for the loco sounds.

3. The result produces a loco that is basically a Proto 2.0 loco. It works great and as I expected (maybe even a little bit better as the DCS conversion alone really enhances the usefulness/play value of the loco in the DCS environment).

4. MTH does not have sound files for all their older locos. Thus you may have to compromise and use a sound file for a similar loco (i.e. I had to use a NYC Hudson file for the C&NW Hudson). Where this compromise will be particularly noticable is when the sounds ammounce the departure of a loco that has a different road name and cab number than the one you upgraded.

5. For some strange reason, MTH does not supply a battery holder for the new 3 volt battery (and it was not listed on the parts supplied list either). I purchased a cheap AA size, two battery, holder (plastic - from Radio Shack or electronics surplus) and then modified it and fabricated a right angle bracket to secure the battery holder to the tender frame. I suppose MTH expected me to use double sided tape to secure the battery (as they did in their earliest locos).

Good luck,
Roy

[Anonymous]

Iam planning to convert my N&W Y-6B to 2.0.
Dry Bridge Station in Mt Airy NC is going to do my locomotives.
Funny thing back in 2001 when ibought my Y-6 i didnt have enough forsight
to get the 2.0 instead i bought "loco-sound" because it was 100 dollars less.
now it is going to cost me 225 to up grade.
All Rail King steamers come with 2.0 now.
also iam planning to upgrade my Espee Cab forward.

[winrose46]

It might not be worth while doing that to a RailKing engine. You can probably purchase a new RailKing (or find one on Ebay) that would be near the cost of the upgrade if you do not do it yourself. The kits are under $200 and I paid over $100 for the installation. I did it for a Kline Lt Pacific (B&O) and it was complicated and I am glad I had a shop do it.