Fox14120 Thanks it does help. Rright now all i cared about is if i spend the money on this engine would i be able to use it or not till i finish the layout and made a loop for MTH. Figured the sounds wouldn't work without MTH stuff. This was the first hurdle next is can i find the right passenger cars to go with this engine (different thread a few or so down on this board.) otherwise it might not be worth buying if there's nothing to do with it. Part of why i wanted to hold off till i find the whole train before i buy the power pack.
Thanks it does help. Rright now all i cared about is if i spend the money on this engine would i be able to use it or not till i finish the layout and made a loop for MTH. Figured the sounds wouldn't work without MTH stuff. This was the first hurdle next is can i find the right passenger cars to go with this engine (different thread a few or so down on this board.) otherwise it might not be worth buying if there's nothing to do with it. Part of why i wanted to hold off till i find the whole train before i buy the power pack.
To help you a little, I am going to add a rule that I have come up with when running larger passenger cars and that is to make sure that you have an engine like an SD-45 or larger when hauling 16 inch long passenger cars and larger or the rear wheels of the engine may derail. I had a problem with Atlas Amtrak passenger cars that were 21 inches long, one of the engines that I had to use with the Atlas cars because of length was an SD-45 on Gargraves 042 curves.
Lee F.
I run a PS2 engine with a MTH Z-1000 and get all the sounds and functions, including speed control. I am quite satisfied with the operation of this engine under conventional control and because of the small size of my layout I see no use for DCS (mainly because of the cost). I get freight yard sounds, coupler operation, cruise control, smoke and whistle and bell. What else is there?
To properly run any PS2 MTH engine, you must have a transformer with a whistle and bell control. The TW you have has only a whistle button. You will need to purchase a bell button-- Lionel's 6-5906 is what most people use with postwar Lionel transformers. If you have a bit more money, I'd suggest buying an MTH Z750 (75w output) or Z1000(100w output) transformer. They are usually available on Ebay for about 50% of list price.
Hope this helps a bit----
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Most transformers; Atlas, K-Line, Lionel, MTH, Williams will run the MTH PS-2 engines except the Lionel CW-80, it (the CW-80)confuses the circuit board in the MTH engine. You can run it in conventional mode, you will not have speed control and/or not all the sounds from a PS-2 engine.
Well that's good to know that it can still prob be used. So far all i have are Post War stuff the transformer i have is a 175 watt TW. Cool i have too an eye out for that controller.
PS2 run quite well in conventional, the only drawback might be which transformer you use for power. When it comes to PS2 some Lionel transformers are good some not. If you should decide to go with the PS2 loco and you have a compatible power supply MTH will be putting out an item this fall that I am ordering when available. Don't remember the part # but essentially it is an IR controller operated by a small line of sight handheld that goes between your transformer and track so it will give you most all of the PS2 functions w/out the expense of DCS. However it will only operate a single engine on a single loop at a time.
Another option, if you currently have TMCC, is to add a TPC to the system and you can operate PS2 in a conventional mode with them.
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Looking at a new MTH train i want to buy but it has Proto-Soundr 2.0 on it. It would be my 1st MTH right now i have post war Lionel's but did plan on upgrading down the line over time as the layout gets rebuilt over the next year. Till i get into the rebuild want to know if the new MTH's with PS2.0 can be run in conventional mode with Lionel transformers till i upgrade to digital controls? I know if i could i run it in conventional i know i prob wouldn't be able to use the sounds till the upgrade and it's also not compatible with Lionel digital.
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