MTH Premier trains

[First Timer]

Hi guys,

  I have MTH premier trains, some Lionel and one Williams.  All of them are diesel except for the Steam NYC.  Anyway, when I am running Lionel (NYC E7), the pulling power on just one powered A is close to my NYC F3 from Williams.  But all my MTH trains are struggling.  It looks to me that they are not getting enough power.  I have power feeds every 6 feet  but no change to my MTH.   Currently, I am only using a Z1000 transformer.  Is this transformer strong enough.  It runs my Williams and Lionel very well.  Or do I have to bring in my MTH trains for warranty repair?

[trainlover35]

Hmm.  That's a puzzler.  I have Lionel engines at the moment (hoping to get some M.T.H. Premier's soon).  I would guess that your transformer isn't enough.  If memory serves me correctly, M.T.H. Premier engines pull double the amount of power as Railking, Lionel, and Williams.  I guess it's because of all of the bells and whistle (literally!).  My only other advice is to visit a train store.  They can answer your question far better than I.

Good luck!

 

-Scott

[First Timer]

Thanks Scott, that was going to be my next move.  But shouldn't my Lionel go slow too if it was a transformer issue?

[tibet99]

Hi First Timer,

I run MTH locos almost exclusively and when they came out with the PS2 system that has cruise control, I thought  the loco was really sluggish and not running fast enough. It acted like it wasn't getting enough voltage. As I became acquainted with the system I realized the cruise aspect withheld a few volts from the track voltage going to the motors so when they encountered a grade there would be reserve voltage available to send to the motor. I tried to double head two MTH U50 locomotives; one PS1 and one PS2. It doesn't work. The PS1 gets full track voltage and the PS2 gets a reduced voltage to allow it to maintain speed when going uphill. I run in conventional mode with a Z-4000 transformer.

The Lionel locos that I have all seem too fast to me now! This may be your issue.

The owners manual covers the option of deleting cruise control if you like that better. Good luck!

[sir james I]

Yep, check the book and turn off the cruise control. You will need to do that before each use as it will go back to cruise mood when shut off.

[ChiefEagles]

Strange.  I have a large stable of Lionel, Atlas and MTH Primier diesels and some steam engines.  All seem to be just as powerful.  I have AMP meters on all the transformers and I see very little variation between brands. 

[First Timer]

At the moment, I am using conventional control.  According to the manual, to turn off the speed control I have to press Horn 2x and then bell once.  How do I know that I have done the sequence properly?  Reason for asking this is, I tried it and nothing seems to change.

 

 

[phillyreading]

With a Z-1000 you should have more than enough transformer power for any single engine by itself. Do you know if the MTH engines have been sitting on the shelf before you bought them? If so you may have to recharge the battery inside the PS-2 engine. I have found that the best way to charge an MTH battery is to use the wall outlet charger for 14 to 16 hours, because in south Florida the electric power flickers too much at times to track charge anything.

You may want to add MTH's DCS command control to get speed control from the MTH engines if battery re-charging doesn't help.

Lee F.

[tibet99]

I re-read the manual for a PS2 loco and you need to make sure the engine is in neutral. At that point you should press the whistle button once then immediately press the bell button twice. In my experience, this needs to be done in quick succession. Your confirmation will be two whistle blasts from the loco. If you don't hear that, it didn't change anything. I'm convinced once you do this you will see a more responsive, higher speed locomotive. Given that, I like to run at realistic speeds and have quite a few grades, so I prefer to run with cruise control enabled.

Good luck!

[First Timer]

tibet99 and guys,

   thanks for the info.  I tried doing the horn and 2 bells and was able to turn the cruise control off in one of my diesels.  It is hard to time but with practice maybe.  I was just wondering since I am still doing conventional, can I turn of the cruise control if I go to DCS?  

  Again, it worked after I got the 2 consecutive horn confirmation.  And man they do have power.  I noticed one thing, a lot of sparks under the train.  Any remedy for that for the time being while waiting for my DCS remote system?

 

Thanks,

Glen

[tibet99]

Awesome Glen, I'm glad it worked out!

I have not come out of the dark ages into DCS yet but I have a friend who operates with it and it has a lot of operational advantages. When you scroll the thumb wheel up on the DCS controller the locos respond quite slowly- like a real train. If you want Lionel post war speed you may not like DCS or the cruise control you just disabled.

As far as your sparks are concerned I'm guessing the culprit is dirty track or dirty wheels or maybe both. Clean your track with any of the products recommended and I bet you'll see the sparks go away. I use old wash cloths sprayed with 70% isopropyl ("rubbing") alcohol wrapped around a small block of wood. It may take several passes over the track until it comes clean. Save all the old towels and wash cloths you can. They are pretty messy to launder so I throw them out after a time or two.

 

[DMUinCT]

With "DCS Control" (PS2), the motor speed is digitally encoded.   You select a speed in Scale Miles Per Hour with the Hand Held Remote and it will accelerate and hold that speed.   You can also set in the Hand Held Remote the rate at which the train will accelerate and decelerate.  All the sounds and the remote un-coupler operation is one button push away.

[trainlover35]

Sorry for the long response time.

Not necessarily.  Lionel is almost "fuel efficient".  They can draw power from quite a few transformers.

Hope this helps!

-Scott