Newbie here.
Am slowly (haha) moving back into operating. Anyhoo-the first item I got was a mint 616, an icon from my childhood. I also purchased a spanking new Rio Grande Jeep, with every bell as whistle imaginable. As primarily an operator, I just LOVE the new operational stuff coming with these TMCC engines.
I want to buy a couple more and go all-TMCC on my (soon-to-be-built-still-in-planning) layout. The old 616 would be welcome, but I really dont want to have to construct a conventional loop to see it run. So, to the assorted lurkers, I pose the following questions...
1. Has anyone done a successful conversion of a 616. Mind you- I do not want to gut the poor thing, but there's really not alot of room under the hood. Thoughts?
2. How does TMCC work with a 50 year old Pullmore motor? Indeed- what are the noticible differences between pitmans and Pullmores (I'm sure thats a whole other can of worms, but there you go). The reason I ask? My new jeep can just crawl, and I mean crawl which I am thrilled about. The 616, um, not so much.
3. Is it worth it? I mean, should I just park my 616 on a side track and let the weeds figuratively grow about it?
Anyway- thoughts? Thanks in advance.
I haven't done that particular locomotive, but I don't foresee any huge issues. I have done several A/C motor conversions, I used the ERR A/C Commander and their Railsounds commander.
I believe that loco has a battery box, you'll probably have to remove that to make room for the two boards, together they take up about 5" of real estate and are 1 1/4" wide. Of course, you have to find room for the speaker as well.
First step will be to strip everything out of the chassis except the motor, then start from there. I'd download the ERR A/C Commander and Railsounds Commander instructions from ERR and do some measurements first to see if it'll all fit. Remember, you have to find room for the speaker as well.
Thanks! Yeah- I figured as much. I'm unsure how much surgery I can bear on my "baby" lol!
Sigh. I may have to get a beater to play around with, as I said, she's an icon of childhood. Of course, *this* chlid is the one who tore up her predessor!
Does TMCC have a noticable improvement on performance? Oooh- and ERR- do you have a url or name? As I said- a stark newbie here!
If you go to my website noted below, you will see a Williams Wabash Trainmaster and B&O Sharknose both running the ERR control units. If you see an Amtrak Genesis in a videp it is running an old TMCC unit made by TAS. The TAS units are now being sold through Weaver, but the ERR cruise control is far superior that the old flywheel speed senors so I've stayed with ERR.
Try this for ERR http://www.electricrr.com/index.htm
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Please note that you have an A/C motored locomotive, so you can't use ERR's Cruise Control.
I have two MTH Genesis locomotives running ERR Cruise Control. One has a conventional TMCC package with the Cruise Control M, update, the other is running the ERR Cruise Commander. They both run great and have very good speed control performance.
Note that all the complaints about Lionel's Odyssey speed control are actually due to the old CAB-1, running them in relative step mode, using the Legacy controller in real TMCC mode they run very well.
I have a Weaver with their cruise called EOB (Engineer On Board), and I'll say that I like the ERR cruise or Odyssey better.
As far as the performance of TMCC, it's totally different than running conventional mode. Adding Cruise control makes it even better. For your purposes, given the locomotive you have, I'd get that "beater" with a DC can motor and play around with that.
Thanks! Nice layout, btw. As noted above, mine is stilll in planning stages...and great advice - I'll definitely look into these guys.
Thanks for the advice. I'm really excited about exploring TMCC!
Let us know how you proceed, or if you have any questions. :)
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