Toy train operating and collecting

jayres1973:

I'm going to try to get up to the shop by 6pm this evening. Hopefully, I'll have a big grin on my face when I walk out of there. Thanks everyone, and I will be looking for the "TVS" that a lot of people have advised. Other than what I stated earlier about them giving me the free capacitor as a replacement for the battery, is there anything else I "NEED" to be looking for? thanks again, Jeremy

I would get a bell button if you haven't put that on your list. Oh yes extra smoke fluid if you didn't get any already. MTH engines have a thirsty appitite for smoke fluid.

On smoke fluid, I have read or been told Lionel smoke fluid is not a good choice for MTH engines. I don't know if it's a fairy tale or not. I've got plenty of both brands so it's something I never considered.

I know I've been in kind of a hurry to get stuff done. I'll will "from now on" try to have some patience & check out what all is out there before jumping into another disaster waiting to happen. I don't know what my next purchase will be, especially when it comes to DCS or staying conventional for awhile. I think I really do need to "get my feet wet" before just diving in. Thank you again everyone, Jeremy

LOL...you are getting your feet wet and went off the low dive. Going off the high dive means spending 2K like you said. You ran into an issue and here you are posting on forums meeting up with train people. You are hearing a wide range of opinions as to what is right. No single opinion, including mine is right. I just don't feel you got the shaft, hate seeing your stomach turned, and based on personal experience, feel you will be fine. Take it for what you think it is worth. Personally, I prefer to see your jar half full because I want to see you have fun. Things are not always as bad as they appear.

Once you get involved in this hobby, you will find even the most seasoned train heads will argue over who's brand of trains, transformer, or operating system is best. Some will argue till pigs learn to fly. Everybody, no matter how experienced, gets a dud. That's when you deal with the problem as you are here. For me, it's been this way for the 30 years I've been in this hobby.

jayres1973:

I know I've been in kind of a hurry to get stuff done. I'll will "from now on" try to have some patience & check out what all is out there before jumping into another disaster waiting to happen. I don't know what my next purchase will be, especially when it comes to DCS or staying conventional for awhile. I think I really do need to "get my feet wet" before just diving in. Thank you again everyone, Jeremy

Jeremy,

Welcome to the hobby and to the CTT forums. 

I have been interested in O gauge trains for about 4 years now and am still learning new things all the time.  One of the fundamental things I have learned is that different people enjoy this hobby differently, so differently in fact that the only real common denominator is the gauge of the track.

Some people like really old trains, but others like only new trains.  Some want their O gauge trains to be exactly like real trains, but others don't care as long as they look good to them.  Some people want realistic scenery... some like colorful, oversized operating accessories... some like a combination.  Some don't need any more scenery than a floor or plywood table.

You have received many replies to your post and a lot of advice.  I am certain that all of the advice is well meant and sincere, but its value to you depends on whether the advisor likes the same things about O gauge trains that you do.

I really like the locomotive you started with.  I haven't seen tenders that nice on many steam locomotives for the price you paid.  I know you have some problems, but it sounds like the hobby shop is going to make it right.  Let us know how it goes.

Good luck,

Scott

P.S.  I really enjoy the CTT forums but there are also the OGR forums that you may find useful.
 

3railguy:

LOL...you are getting your feet wet and went off the low dive. Going off the high dive means spending 2K like you said. You ran into an issue and here you are posting on forums meeting up with train people. You are hearing a wide range of opinions as to what is right. No single opinion, including mine is right. I just don't feel you got the shaft, hate seeing your stomach turned, and based on personal experience, feel you will be fine. Take it for what you think it is worth. Personally, I prefer to see your jar half full because I want to see you have fun. Things are not always as bad as they appear.

Once you get involved in this hobby, you will find even the most seasoned train heads will argue over who's brand of trains, transformer, or operating system is best. Some will argue till pigs learn to fly. Everybody, no matter how experienced, gets a dud. That's when you deal with the problem as you are here. For me, it's been this way for the 30 years I've been in this hobby.

 You're right John .... seems when someone thumps the setup or the types of trains we ourselves have it's like they stuck their finger in our eye .... . Sometimes we all get too darn excited about a comment .... me for sure ... LOL .    And believe me even we OLD codgers screw up on buys ... we just keep it quiet though .

LawsonFarmsRR:

Ole Timer:

Sirjames ... you hit it right on the head ... but seems you got shot down . Oh well ... we can only advise ..... we did'nt think he got such a GOOD deal ... time will tell won't it .

 

I totally agree with you, Sir James, and Don, as you can see from my posts on this thread.

And I an not so sure Sir James got shot down. I noticed on one post Jeremy said "I'll be buying a MTH DCS as soon as I get the loco repaired or whatever it needs".

I hope he at least checks out one or two other dealers and talks to a few local toy train folks.

Patrick 

   I am NOT knocking DCS in any way, but would somebody  Please, Explain to me, what the advantage is that Jeremy is going to get from DCS? His locomotive is a PS1 locomotive, that to my knowledge wont benefit from DCS, why spend more than double what the KW cost, for no benefit that I can see? In the future, IF He were to buy a PS2 locomotive, then DCS would make sense, but even a PS2 locomotive can be run in conventional with the KW, until Jeremy decides wether DCS is a worthwhile investment for him.

   Remember, He has ONE locomotive, and that is PS1, and is New to the Hobby, Hopefully, he will stay in the Hobby, but is not even sure about that yet. I am not saying DCS is a bad system, I just don't see any advantage in it for Jeremy, maybe it will be the thing to really put a smile on his face in the future, but that is at least one more locomotive away before seeing any real benefit. Why the big push to sell someone new something that they don't need yet? What can DCS do for a PS1 locomotive that conventional control, or even the KW wont do for a PS1 locomotive.

Doug

...double post...windows freeze....

challenger3980:

   I am NOT knocking DCS in any way, but would somebody  Please, Explain to me, what the advantage is that Jeremy is going to get from DCS? His locomotive is a PS1 locomotive, that to my knowledge wont benefit from DCS, why spend more than double what the KW cost, for no benefit that I can see? In the future, IF He were to buy a PS2 locomotive, then DCS would make sense, but even a PS2 locomotive can be run in conventional with the KW, until Jeremy decides wether DCS is a worthwhile investment for him.

Absolutely. The advantage to DCS with PS-1 is minimal and that is you can easily access features such as electro couplers and station sounds with DCS in conventiol mode. However, you spend $275 alone on the DCS controller getting there.. With strictly a KW, accessing these features is not as easy. It takes the right back and fourth motion of the transformer handle to access these features. But one gets the hang of it. However the whistle and bell is what people tend to use most. The KW whistle button along with an additional bell button gives you that. Again, the sine wave of a KW is pure so there is no risk there other than surge and short protection which we covered. QSI designed PS-1 to be used with postwar transformers. There was no Z-4000 or Z-750 when it was designed. Those transformers came later.

f Jeremy wants he can buy a DCS controller and tap it to his KW. People do this with old school ZW's. MTH's intructions clearly state that any commercial transformer is fine as long as it is not rated over 10 amps. MTH recomends a Z-4000 if one buys into a large layout. By that time, you would designate the KW to lights and accessories so you aren't inducing voltage drop on the Z-4000.

So, in a sense, Jeremy got off to a good start and can expand on what he bought. The RK Northern is a smooth running, powerful beast. The sounds are nice. Not as nice as PS-2 but nice enough you don't notice until you get a PS-2 engine.

TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I took the MTH up to the shop. He {the store owner} pulled the battery and it had a good charge. So, he reset the loco and all was good. UNTIL, I asked him if he could reset it to factory settings, which would only take a couple of minutes. Well, he was using some Lionel radio controlled handheld to set it faster, I guess? Well, the Loco was on a piece of 30" fastrack on his work bench. Some how he engaged the loco from neutral to reverse and full steam "away" it went, off the table and about a four foot drop to the floor, .... Needless to say the coupler to the tender was broke, a metal pin inside the couple was rolling across the floor and the loco had some cosmetic damage. After cussing up a storm, he walked to the back, brought out a NEW loco, exactly like the one busted. He put it on the display layout to show me it was good to go, ... and said "here's you a brand new one". After that he was too busy looking up MTH parts in his manual to order.

I think God didn't want me owning that one for some reason. I'm a happy customer now, especially now that the shop owner has to deal with problems from a loco he swore was good. I guess it's just the Irony of the whole thing. I'm a very happy camper now. All is well, and thank you all so very much.

Jeremy

Glad to hear it worked out for you. Let us know how it performs.

Sounds like the dealer was using a Lionel TMCC outfit and TPC unit to reset the board and forgot to switch over from command mode. Or accidently punced in a max speed setting somehow. Very easy to do. In command mode, you are putting full voltage to the track (command engines take full voltage from the track and throttle it with a reciever within the engine).

Very happy that the dealer made things right.  The only real issues with the PS-1 engines is keeping the battery charged   Please review the owners manual to get familiar with how the PS-1 electronics work regarding reset verses neutral.

BTW When he tested the battery was it under some type of load like a automotive tail light.  NiCads can register full charge with no load and still be stone cold dead.

Just read this thread for the first time. Glad things worked out for you! Sounds like the dealer is a pretty good guy, maybe a bit angry right now...

I know it's been said before, but buy yourself a bcr from jandw electronics or from Marty at Ma&Pa junction, both have websites. Put it in, and you're done with the battery issue forever. I've been using them for about 4 years now, and never had a problem.

Also, and this is very important, if you figure out a way to shut off the squealing brake feature, please post how you did it!! Oh, yes, you will eventually want to shut off this wonderful feature. I've been trying for years now, and just when I think I have it off, it comes on again...

straight out of the MTH Railking Manual, concerning the squeaking brakes:

PROGRAMMING FOR SQUEAKING BRAKE OPERATION ProtoSounds® can be programmed for squeaking brake operation in three different manners; (1)Squeaking brakes can be activated by bell button control, (2)they can be programmed for continuous operation subject to throttle changes or (3)they can be programmed to be turned off. The default setting is (2) Squeaking brakes are in continious operation as described on page 8. To change the default setting, enter RESET and go to Feature 45.

Jeremy

ZPW, which engine do you have? Shutting off squealing brakes for the FP-45 for example is feature 28

Enjoying your new toy, Jeremy?

Yep, John. It's awesome when everything works as it should. I need more track, etc. It's just there's no limit, except for your imagination, of what you can do on a layout. I had ideas, but now I'm lost again. I don't know where to start. So, I'm searching every layout I can find online to get ideas and at the same time trying to double & triple check items that aren't compatible. I'm also wanting to keep the freight cars, buildings, etc. all in the same era, so I've been searching through pictures to see "when & what" was used. For some people, this might be pretty easy. For me though, I'm just starting.

thanks again, Jeremy