In the MTH protosound 1 units, the light is a constant 5 volt print. The lights are working on 5 volt, no matter how fast you drive the train. I guess that's why the rectifiers are in front of the motors, otherwise the train would start to run without lights. Also I guess the relais in the e-unit (on trainsound units) needs a certain voltage to work.
If converting into DC you can get sound by adding a european Lenz type decoder (in AC it would be a märklin decoder, I've thought of that option too). You'll be able to switch the lights, sounds and everything using a Lenz digital or Märklin systems controller. They are powerfull enough (up to 5 amps) to control a 0 gauge locomotive and available in europe.
But for me, the most obvious thing was to preorder a convertor (even more because of an MTH Z750 in the mail) and make the trains run on 60Hz AC..
The MTH electronic reversing units that I have reverse-engineered include not only the rectifier diodes but also several additional diodes in series with the motors. I think that this is an attempt to loose much of the 5 volts that conventional transformers start out at. So, when you connect the motors directly to a DC supply, it is reasonable that you get a response from the motors at a much lower voltage.
You might want to research the convention that Lionel used for their DC locomotives, that is, what direction they go for what voltage polarity. If you ever had a customer already using the old Lionel convention, it would be nice if the new locomotives worked the same way. Perhaps someone on the forum knows which way they go and we can get the answer easily.
Bob Nelson
Hi everyone! I'd like to start by saying thanks. What a great Forum, I never expected as many replies or as much detailed info.
I decided to go for it tonight and convert to DC. The main reason for this is that because my wife runs a Thomas the tank engine shop, and we want to import these sets, we really needed a good solution which allows us to provide a UK spec tested and stamped UK power supply. I know some european dealers supply converters or 18v AC supplies but as we only want to import Lionel Thomas and Percy, a lot of the accessories ( horns etc )are not too much of a loss.
I opened up Percy and reconnected the Black and red from the chassis straight into the black and red for the motor. The two orange feeds were removed and both circuit boards discarded. Initially I tried a Lionel G scale controller for DC from a Bachmann HO powerpack. Brilliant! I can't get over how smooth Percy runs even at very low speeds. The horn switch now works as a cut off/isolation switch. The horn has also gone. The motor must have been DC to start with as I now have control of direction using the normal switch on the controller ie reversing the polarity.
I have just finished for the night having modified Thomas in the same way. Also much smoother.
I have no idea why they seem so much quieter or go faster (almost exactly twice the speed). As Lionel seem to rectify within the loco and then feed a normal DC motor perhaps they only rectify one side of the AC? I don't know enough to be sure but after running them for over 3hours together there seems to be no problems. I had an unmodified Percy as a comparison re speed.
On a side note they do both seem sensitive to dirty track, tripping out the power supply for fractions of a second if they loose contact. The Bachmann supply is for HO Digital and although bigger than the HO DC one is maybe not getting enough current to the controller.
I will measure the current load tommorrow and see if I need a bigger Supply. Perhaps an LGB G scale one?
All in all it seems to have worked. Thanks again for all the help everyone, and I can definitely agree with brianel027 about the smoothness. I'd love to know why though.....
Anyway I will post again about the current load.
Thanks again!
Kenny
A link to their website: http://www.spur0shop.de/55501.html It seems to be a stepdown convertor from 220 to 110 volts with a frequency converter built in. It deliveres 110 volts 60Hz AC on the output!!
Someone discovered a gap in the market!!
daan wrote: Hi Nick,I did a few emails and researches. For small amounts of power (inside a locomotive for the sound module) an electronic oscillator can be used. (link: http://www.circuitsonline.net/circuits/view/126 )For bigger amounts of power the "spur 0 shop" ( http://www.spur0shop.de/ ) will have a converter for 98 euro's in february to convert 50Hz into 60Hz up to 80 watts. I'll wait untill then and order that convertor. It's more then powerfull enough for the amount of trains I'm running..
Hi Nick,
I did a few emails and researches. For small amounts of power (inside a locomotive for the sound module) an electronic oscillator can be used. (link: http://www.circuitsonline.net/circuits/view/126 )
For bigger amounts of power the "spur 0 shop" ( http://www.spur0shop.de/ ) will have a converter for 98 euro's in february to convert 50Hz into 60Hz up to 80 watts.
I'll wait untill then and order that convertor. It's more then powerfull enough for the amount of trains I'm running..
Hi daan, Thats great news, the price break through that we have been looking for. It was only a matter of time before someone identified the market demand. That converter comes out at around £60. It will be intresting to find out what type of inverter they are using, modified or pure sine wave.
This is a lot better news for a first time Lionel train set buyer. Its now cheaper to keep the US spec. Transformer than replace it with a european version. It starts to make Lionel look more price competitive in the european market.
Regards
Nick
Daan That converter sounds great! At last you will be able to have all of the features on your trains.
underworld
daan wrote: Well, my Lionel Berkshire arrived today. Sadly it was a trainsound version and not a railsound version.. You guess what happened when I put it on the track. The chuffs didn't sound and the wistle and bell where continuous. (What I always say with ebay sales: Read carefully! Was precisely the thing I didn't do. I had 3 berkshires in the watch-it part and chose the one which was new out of the box. Sadely thus the only one having trainsound.. So it is my own mistake here..)I located the rectifier bridge on the print, measured which capicitor was connected to them and changed it into a bigger version. But it didn't help. Lionel uses the unflattened DC for the sound of the chuff instead of using a soundgenerator for it. This is why it can't be solved by the capicitor. I hooked up another rectifier bridge in front of it, with a 25 volt 470mF capicitor, which should be more than capable of making DC. Even a battery instead of track power didn't make the unit work. Instead of sound there was only a continuous tone like a diesel horn.So, to be short, I'm going to search a proto1 (couplers!!) or locosound unit by mth to get sound in the engine. The engine itself is a beauty, a lot of detail, very nice running but not much smoke. To get it smoking , I'll use a different resistor in the smoke unit. Overall I'm satisfied with it, because the detail and quality of the diecast is fantastic!!But for the europeans, There are some things that simply don't work with 50Hz, trainsounds being one of them.. (and changing it is not possible)
Well, my Lionel Berkshire arrived today. Sadly it was a trainsound version and not a railsound version.. You guess what happened when I put it on the track. The chuffs didn't sound and the wistle and bell where continuous. (What I always say with ebay sales: Read carefully! Was precisely the thing I didn't do. I had 3 berkshires in the watch-it part and chose the one which was new out of the box. Sadely thus the only one having trainsound.. So it is my own mistake here..)
I located the rectifier bridge on the print, measured which capicitor was connected to them and changed it into a bigger version. But it didn't help. Lionel uses the unflattened DC for the sound of the chuff instead of using a soundgenerator for it. This is why it can't be solved by the capicitor. I hooked up another rectifier bridge in front of it, with a 25 volt 470mF capicitor, which should be more than capable of making DC. Even a battery instead of track power didn't make the unit work. Instead of sound there was only a continuous tone like a diesel horn.
So, to be short, I'm going to search a proto1 (couplers!!) or locosound unit by mth to get sound in the engine. The engine itself is a beauty, a lot of detail, very nice running but not much smoke. To get it smoking , I'll use a different resistor in the smoke unit. Overall I'm satisfied with it, because the detail and quality of the diecast is fantastic!!
But for the europeans, There are some things that simply don't work with 50Hz, trainsounds being one of them.. (and changing it is not possible)
Sorry to hear about this daan. That's the same type of loco that came in my son's first Lionel Set. We spent Christmas 2005 in the States and Santa brought a Lionel set with Trainsounds. It worked great Christmas day but on our return home to the UK it suffered the same contiuous whistle and bell issues.
As my son had played with it and heard what it could do he was very upset when it did not work. Hense my involvement in 50Hz problems. The inverter is the only way I know to get Trainsounds to work. I surpose we were lucky that we found out at the start of our involvement in the toy train hobby.
When we get round to building our layout(got to build the room for it first) it will be running two 300 watt pure sine inverters, all layout track power will be to USA spec. I'll also try a modified sine inverter as they are cheaper, for lights and certain accesories.
You could try a Electric Railroad TMCC upgrade with sound commander 2. You could run this in conventional mode. Jon who runs Electric Railroad can as I understand it re-program his upgrade boards for 50Hz if you ask. (not 100% sure on this)
Nick12DMC wrote: The inverter set-up I use follows this pattern. 230V AC 50Hz IN 12V DC OUT -----12V DC IN 120V AC 60Hz OUT. Its a cut price frequency converter.I contacted a few manufactures of frequency converters while looking for a solution. The cheapest purpose made converter was around £600.Again they follow the same pattern AC-DC-ACIntresting stuff, see all the things you learn with model railroading Nick
The inverter set-up I use follows this pattern.
230V AC 50Hz IN 12V DC OUT -----12V DC IN 120V AC 60Hz OUT. Its a cut price frequency converter.
I contacted a few manufactures of frequency converters while looking for a solution. The cheapest purpose made converter was around £600.
Again they follow the same pattern AC-DC-AC
Intresting stuff, see all the things you learn with model railroading
I work a lot with frequency convertors at my work, they disposed a lot of 2 phase convertors from hitachi a while ago, but since they are used to run 3 phase motors, the output is also 3 phase. If using only one phase of that, it shuts off automatically. Besides that, it makes pulses instead of waves, which is also not usable..
A 3 phase transformer which converst from 3 phase 220 AC to one phase 18 AC is not available, the only one is a 3 to 1 phase transformer with a 24 volt output. But then you need equal amounts of (much more expensive!) equipment and the 24 volts output is also not an option.
To make a long story short, if you need the 60Hz, the only way is the way Nick describes..
A single-phase frequency conversion must always involve some energy storage, since the output waveform will be finite at times when the input waveform is zero. A flywheel, as in a motor-generator set, is one way to do that; but, for an all-electronic conversion, a big capacitor (or a battery) is the most likely practical way. Ergo, AC-DC-AC, as Nick says.
This won't help anyone run trains; but it might interest somebody, and it illustrates Daan's explanation:
The Amtrak P40 and P42 Genesis locomotives have separate alternators for traction and head-end power (HEP). Normally, the engine runs at 900 RPM and generates 60 hertz for HEP and 75 hertz for traction. When the locomotive is in the standby mode, the engine slows down to 720 RPM and the HEP load is switched to the traction alternator, which generates 60 hertz at that slower engine speed.
AC is a power wich is mechanically made by a generator in the electricity plant. It's the result of a magnet moving in front of a couple of coils. Originally, when the AC leaves the electricity plant, it comes in 3 fases, which is the result of the rotor rotating in the dynamo. Those 3 fases are following eachother and is also known as a rotating field.
The amount of Hz given to that AC from the electricity company tells something about the rotating speed of their generators. It cannot be altered unless you start all over. Meaning you have to get rid of the rotating speed of that generator, so convert it to chemical electricity, which is DC. (Battery, solar power, etc). From there on, the rotating speed of the generator is gone.
Now you can start all over again by electronically simulating a coil of a generator rotating at another speed. Thus giving the 60Hz, by switching gently between + and - and vice versa 60 times a second. Then you have 60Hz AC.
There is another way, you'll have to use a motor at 50 Hz, a set of gears to gain speed (1/5 faster) and a generator. In this case you are rebuilding your own powerplant. It's this why the problem is not easily tackeled..
underworld wrote: hobbes You should be able to find a voltage convertor to take you 220 to 110 @ 60hz. I have a universal travel charger that will do just that. I don't know if Radio Shack still has them but you should be able to find an appropriate one at a travel store. Check to see what the output is. Some of them are only for small electronic devices, but there are ones for high power consumption and motor operation.cnw1995 I used a Tech II DC transformer to test engines, One terminal goes to the outside rails, the outher to the inside. Works quite well. It's a much lighter transformer to carry around in case you want to test things at train shows. underworld
hobbes You should be able to find a voltage convertor to take you 220 to 110 @ 60hz. I have a universal travel charger that will do just that. I don't know if Radio Shack still has them but you should be able to find an appropriate one at a travel store. Check to see what the output is. Some of them are only for small electronic devices, but there are ones for high power consumption and motor operation.
cnw1995 I used a Tech II DC transformer to test engines, One terminal goes to the outside rails, the outher to the inside. Works quite well. It's a much lighter transformer to carry around in case you want to test things at train shows.
Those small voltage converters are step-down transformers. They only alter the voltage. Remember this important rule: Transformers do no alter frequency. If you put 50Hz in you get 50Hz out.
If someone has made a frequency converter that is the same size as a voltage converter they will soon be making pots of money!
More to restore wrote: Have fun and perhaps you would like to visit the annual Lionel train shows in Ilkley once.Best regardsEgbert
Have fun and perhaps you would like to visit the annual Lionel train shows in Ilkley once.
Best regards
Egbert
Nice avatar egbert! dutch cleanser, chases dirt.. with wooden shoes and "klederdracht"..
lionelsoni wrote: I don't think so, Daan. If you're using it full-wave, the average rectified voltage is the same for the same RMS voltage in at either frequency. If you're using a big capacitor to get rid of the ripple, the peak rectified voltage is also the same. Only if you use some capacitance but not enough completely to eliminate the ripple will the voltage vary with the frequency, but the other way around--less ripple at 60 hertz.
I don't think so, Daan. If you're using it full-wave, the average rectified voltage is the same for the same RMS voltage in at either frequency. If you're using a big capacitor to get rid of the ripple, the peak rectified voltage is also the same. Only if you use some capacitance but not enough completely to eliminate the ripple will the voltage vary with the frequency, but the other way around--less ripple at 60 hertz.
By reading it from a voltmeter there is no difference. But a voltmeter rectifies and equals first before the reading is made. The peaks on 50 Hz are bigger with a more gentle sinus wave, where 60Hz has lower peaks but faster angles on the sinus wave. It doesn't matter to the reading of your voltmeter, but it could make a difference in electronics. It's like comparing a bigger bore engine on low revs to a smaller engine on high revs giving both the same amounts of power, but on different ways. (reading the reply you refer to over I see the nonsense in it by the way.. that only excists in a bridge rectifier without any capicitor behind it and all boards have capicitors..)
What matters is what happens in the electronics with it, and one of the things that could happen is that the capicitor fails to even out the ripples on 50Hz. If that's the case, electronics don't like that and will run hot. (but I doubt it's that simple)
Anyway, back to the base. If you want to run a basic Lionel starter set with only a horn (or whistle) on a layout, what is cheapest and what works. Märklin transformers (the 32 VA version) is on swapmeets for about 15 euro's here. It works, but as soon as you want to go TMCC or Trainsound, you can get the nice setup wich is mentioned before. It gives pure sine wave 60Hz @ 300 watts. Power enough for a european size layout.
The fun part about both solutions is that you can interchange whenever you like. You don't need to buy the nice (and best) option before you can run trains, but if you want to get all the extra's and options and have no limitations of choise in motive power, then the cheap märklin transformer can be changed to the converter setup and all options are open..
Don't forget that Trainsounds is a diffrent system to Railsounds. Railsounds has the battery which as you say makes the system more likely to be fine on 50Hz (I don't have any Railsound items ether). Trainsounds uses AC track power and has no battery hook up provided. Trainsounds malfuntions on 50Hz and the symptoms are the same as for the CW-80.
Note that I am just talking about Lionel. MTH equipment is a whole diffrent ball game. They have taken power frequency into account in their designs. DCS has a switchable 50Hz mode. You should have few problems with these.
My thought on the whole 50Hz issue is not to try and convert or replace any Lionel equipment. Lionel power supplies are so much cheaper and higher powered than the UK replacement. That £100 unit I mentioned is only 5 amp and is custom made for the UK dealer. Lionel 135 Watt Power House ( around 7 amps) is about £30. The saving on buying two just paid for your inverter and you have more power and you can run anything as intended, no nasty surprises when items arrive in the mail and don't work. Try explaning this to children for example.
The nice thing about the inverter is its pretty simple to set up (two wires and a earth connection) and is plug and play. This does not put off newbies.
"Lionel also uses what many call AC motors. As others say these can run on AC or DC and are really called universal motors or field wound motors. Engines still require reverse boards whether you are running AC or DC. You cannot reverse their direction by reversing the polarity at the power pack."
Not quite true if you're willing to do a minimal modification. A bridge rectifier in place of the e-unit to rectify only the armature voltage will make a universal motor sensitive to the DC polarity so that it can be reversed that way--whereupon it can no longer be called a "universal" motor.
"What also could be a problem is the lower overall voltage if 60Hz is converted to DC. The same voltage on 50Hz DC will be 1/6th higher after rectifying it."
@Nick,
The only reason I can emagine having problems on 50Hz would be if the power inside the locomotive electronic e-unit and sound board is not sufficiently flattened out after rectifying. Almost everything inside the modern engines works on DC, sound systems, couplers and motors.
If they run hot or don't function properly I guess replacing the capicitor behind the rectifier unit for a bigger type will eliminate that problem. In DC it doesn't matter if you run on 50Hz or 60Hz as long as the capicitor flattens out the dips and peaks behind the rectifier bridge it should be ok. I don't have railsounds yet, but one is under way from the usa. I'll see how it works, but since a 9 volt battery can be placed to keep up the power while changing direction, I guess problems with it will vanish as soon as the battery is placed. There is no better way to flatten out DC current then a battery (big capicitor).
TMCC gives problems because it depends on a radio signal to give signals, as far as I know 50Hz interferres with that. But with none of my locomotives I had any problem on 50Hz, and I run with MTH with and without protosounds, Williams, Lionel and K-line.
I however had to place a 5 watt 20 volt light in parallel to the tracks (I found out that it had a good effect on the protosound units). No problems with running hot or electronics acting up. I'll see how the railsound train will work and see if I can tackle the (possible) problems with it.
(edit.. removed.)
"There are other ways to get 110 volts 60Hz AC, you need a 220 to 12 volts DC transformer and then a 12 volts DC to 110 volts AC convertor. That convertor can give 60Hz but it's not a sine wave, since electronically reproduced. I have this information from another Lionel fan in the UK, so don't bite me if it doesn't work.." border="0" width="15" height="15" /> "
It can be Pure Sine Wave if you use a Pure Sine Inverter. I recomend only using pure sine inverters in the above set-up.
Hi Kenny,
The Inverter set-up as discribed costs around £140 this gives you 300 Watts of US spec. 110V 60Hz AC power. If you use a Pure sine wave inverter this is of the same or better quality than you would get from a US wall outlet. This works a CW-80 with ease. I run a 275Watt ZW from mine with no problems. A 18V AC UK spec power unit is £100 and another £50 for a MTH controller and you still won't solve the 60hz issue. All round its better and cheaper just to go with the Inverter. You could get the price down to around £115 if you got the 150 watt pure sine inverter which would still have ample power for CW-80.
50Hz does seem to fry the CW-80's circuits. The continuous whistle and bell sounds are the instant clue your using 50Hz. The fan packing up appears to be the next sign of serious problems.
My guess is (and is just that, a guess) that the more modern Lionel items have not allowed for running on 50Hz power. When several Club members switched to the Inverter set-up it was noted that a lot of things ran quieter and cooler on 60Hz. This may increase there operating life.
Along with the CW-80 other Lionel items that have known 50Hz problems are Trainsounds and certain TMCC board versions. All these need 60Hz to work correctly.
The Pure sine inverter solves all these problems and would be cheaper than converting everything to DC.
The Lionel Collectors Club UK site is going to be upgraded soon and will hopefully include a FAQ section which will reprint my article from "Shortline".
The two items you need for the inverter set-up are.
http://www.amperordirect.co.uk/products/300W-12v_Power_Supply.asp
http://www.invertersrus.com/inv300ps.html
If you like I will email the "How to guide" to you.
Best Regards
Hello Kenny,
Roughly speaking and as far as I know, in Europe you will find two types of Lionel operators. Those that use Märklin transformers and some buttons to operate horns and whistles. And those that do that regenerate 110 V, 60 Hz at home and use that as feedstock for CW80 transformers.
Since, I predominantly run pre-war trains and MPC-era trains, I simply use a Märklin transformer, much in the way Daan described.
If you would be interested in generating 110 V, 60 Hz at home, you have to read earlier posts of Nick12DMC on this forum or to get an earlier copy of Shorttrack. This is the club journal of the Lionel collectors club UK ( http://www.fastnet.co.uk/lionelclubuk/ ), which I happen to be a member of as well. Both sources are written by the same person (Nick) and give the same information.
So far, I never met a Lionel-operator in Europe that runs the trains on DC current, but as I understand of the good explanation of Brianel, this should be possible as well.
hobbes wrote: My big question is -does anyone know if Lionel trains use DC motors in the AC trains. It would seem much easier to simply remove the circuit board in the loco and then use a European G scale supply (LGB or similar), and bypass the wiring from the pick-ups straight to the motor? Kenny
Out of the box, Lionel trains will run on DC but in many cases the horns or whistles will blow continuously. They need to be disconnected.
Many of the new Lionel engines come with DC can motors and the incoming AC current is rectified to DC at the reverse board. You can eliminate the AC reverse board and re-wire the DC motors so they draw DC current directly from the track. By doing this your engines will work off a DC power pack just like your G scale trains. You reverse the engine's direction by reversing the polarity at the pack. This will also allow multi engine lashups as track polarity controls engine direction. You will need a large DC pack for this as 3 rail trains draw a lot of amps. This set-up won't work with horns and whistles.
Lionel also uses what many call AC motors. As others say these can run on AC or DC and are really called universal motors or field wound motors. Engines still require reverse boards whether you are running AC or DC. You cannot reverse their direction by reversing the polarity at the power pack.
My preference would be to use an old postwar transformer without the electronics plugged into a european inverter.
Kenny, you're new to the forum and maybe new to the hobby so on both accounts welcome.
I run mostly the cheaper mid-1980's to mid-1990's K-Line and Lionel locos. Many of these diesels did not come with horns. And the ones that did, well those horns leave loads to be desired. All of these locos came with truck mounted DC can motors, and have a natural tendency to "growl" if they have dual DC motors. Single motored diesels and steam locos do not make this noise.
It was this noise element, that by accident I started messing around with DC power. I now run my whole layout on rectified DC current from a normal Lionel 1033 transformer, the best one Lionel has ever made IMHO. I do pull the circuit boards out of the locos and rewire them as you mentioned. The DC can motored diesels with dual motors DO run much smoother, more constistanly speed wise on curves and run quieter.
There are plusses and minuses to everything. Losing the circuit board on smaller diesels like the mid-1990's issued Lionel Industrial Swithcers allowed me to add a lot more weight, so now these little guys can pull almost as good as anything else... I've had them pull as many as 25 cars, but 8-12 cars are zero problem for them now. I don't like the cheap diesel horns, and I don't mind off-board sound... on a small layout you don't notice as much anyways. I rewired a Lionel steam whistle from a tender into a Plasticville Hobo Shack and I have my own custom made diesel horn. Plus I have the MRC 312 Sound Station which I wired additional speakers into, so I have plenty of sounds. I don't and will never run TMCC or DCS, so that wasn't even a consideration. If TMCC equipped locos become the same price level as normal locos, and the system itself drops significantly in price, I might consider. But given Lionel's history, that will never ever happen.
I have too many problems with the computer I am sitting at to ever be interested in having computers on my train layout. And contrary to popular opinion, I actually have fun with no frustration and have NEVER had to send a loco back for repairs.... something many TMCC owners cannot say. But it's your choice. For some, it's worth it. For me, it's not.
You do lose the "neutral" position running DC as I do, but that's not such a big deal. I've rewired many of my operating cars, removing slide shoe trucks and mounting a small switch beneath the car. So for example, with my Lionel Barrel Loading cars, I hit the switcher and can run the train to the place where I want to unload. The engines use much less current on DC minus the circuit boards. When the barrel car is in the proper spot, I hit off the power to the loco via many insulated blocks, turn the track power up higher and the car operates.
By using DC current, I found normal light bulbs in cars would run dimly, so I replace all of them with lower voltage 6V bulbs instead of the typical 12-18v bulbs. So now I can have more illuminated cars on the track using the same transformer. Same goes for my buildings and street lights... I use lower voltage bulbs using another 1033 and find it powers the whole layout because the bulbs themselves draw less amperage.
I find you do need to clean the track and car/loco wheels a little more often using DC current, but I already was in good habit on this one too, so no big deal. You can make your own DC convertor box using a full-wave bridge rectifier with a DPDT switch, or you can look for the one Lionel made duing the 1980's- early 1990's for the G scale market (so large scalers could use normal Lionel transformers to run these trains).
What started as a limited experiment, has now taken hold. All my locos have lost their electronic circuit board eunits. Williams locos run fine as is, as they use a horizontally mounted larger DC motor and their gearing is better, so their locos never growled like the others. My postwar and MPC vintage Lionel locos run fine as is on the DC current, though the mechanical e-units like to lurch a little bit. The solution here is to bring up the power slowly and listen for the mechanical e-unit to engage. Again, no big deal... just takes a little getting used to.
You wire up everything just the same, save for the inclusing of the convertor box between the transformer and track. If you don't have a good transformer, you could buy an MRC larger DC power pack, but you WILL need a larger one. And they cost well over $100. The newer MRC ones will run your trains a little bit more smoothly, but for me, it wasn't worth the extra money. It's cheaper to use a used Lionel 1033 with a conversion box of some kind.
Hope that helps.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
lionelsoni wrote:Lionel's reversing scheme is however very different from Maerklin's. Instead of a high-voltage pulse, Lionel shuts the track voltage off. Obviously you can do that just as well with a Maerklin transformer too.
The high voltage part of the Märklin transformer is my "boost" button .
Simply turn back to 0 to switch between neutral and directions.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
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