Please read the first sentence on page 2.
Sounds like not compatible to me.
Paul
I said I dont know if the MTH locomotive will run off the Legacy system (in command mode), because I have no need to run them that way. Read as I dont like the Legacy handheld.
You can indeed run MTH locomotives in conventional mode, just like a post-war locomotive. So you can run an MTH Locomotive on a LEGACY layout.
I hope this has been at least informational to the original poster.
Chuck brings up a good point re taking a look at On30 - 1:48 O scale narrow gauge, designed to run on HO-gauge track. Wouldn’t cost to much to pick up say a Bachmann 2-6-0 and a couple of their freight cars and try it out on your existing layout…you will need to check the area around the track, as the On30 equipment is quite a bit wider than standard gauge HO stuff!
BTW if you have a 1940’s Lionel train set, most likely it still works fine. Might need to have someone clean and lube it, but those old Lionel engines were pretty sturdy. Lionel, MTH and Atlas (and others) make 1:48 scale models designed to run on three-rail track. If you can fit O-72 curves (six foot diameter) onto your layout, you should be able to run any three rail engine or car.
Ken,
Some simple recordkeeping can help with this issue as well. Every time you have a derailment or cars that come uncoupled, mark the spot on the layout with a push pin. Then record the car reporting marks and what the issue was (paper and pen works, Microsoft Excel is better). After a bit of time you will either see the same cars showing up on the list for the same problems, get a bunch of push pins at the same location(s) on the layout, or both. The same car showing up on the list repeatedly tells you to give the car a good once over looking for wheels out of gauge, insufficient car weight, wrong coupler height, etc. A bunch of push pins at the same location on the layout indicates a potential trackwork issue at that location that needs investigating. After you locate some of these culprits and perform some repairs, remove the push pins/car from the list and continue. If they act up again, the get marked up again. Eventually you should get it all straightened out. Takes some patience at first, but pays off.
Thank you for the comment. Sound like a great idea. I have been noticing a certain area and I’m pretty sure it was the weight of the car. I gotten some great ideas and things to think about from the forum here. I have these ideas but the forum here and got me to finally get busy and use them. Checking couplers, weight, etc. Thanks
Thanks for the idea but my mainline is pretty close to the sides of my layout and there wouldn’t be any room for a wider engine or rolling stock. I actually could take up my inside track and lay out my 027 to get an idea. The last time it was run was probably back in the 70’s but it was in my parents attic ever since. It looks to be in decent shape so I can’t see why it wouldn’t run. I might give that a spin. Thanks again for your post.
Thank you for your comment. I am going to give that Lionel a shot and see what my feelings are.
Trainworld has a sale on Bachmann On30 4-4-0s, DCC, for $59.99 each.
KeyboardKen - I’ve been in the hobby for 50 years. Started with Lionel, then a lengthy stint in HO (even belonged to a club), then delved off into N scale, then back into O (3 rail) 20 years ago. As I’ve got older, I’ve grown fonder of the nostalgia of toy trains. The smells of gear oil, smoke pellets, ozone. The feel and heft of the diecast engines, and the throttle of a LW or a ZW transformer (don’t we have enough remotes in our lives…?). More recently, I’ve been collecting some Lionel Postwar pieces (trading away some of my N scale collection believe it or not). I get more satisfaction in cleaning and lubricating the old stuff then I ever did in my earlier forrays.
At 6x20 feet, you have more than enough benchwork to establish a 3-rail layout. Because of the smaller radius of O-27, O-31, O-42, and O-54, you may even be able to use most of your existing HO roadbed.
Take out those old trains. Run them around on the floor for a bit. If the juices start flowing, you’ll have your answer.
And if you do make the switch, check out the CTT forum for support.
Come on in, the water’s fine… [oX)]
Ken you should really give O Gauge(3 Rail) or O Scale (2 Rail) a look, it can be VERY rewarding, O Gauge/Scale have a Presence to them that anything smaller than “S” just doesn’t have.
In 2005, I went to my LTS, Whistle Stop Trains, in Portland, OR and told Charlie the owner " You know that I have been an “HO” guy for more than 35 years, but I have a dog, and HO, especially Steam, isn’t working on the floor. I need some Lionel for under the Tree. I need a Steam Locomotive, it HAS to be Union Pacific, half a dozen freight cars, a loop of track and transformer"
There weren’t any RTR sets that met al my “NEEDS” in stock, so we put together a “Set” from loose items. Yeah. I KNOW, UP never had any Hudson’s[;). I took that set home and set it up, and was Absolutely HOOKED by the larger trains, the next weekend I was back at Whistle Stop and took home an MTH F3 passenger set, in Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist Grey, Of Course[swg]. After that I never looked back, I don’t think that I have bought a single piece of HO for myself since.
As far as the Lionel and MTH Command Control systems compatabity, here is the scoop (I Have Both) Like DCC, both systems use a constant voltage to the track, Each system ill obviously control it’s own respective equipment, the systems can coexisist on the same layout at the same time without interfering with each other. The MTH system CAN control Lionel TMCC and LEGACY equipment, BUT, it requires a Lionel base to be used and connected to the DCS base, with a special cord. DCS can ONLY control TMCC level functions, and not any LEGACY level functions. Lionel’s TMCC/Legacy systems can NOT control any DCS Functions. Lionel’s Lion Chief and LC+ locomotives can run on a layout using either system, it uses the same constant voltage track power, BUT must be controlled by it’s own respective controller, and can NOT be controlled by either Lionel’s TMCC/Legacy, or MTH
Thanks for your time and wonderful letter with the pictures. I got all my 027 gauge Lionel stuff and and am going to make room on my layout to at least set up a small track. I only have 4 years going on my HO layout so it won’t be a major problem converting but I do have a lot going on so far. Mine started out with a little set to go on top of my grand piano at Christmas. Then I remembered I had an old HO set from back in the 70’s down the basement. I found that and it just snowballed from there. I think I just got going too fast with the HO. I’m going to give the O gauge a try. Thanks again.