Is it possible to convert legacy equipped and vision line lionel locomotives and cars to be used on a 2 rail system, likewise, can the legacy system itself function on a 2 rail layout?
I’m not up on this but isn’t 2 rail systems DC if so I would say no as I believe legacy is a AC system. yes we have Dc motors in the newer engines but they go thru a conversion to run on AC now if your 2 rail happens to be AC then maybe you can.
thats my best guess I’m not that up on electronics like some of the others but thought would give you what I understand of it.
Check over in the Garden Railroading forum because I believe I have heard of G Scale with DC current using TMCC, but here again if memory serves me correctly, they had trouble with it.
The number of rails has nothing to do with whether the voltage is AC or DC. Almost all AC toy trains, whether they have 2 or 3 rails, will also run on DC. And, while most toy trains are run on AC, Lionel made some 3-rail trains and American Flyer some 2-rail trains that run only on DC.
Legacy and Tmcc equipped engines (maybe all modern AC engines with electronics) may be damaged by running them on DC. I’m speaking of Lionel. That is one of the first warnings in the owners manuals.
As far as running a modern engine on two rail’s instead of three. I think the biggest problem is the axles are one piece steel. So you would have to remove all the axles, pull off one wheel on a given side, bore them out to receive a plastic bushing, and reassemble them . You would also want to remove the center rail pickup and add a electrical shoe on the insulated side to pick up power from that rail.
thanks for the info so far. i dont intend on running anything with dc, but simply using the legacy system and locomotives with two rail track, i am just wondering if legacy would function properly in 2 rail, with the only difference being the number of rails, and whether it would be possible to say, modify a vision line locomotive to function on a 2 rail system, while still being powered through legacy.
Your biggest problem to me would be to get axles that has a isolation piece in the middle for all wheels on that engine so you could do + on one rail - on the other. eliminating the center pick up could be fun and the trucks would also need some special isolation as there all metal so the electric would run from one side to the other so you would need to also.