I am thinking about purchasing a Lionel Legacy Control System. I currently do not have any Legacy or TMCC engines or cars but expect to buy some in the future.
I have a year old ZW Powerhouse power supply / transformer. It came with two 180 watt power supplies. I also have a CW-80 transformer that came with the train set I purchased a year ago.
What do you need to operate the Legacy System? I tried to find something on the Lionel site but only found what the system is capable of doing. It doesn’t really tell you what you need to get it up and running.
Go to the 2009 Lionel catalog 2. (its online at Lionel). the bottom of page 77 lists what is required depending on what you want to do with your layout.
I just picked up the Legacy 990 control system. If you have command locomotives, it is all you need. If you run conventional then you will need to pick up a TPC or TMC unit. But then just use your ZW…
When you want to work on the command control system, other than entering information, or the tracks “power down!” It may seem like common sense but sometimes you just get busy and forget.
Just a little word of caution because I had this happen to me with MTH’s command control, remember that the track power is always on even when an engine is turned off, also an engine that is not active with the command control will bridge the electrical gap between a siding or block that is turned off if put across the center rails of the track. I moved a PS-2 engine, while having the DCS power turned on, across an unpowered section not thinking that it would bridge the gap electrically and had a run-away pair of dual powered Williams SD-45 diesel engines rear-end the freight train I was working with.
I use PW ZW’s and I use two TPC’s [one for each mainline] with my Legacy. Really works conventionals well. Makes Post Wars run great. You can “feather” voltage and make them operate a lot better than just transformer control.