Our office had closed at noon one New Years Eve. After arriving home early, I had little trouble convincing my "train buddy' son, who had just turned 11 years old, to accompany me to P&D Hobby Store to look at the trains. Upon arriving at P&D, we went back to the model train section, where one of the proprietors was operating a brand new Lionel T-1 for a customer. For us, that was the first time that we had heard the new "Rail Sounds" technology, and, at the time, it was truly incredible! Add to that the sheer beauty of the scale sized T-1, and we were "hooked".

We actually decided to make a purchase that afternoon, and brought the T-1 home. The next day, we were having a family get together at the house, and Tom and I had a wonderful time "showing off" the beautiful locomotive to our family. Even my father-in-law, who is an electrical engineer, was amazed at the time, by what seemed to be such incredible technology -- particularly when compared to the model train whistles that we had heard in the past. None of us had ever heard a toy locomotive that sounded like a real steam engine!

And while the Reading T-1 is not really a "Command Control" locomotive, it represents a very early [if not the first] locomotive to utilize the RailSounds technology.

Was there a particular "electronic", or "Command Control" locomotive that made a very significant impression upon you, including the latest entries from Lionel, MTH, or other manufacturers?

cordially,

Dennis

Traded something I had for a Lionel CP GP-9 back '98 or so. My first Command Control & Railsounds loco. Thought it was the coolest thing. I then picked up the 2 SP Geeps that were out at the same time. I was on top of the world with that trio MU'd, racing around the layout with the sounds blasting and all the strobes going. Still have the locos.

Lionel's PRR M1a hooked me because of the Odessy function

I came at command control backwards...

I bought a dealer appreciation MTH Bigboy thinking "QSI" was command control.

After buying a TIU and remote and trying with no success at all getting that Big Boy to work I found the OGR forum and found out QSI is not PS2 =P

Then I bought a PS/2 upgrade kit and upgraded that Bigboy to PS/2. THAT became my first PS/2 engine, my first MTH engine and my start with command control. Trial by fire!

My Lionel SP Black Widow GP-9 with command control and railsounds. Made a huge impression on me and on my kids. It's still their favorite locomotive in my collection.

Like Roman, The Lionel Canadian Pacific GP-9. The TMCC was great but what blew me away was the multi-chime horn of the RS 2.5 Lionel got the paint scheme wrong but it was fixable with dry transfer decals.

Similar to Dennis and his T-1, I had the first Lionel Mohawk from 1991 and although not TMCC, the Railsounds 1 technology produced a sound that was a leader for the time. Dog of a puller, though. Some people have converted these to can motors and TMCC and have had the drive wheels turned for traction tires

Still have both engines even though not leading technology any more but a lot of sentimental value.

Mike

I got the NYC GP9, which has the same sound set init as the SP Black Widow GP. The sounds were and are still awesome to hear. If I remember right, Lionel, did not have the electro coupler yet, but the control board and sounds were already there so that when they came out with the coupler, it was a simple install and you were good to go...

Marty

The Phantom that flew off the layout after getting the full 20v!

---------------
nearly had me in stitches

The NYC GP-9 from 1996 and also the Canandian Pacific from 1997.
Still have the Canadian Pacific. With a well broke-in pullmor motor it runs like it has a giant flywheel.
The horn at the time blew me away and still is one of Lionels best horns sounds to date.
For $230 street cost it was (and still is) a great value.

My first (both TMCC and O Gauge in general) was the N&W J Warhorse set.

My first diesel was the GE Dash-9 Demo unit (6-18226?), though I had eyed the CP GP-9 others spoke of. The horn on that Dash 9 is still very impressive to me.

Around the same time, my Dad got the NYC version of the freight set with the GP-9. (same set was also offered with SP GP-9)

One of the neat parts of the Warhorse and GP-9 sets was that a CAB-1 came with it. Granted, you had to go buy the Command Base and/or PowerMaster, but that was certainly incentive to "get your feet wet" with TMCC.

I never turned back, though I do have some conventional stuff as well.

-Dave

I'm new in getting my own model trains, But the sounds of my new PS2 Big Boy are incredible, and the synchronization is awesome. I still don't have the control end, but It was test run on the Dealers track with DCS and that was incredible.
DCS is now at the top of my wish list.
Russell

My PWC F-3 Texas Special.

Tex

After spending my youth with Lionel's "Mighty Sound of Steam", I was totally blown away by Lionel's Cass Heisler which I found out about by accident. I was in a train store and got to talking about the Cass Scenic (I had recently visited) with the owner. He said "you know, Lionel did a Cass engine?" I replied that I did not know this fact. So he went into his store room and came out with an unopened brown shipping carton. We opened it up and I fell in love (needless to say that it went home with me). Later, I had to come back for TMCC and was blown away a second time (twice by the same engine! ).

Andy

Mine was a conversion - a Lionel postwar 624 C & O switcher, since it had coil couplers and two headlights, I could take advantage of all the output of the LCRU kit I bought from TAS. Sold it early this spring.

Although directional headlights and remote couplers are nice, I was quickly enamored with the lack of that infernal e-unit buzzing, no more cycling F-N-R-N, but the biggest by far is that I was no longer stuck being near the transformer, I could walk around and see what was going on!

The Lionel NYC GP-9 was the first for me. The sound of the horn, full control and I was hooked.

Charlie

Mine was the Lionel N&W WarHorse set -- saw it in Glenn's Train Shop in Ohio -- the sounds were incredible!

JLC big boy. no doubt!

K-Line Scale Hudson.

Masterfully detailed rendition of a classic loco.

After using it at train show, I never wanted to go back to conventional.

The Lionmaster Challenger

quote:

My first (both TMCC and O Gauge in general) was the N&W J Warhorse set.

Same here- my 1st TMCC set. I was totally in awe with command control and its sounds. Next came the pullmor geeps which still are the one of the best sounding diesels for the price we all paid back then for those untireless, always running pullmor engines.

Several years ago I was putting the finishing touches on a layout and the only thing left was to install a bridge over the stairway for two main lines. I had a train buddy visiting and we put my MTH Challanger on the track to test the system. This engine has been recently converted to TMCC and I handed him the remote to give it a try. This was his first experience with TMCC. As fate would have it, the engine came around and he did not stop it in time before the tender went flying into the stairwell. After a six foot fall, only the coal load was damaged. Says a lot for a quality build.

Honestly? None to date. I still operate in conventional at home and the club DCS is a real PIA. It's fun and my New Jersey Transit, ex-VIA F40PH and Conrail GG1 run well under DCS when it finally got working, however I still don't mind just running off the transformer.

I've never had an opportunity to run any of my TMCC under command.

My first TMCC set which was one of Lionel's first TMCC releases. The Northern Pacific AB F-units. The ability to control the diesels away from the transformers was fantastic.

The Lionel NYC GP-9 Set... after seeing the SP Geep my brother acquired. That got me hooked on Lionel Trains and command control.

I think I walked out the door of the Train Station with the set, which had the Cab-1, the TMCC transmitter, transformer, track pack, an extra car and a building kit for around $700 at the time.

The one that got me started back in trains was the 18040 N&W J #612... the LHS put it on a set of rollers and ran it...I was hooked.

But the first full blown TMCC loco that did it for me was the 18043 C&O Yellowbelly. Man what a loco that was. Longtime collectors were BLOWN AWAY by it. I still like the sounds, but operationally, it has been surpassed many times over. I pull it out and run it at least once a year for the nearly 14 year old "nostalgia" of opening that box for the first time in 1995-1996.


Johnathon, You HAVE GOT TO RUN TMCC, much less LEGACY. You are really missing out on capabilities and enjoyment. and it is TOO easy to hook up.

For me, it was the ATSF 4-8-4 Lionel put out a few years back. I saw a club member run his and I was so impressed not only with the electronics, but also the detail, that I walked over to the LHS to order the JLC C&O 2-6-6-6 (my first TMCC Engine). I have never looked back and have upgraded ~15 of my existing conventional engines to TMCC...

Having read through the posts so far, it's interesting how many posters have said the first command loco that left an indelible impression was the Lionel Geep. Of course, this was the first such engine produced in significant numbers, and a number of different ones were produced over a few years. These Geeps did precisely what Lionel intended - introduce and "hook" operators on the leap in technology of Command Control and RailSounds.

It so happened that the engine itself turned out to be a great one. Reasonably priced, it ran well, and had lots of nice extra features (on/off strobe, electrocouplers, directional lighting, realistic lowered frame, etc.), and a particularly good sound system. Many still consider the horns as some of the best. Incidently, the horns are different in the different road names.

One thing about them that has been a lot of fun for me is switching shells from these Command Geeps with MPC and LTI era shells in different road names I want. The shells are fully compatable, and with a minor amount of surgery (like moving the antenna), you can thus equip an older GP-9/GP-20 with all the features of the Command Geeps.

One point for Marty on his comment above re: absence of electrocouplers on the very first Command Geeps, the 2380 NYC and SP. Within a matter of months after their introduction, Lionel made the 2383 versions of these two engines, which were the same but with electrocouplers. All succeeding Geeps came with electrocouplers. As the series progressed, diecast parts increased, first diecast pilots, and then diecast fuel tanks. The final productions had diecast pilots, diecast fuel tanks, and of course diecast trucks, and were hefty engines.

Lionel Mikado. Hooked me big time.

quote:

One thing about them that has been a lot of fun for me is switching shells from these Command Geeps with MPC and LTI era shells in different road names I want. The shells are fully compatable, and with a minor amount of surgery (like moving the antenna), you can thus equip an older GP-9/GP-20 with all the features of the Command Geeps.

Great idea! Another thing that I do is use a railsounds equipped tender with locos that are not so equipped.

Thanks for the great posts and comments. Also, please don't let this post be the end-post, as I just wanted to add a comment.

cordially,

Dennis

This was my layout at the TCA Seattle convention with Lionels prototype command control engine running. [note the engine is bare metal] Note Mr. Young and Mr Dean looking on in other photos. I was hooked.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 24kmach,

Lionel Milwaukee Road GP9. It was all downhill after that.

24kmach,

What great photos!

You should post them in Photo fun as well!

Who is the guy in the middle with the blue shirt?

NYC GP 9 for me. Yep, I love the horn and still run it. Especially now with legacy. When running with "H" momentum, it takes a while to get moving and listening to the sounds as it does so is great. Then stopping the loco by turing the throttle to zero is great, as it takes a long time for the loco to very gradually slow to a stop. Better than a flywheel and it makes these AC motor units run super.

quote:

Originally posted by BillP:
24kmach,

What great photos!

You should post them in Photo fun as well!

Who is the guy in the middle with the blue shirt?

That is my friend Jess. He is a pilot for Alaska Airlines and retired USAF Pilot that flew into Siagon to remove our people and he also took part in the Panama invasion where he had to climb to 600' to drop our paratroopers in a C-141. Cool guy. The guy behind him I believe owned K-Line at the time.

Actually stumbeled back into trains after a long absence. Went to an auction where they had a classic Burlington switcher by MTH (who the heck is MTH??) up for sale. So I bid and got it for $20, figuring I have made dumber buys. Put it on the under the Christmas tree layout. Was totally amazed when a real life-like horn sounded, then when the engine talked while in idle. Started researching this MTH stuff and discovered they modeled a local Pittsburgh PA RR. Learned about DCS then, saved my pennies....

Been downhill from there ever since.

Sam

Lionel Rio Grande SD-50 and Conrail SD-60 from the mid 90's. Still work great!

Mark

Commodore Vanderbilt was my first, I believe.
Or was it the Yellow Belly Hudson?

I was oooooooked.

eliot

After buying a lot of Fastrack to run my 1955-1965 Lionel trains on I was not able to get to the stored trains for another week. So I went back and bought a Lionel PRR Keystone Steam train set with a CW-80 and some more Fastrack that came with it. Running the cast metal engine I was amazed at how much better trains were now. And than I some how got sounds out of the engine! Wow! after hearing the RS5 sounds and seeing the smoke I was sold for sure. I went back the next day for my Cab1 Command set. Someone on this BB has the engine now. I sold it because I had 8 DCS steam locos and the Lionel gummed up the DCS when I stored the engine with the MTH locos. I hope he is enjoying the loco and getting some good use from it...

We flew into Reno and rented a car to drive to Berkeley. Excuse was a football game back in the mid 90's or so. We stopped in Truckee to see some of my old haunts at the railroad there and on up the hill. There was a store there that had a 6 foot test track. The lady demonstrated remote operation and the sound blew me away. I figured right then that I would soon be back into trains. The first engine that I owned that was really super though was the L SD90 Mac.

The LIONEL Denver & Rio Grande Western SD50 Diesel Loco is a great operating locomotive model. It operates like a real diesel-electric locomotive. That SD50 proves that command control is better. Even though it only has two pick-up rollers it does work on solid rail track systems like the Atlas O track.

Andrew

Falcon Service

My first TMCC locomotive was the Kline Scale PRR Mikado which I ran in conventional mode for a while. Then I got the PRR A-5 Switcher with TMCC and my local hobby shop, Hobby Hangout, owned by Phil Krop said you know if you get TMCC you can run them both one the same track. That's what hooked me. So was it the Mikado or the A5? They both still run great. The whistle on the Mike is great!

JohnB

The Lionel T-1 planted the scale O virus; it's now converted to TMCC. But my first TMCC loco was the Lionel Pennsy J and with it the virus metasticized.

My first year with TMCC I had (and still have) three command engines...
2380 SP GP-9... #490 C&O Yellowbelly Hudson...& #75 MlwRd F3 AB....
Running these locos with their great sounds by remote control along with operating switches & accessories revived my interest in Toy trains!

I was more of a post war collector until I heard the SP 2380 Gp-9. It blew me away. I thought the sound was awesome. And I began purchasing modern trains from that point on. I still like to run some of the "old stuff" at times but it's now mostly new stuff on the track.

Doug

Growing up and watching Tom McComas' videos "Toy Train Revue", I was a big fan of Lionel's RailSounds 1. Today, i have many of the engines that have these sounds: The scale Hudson, the B-6 (the first engine to have RailSounds), the T-1, the Southern Mikado (my favorite train of all), and the Daylight GS-2. However, i also got hooked on Trainmaster Command Control and the Command equipped engines i have are some of the best sounding. They're the C&O streamlined Yellowbelly Hudson and the Wabash Cannonball Hudson. probably the best sounds I ever heard though was on Lionel's 1999 C&O Allegheny. I hope to get that engine one day.

This one and the PRR M1a mountain sealed my fate:

For Railsounds it was the PRR B6 followed by the PRR s2turbine. I have both.

For the Command Control, it was the Scale Conrail Sd70 and the PRR T1 that ran around the LCCA,LOTS convention back in 2000. Actually, i have yet to take up command control but implemented the MTH Remote control which is still good enough for me![all due to Tag18 & the Bergen Co Model RR club]

quote:

My Lionel SP Black Widow GP-9 with command control and railsounds.

That would have been my intro to command control as well. I no longer have the locomotive, but it was a sweet runner with great (for that time, and perhaps even now) sounds.

I'm with Greg, the Lionel Big Boy.

Mine was a 3rd Rail Santa Fe 5011 class 2-10-4.