Modern Legacy, TMCC and LionChief trains run at 18V constant track power. Lights and smoke units have max power constantly. This may cause some problems when these engines are used with older MPC, Postwar or even Prewar era cars.
Most Postwar locos ran 10-14v. Any more and they ran so fast they ran off the track. Some light bulbs used by Lionel where 14v, others 12-16 and some 18V. There wasn't much sense to it, probably what was available commercially and would fit. At 18V, light bulbs are bright, but the 14V and 12-16V ones may be short lived.
Higher voltage generates more heat from the light bulb also. Many of the plastic car bodies could be melted with high heat loads. Be careful. I have done a few LED conversions on postwar cars to avoid heat and burn-out problems.
Don't run a postwar smoking caboose with the modern engines. It could shorten the life of the smoke unit. Parts are not readily available.
Accessories, run from the transformer and constant 14v
Accessories, and control tracks including their bulbs were designed for
14V. I power them at a constant 14v, from a transformer, not
the track voltage. Smooth constant operation. Horse corrals,
cattle cars and the like can be tuned to work best when constant voltage
is used.
A transformer with a full sign wave voltage output is needed for many accessories. A modern style CW80 I have found will not run many accessories correctly.
Side note, You can melt a magnet on a control track by leaving it powered on. My grand kids taught me that one.
Flying shoes or 5th rail pickups
The flying shoe or fifth rail pickup was designed to run on Lionel Tubular track. When run on other track systems they may catch in switches causing derailing or breaking the shoe. See this Jim Barrett Backshop video on how to fix this problem.
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Last update July 26, 2025