HE LION ROARS - Lionel Collectors Club of America

Bill SchmeelkHM 6643HIGHLIGHT:” The first pieceof good news isthat Lionel ® isnow includingthe manualcontrollerwith thecommandswitches andthe price hasnot beenincreased.“The Lion Roars 24Command Control FasTrackSwitches ArriveLionel’s 2009 Signature EditionCatalog introduced FasTrak TMswitches with built-in CommandControl TM . I’ve been anxiously awaitingtheir arrival and finally theyare here.T h eA p r i l2009 editionof The Lion Roarscontained ourreview of theFasTrack RemoteControl Switches.In that issue, weopened up one ofthe switches andexamined its mechanicalfeatures. Much of whatwas discussed there appliesto the new Command Control versions.Mechanically, both versions are identicaland we’ll deal here with the electricaldifferences. That issue of The Lion Roarsis available to members online at the clubwebsite and you may wish to review it forthe complete story on Lionel’s FasTrackswitches.As originally advertised, the Commandswitches would require no wiring andcould be controlled with either the CAB1 or the Legacy CAB 2. The manuallever controller was not supplied withthese switches, but would be availablefor separate sale. The first piece of goodnews is that Lionel ® is now includingthe manual controller with the commandLionel Newsswitches and the price has not beenincreased. This change is reflected in thelatest catalog.We’re pleased to have a chanceat one of thePhoto 1first modelsoff the productionline. Photo 1 shows aLeft Hand O72 CommandControl Switch. Actually, itlooks almost identical to thestandard non-command version.The lever controller is supplied alongwith several plastic numbers which canbe substituted for the illuminated Lionel“L” on the controller to indicate whichswitch it controls.Checking It OutI installed the switch on a poweredsection of track and used a Legacy CAB2 controller to activate it. According tothe instructions, each switch is factoryprogrammed with a switch ID# of 1. Toactivate a switch, press the SW buttonon the CAB, then press the ID# (1), andfinally press the AUX 1 button to alignthe switch path to straight or the AUX2 button to curved. I went through theprocedure and found that the switch didnot respond. I next went through theprogramming procedure which wouldallow me to enter a new ID#. After doingthis, the switch functioned correctly. The