Editor Bob has just posted an excellent product review video of the Lion Chief Plus CP 4-6-2. He states that the Lion Chief Plus allows one to run the locomotive with either conventional control or Lion Chief Plus controler.
He did not demonstrate the performance of the engine in the conventional mode in the video (he may address this in the print version of the review). In my limited experience with TMCC locomotives, the operation in conventional mode was horrible, so I was really hoping to see how this system would work in conventional mode before I bought a Lion Chief Plus locomotive.
Does anyone have enough experience with Lion Chief Plus to address operation in conventional mode of a Lion Chief Plus locomotive?
Little Tommy
Seems like to he mentioned they had a hard time running it in conventional mode in anothe rdiscussion about it here on the forum
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Not the same engine, the previous model was a LionChief Polar Express, the new loco is a LionChief Plus CP 4-6-2. It ran well in conventional.
Bob Keller
Ogaugeoverlord Not the same engine, the previous model was a LionChief Polar Express, the new loco is a LionChief Plus CP 4-6-2. It ran well in conventional.
Thank you, Bob
When I first heard of Lionchief I was excited. An affordable remote control engine. But Lionel decided for whatever reason to bypass TMCC which they already owned and instead develop a limited stand-alone control that lacked compatibility with the rest of the line. Lack of operation in conventional mode was/is a serious flaw to the whole Lion Chief line. Lion Chief plus was supposed to address that but I'm wondering why Lionel plays games with this when the cost of the electronics is literally pennies to them. They should just put in TMCC and be done with it.
I believe "Product Positioning" and "Market Targeting" is the primary issue. Low end remote capability, (single apllication). Preventing this product line to be competitive with multiple train operation and TMCC capable. Kinda a Bait and Switch activity. Get new people hooked on the low end cost, then as the customer becomes in the hobby, they need to upgrade.
Don
Interesting that you bring up " Lion Chief " While I did NOT order a set with the Lion Chief plus system .. I did order the Santa Fe Scout freight set with the Lion Chief remote . It hasn't arrived yet , but im very anxious to try it out . Bob did review in the MARCH issue for next month about the Lion Chief , but he did tell me that they haven't gotten a diesel set to try out yet . So im waiting to see about that review in the future .
Now do you actually own and operate a Lion Chief Plus train sir ???? IF so I would love to see a video of it in action !!!!!
Just t be clear, the LionChief Plus review will be in the July issue. The May issue was already completed when we received the sample.
We posted two videos – one an "opening the box" and the other a standard review video on both the CTT youtube and facebook pages.
The reason for not using TMCC is cost. The cost of the radio frequency remote and receiver is significantly less than the TMCC receiver and cab-1L remote. Also, with this system, you don't need a transformer and so they can ship with a lighter, much cheaper single voltage wall wart. Thus you have set prices on the street of $150 to $250, undercutting their competition by about $100-200. That's significant money to a family just getting started. The Lion Chief Plus separate sale locos are going to be available for $200-300 at internet stores like Charles Ro. That equals or undercuts the prices of Lionel's competitors. Not including TMCC helps get to those price points.
Most people buy a set for under the tree and may buy a few accessories, a little track, some rolling stock and maybe one other loco. Lionel has about 95% of the set sales in this market. These are the motivations for having a simple, inexpensive command control like system of this sort. These locos are compatible with all known command systems in O three rail except DCC, and also will work with conventional layouts. Seems like a good strategy to me. Not everyone is going to spring for Legacy or DCS which adds $180-300 to the cost of the hobby, just for the command equipment.
Bob ! Great to see you on here man !!!!!! ! I got your email about the Lion Chief and went out and got that copy of the magazine at Barnes and Noble !
LionelTrains83 Bob ! Great to see you on here man !!!!!! ! I got your email about the Lion Chief and went out and got that copy of the magazine at Barnes and Noble !
Dittos to what LionelTrains83 said Bob, it's great to have you "in the arena" and to get your inputs directly.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month