New issue Lionel CW 80 Transformer

[Tony W]

I got talked into a CW 80. Great price on a new one.

works great with my old conventional train but with the ready to run i got issues.

 

to operate the ready to run I need to do the following

1. CW 80 throttle full

2. Ready to run remote on

3. I must use the ready to run remote to work the train

 

is there a way to just use the CW 80 to control ready to run trains?

[rtraincollector]

I think what you have is a lionchief engine. If you had a lionchief+ you would be able to. They made the lionchief engines to only work with the remote, which normally come in a set. You can buy them seperately also but if it is a lionchief your stuck useing the remote. 

[Firelock76]

Which is why I don't bother with Lionchief engines.

I DO have a Lionchief-Plus engine which runs great.  I tried it once with the remote just out of curiosity and that worked well too.  Curiosity satisfied I pulled the batteries from the remote and put it away and haven't used it since.

Sorry folks, I'm a dinosaur, I admit it.  I don't like being locked into one control system.  If it can't run conventional I'm not interested.

[Tony W]

Thanks guys.

It is a lionchief and not a plus. So I will need to use the remote.

[rtraincollector]

as stated, that's why I won't own one either, nor the Lionchief+. With my Tmcc if I choose to use it I can run up to 98 different engines from that remote ( not all at once, as I wouldn't be able to keep up with them all LOL ) with Lionchief (+) I think you can only have up to 5 programed, to me that's backwards thinking. Lionel has ended entry level sets that can be run by using a transformer. 

[Firelock76]

"Lionel has ended entry level sets that can be run using a transformer..."

And I think thats a BIG mistake on their part.  If it's entry level it should be kept as simple as possible, at least in my opinion.  The less that can fail the better it is for the beginner, especially kids.  Why add to the disappointment and frustration level when things might go wrong?

I bought a Lionel starter set for an eight year old nephew two years ago, luckily it was transformer equipped, probably one of the last ones.  It it wasn't I would have passed on it.