Early Lioncheif sets - is it buggy or defective?

[lionel2986]

Hi all,

 

I have an early Lionel Lionchief Polar Express set that I purchased on Amazon new in 2013. Occasionally, the locomotive crawls forward when the controller is set to neutral. Gently bumping it in reverse will stop the locomotive and it will remain neutral. I thought this was normal but recently when I sold it I took a return because I was told the board needed to be replaced? Which board is that? Just trying to thin my collection and not sure how to describe the problem if there is one.

 

Also, when turning the sound on or off, the entire track needs to be powered off and on for the change to take effect. This is stated in the instruction manual but the buyer told me it's also a defect. I took it back because I dont want anyone to be unhappy but Is there something wrong with my train? How can I fix the locomotive? A shame because I purchased it new and I recall this behavior from day one. Obviously too late to return to Amazon. I thought it was normal since it was my first lionchief locomotive. Now I want to only stick to what I was hooked on as a child, MPC and LTI era. Less to break even though the remote and sounds are very nice to have. I still remember my first time seeing TMCC as a child and how impressive the crewtalk, brake function were. I'm now worried the trains are too delicate. Don't want an expensive paperweight. 

 

Thank you.

[BigAl 956]

I've heard of issues with Lionel Electronics. That being said, I have never experienced a circuit board failure of any of my TMCC equipment. My Lion Chief Polar Express set from 2016 is still going strong. But I only take it out of the box once a year.

Some old timers will tell you all new trains are junk and you should only buy trains with old time mechanical controls. That pushback is mainly because they lack the familiarity and skills to service modern electronics.

My past experiences with Lionel service have been very good. If the train has issues I would contact customer support and ask for an RA to send it in. Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.