2012 Lionel Thomas Remote Set Question

No, it cannot be controlled conventionally.  At least none of the three I bought could be.

Thanks Lee!  The guy at the hobby shop where I looked at it assured me that it could be, but I had my doubts.

So, how would I run it on my layout?  Turn the power up on the transformer and use the remote?

I think it had one of the wall-pack non-transformer controlled setups.

That's how I do it.  At Christmas we had a Thomas running on my layout as well as one around the tree downstairs.  I set my Z4K to 13 V.   Although the transformer provided with the sets puts out 16 or 18 V (I forget which) Thomas works at anything over about 12V. Just gave the remote to my grandkids and they were off and running.   An advantage of setting the conventional transformer to only 12-13 V is that he moves a lot slower and kids are less likely to run him off the rails on curves or crash him at those lower voltages.

Sounds like a good plan.  My son is 2.5 and is pretty good with the transformer control - a very cautious, thoughtful kid - but the remote might be a different experience for him.

we just ran our remote thomas on the same track as our legacy dash-9 train.  lots of fun because the thomas ran a litttle faster and we had to pay attention.

We have a 4x8 layout in the basement that Thomas will run on, with a CW-80.  More than likely the original track, wall-pack, etc. for Thomas will never leave the box.

While we were running the trains the other day my son said:

"You know, I think we could get a Thomas to run on this size track.  We need to get about a hundred dollars and buy a Thomas for our train set."

He's been doing his homework!

I couldn't believe it when he said that.  He's not even old enough to read and the catalogs don't show prices even if he could!

Great engine and idea. I got one they are $119 for the set at Trainworld and Charles Ro and other places.

I got it for kids to run at train shows. would not use the wall wart but a regular transformer so I could turn the volts down so he does not go so fast.

Now have him when not running at shows for the kids to control on my home layout with lots of scale engines, TMCC and DCS. In this vast empire of scale engines Thomas is right at home and does a nice job of switching the odd car, but he is to fast way to fast!

Here's the little film that I made last year that shows Thomas in action. Thomas was powered by AC power from my Legacy system here and runs absolutely fine.  But I felt that he runs just a little bit smoother on the DC power from the included power pack. That was just a feeling that I had, and may even be due to my AC system being 50Hz instead of 60Hz.

A question for Lee or anyone else with experience with this remote set, using either the set's wall wart or a transformer such as a CW-80 or Z-4000, how much slower does this LionChief remote contolled engine realistically run than its conventional non LionChief controlled sibling? I know Legacy has considerably more speed steps than TMCC but does this remote controlled system also incorporate speed steps allowing realistic slow speed running and if it does, how many? Or is its remote control speed knob no more than a remote substitute for a CW-80's hand throttle with little or no substantive change in the engine's low speed performance?