2017 Flyer Catalog up!

banjoflyer posted:

 

<snip> They will actually measure out at 13.5" long, 2 3/8" wide and 4" tall if Lionel's description is to be believed. They'll look tall and they should. Autoracks are some of the tallest cars on the rails and they will be with these cars. <snip>

 

Mark

In Bendan's auto carrier pictures posted above, the cars appear to be too wide, even from the side. A typical Flyer (or S scale) car is about 2" wide. I have a strong feeling that they are going to look out of place. I would like to see a picture shot from above, which is how a train will be viewed most of the time. I also fear that some of the detailing is going to look too coarse compared to other currently available 'modern' S rolling stock. And, the use of traditional style Flyer trucks 'stock' is too weird.  Just too much of a compromise, I suspect.

Thanks to Brendan for the pics.

Bob

I, too, would like to see a view from above as Bob suggests in order to see how these cars' width extends over the rails. Although I applaud Lionel's efforts to bring something new to S gauge, the compromises are readily visible and may discourage those who prefer to run freight that is more prototypical. Brendan's pictures appear to show the end ladders and foot stirrup to be a separately attached piece to the autorack body. If Lionel substitutes the ladder pieces with a version with openings between the rungs and a deeper stirrup and uses modern roller bearing trucks on the final product, that would go a long way in improving the looks of the metamorphosis from O to S. The detailing on the cylindrical hoppers was not fine in any sense, but it was done well enough to look good on a moving train (as long as the body was also lowered by swapping American Models or MTH trucks). It is usually a long time from the catalogue to the delivery of rolling stock. I hope that Lionel takes the little extra effort to tidy up a welcome addition to S gauge rolling stock.

The other car is a waffle box  The "wings" for the ladders, and the ladders themselves, make it look wider at the ends.

Brendan

Thanks, Brendan. As I suspected, the one-piece ladder without rungs makes the car look too much like a toy. If Lionel replaced that single piece with a realistic ladder/stirrup combination, used modern roller-bearing trucks, and lowered the body as they should have done with the cylindrical hoppers, the result would be a much more prototypical-looking car. The problem of clearing old Gilbert switch stands on the turnout would remain, but that problem remains for anyone using old track and switches with modern equipment.

That video hasn't happened yet!  Probably about the time new catalog items are available or cancelled.

Brendan

Earlier in this thread I questioned whether the FlyerChief Pennsylvania Docksider set would be produced with "puffing smoke" as documented in the 2016 catalog, or if the feature had been eliminated as suggested in the 2017 catalog. It appears this question was answered in the "GP7" thread. Prior to that news I had submitted the following inquiry to Lionel:

"I'm considering purchasing item 6-47958, the FlyerChief Pennsylvania Docksider set.

 In the 2016 catalog the set features describe "puffing smoke", and "chuffing sounds in sync with puffing smoke". In the 2017 catalog these features are no longer mentioned. Even the "On/Off switch for smoke and sound" has been changed to "On/Off switch for sound".

Question: Has the puffing smoke feature been eliminated in the production version of the FlyerChief Pennsylvania Docksider?"

Here is the reply I received today from Lionel Support:

"Craig,

 This engine will not smoke.  There is not enough room with the new electronics to fit a smoke unit in it.

 Thank You,

 Angela S"

I know this is a confirmation of what was posted earlier. At least it's nice to know that Lionel responds to questions.