AF Southern Pacific Docksider RTR Freight Set...

I got the Christmas version from Ro at the April York.  It smokes like the dickens!

I purchased this set but as have not received it yet,could you please post some picture?  I wonder if this set was a success for Lionel?  Seems like there was

decent demand.

I originally ordered one of these last year when it was listed with a CW-80 power supply but canceled the order after the power supply was downgraded. I figured I'd wait until the "blow-out" pricing came around. I see that some of the retailers are already offering the set for $169.99 and eBay listings have been as low as $149.99. There are "buy it now" listings for $189.99/OBO.

Nonetheless, last evening a set sold for $294.97 plus $14.35 shipping on eBay. Yikes! That's way more than MSRP. Don't people pay attention? (I guess not.)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261679...eName=STRK:MEBDIX:IT

I may still purchase one of these sets if only for a bargain way to sample FasTrack. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find someone who wants to trade one of the earlier 6-49618 NYC sets for the new set. Somehow, I ended up with two of the earlier sets. (I guess I should pay better attention sometimes too ...)

I spotted a dealer selling the SP Docksider set for under $150 so I finally bit the bullet and ordered one. It came today and I think it's a cute little set. I'd been wanting to try FasTrack and this seemed like a bargain way to sample it. I must say, it is nicer than I'd expected. Though it's still fairly expensive (relative to the stacks of original AF track in my collection), I'd certainly consider it for a moderately sized operating layout.

One curiosity about my set: There were no setup instructions included. Clearly, this was no problem as I've been operating American Flyer trains for 60 years. Still, it seemed strange, since I'm pretty sure all my other Flyonel stuff has come with a small instruction booklet. The set appeared to be sealed and showed no evidence of having been opened. Even the plastic sheet over the locomotive was still taped in place.

Did other purchasers get an instruction booklet with their set? Just curious. It seems that basic setup instructions would be included for what's clearly intended as a "starter" set.

In any event, I'm pleased with my purchase. A quick test run indicated that everything is fine. The SP Docksider is a prodigious smoker, seemingly better than some of my other examples. Not sure why this would be. As mentioned, FasTrack appears to be a winner.

Craig

Thanks. I found the online manual and bookmarked it. I also sent a note to Lionel asking if it's possible to get a "hard copy" of the manual. We'll see.

I did get a response from Lionel apologizing for the missing manual and for the fact that they have none to send. They referred me to the online manual. Curiously, the manufacturer's date on my sealed shipping carton is March 26, 2014 while the date on the online manual is 6/14. I also noticed that I got no smoke fluid or extra traction tires with the set, items that were included in the other 6 Docksiders I've purchased. I was surprised that the loco smoked immediately when I took it out of the sealed packaging, indicating that it had been pre-filled at some point. I don't think I've ever experienced that before.

While this is not a major deal for me, it is somewhat of an irritation considering the many thousands of dollar$ I've spent on Lionel products. I'd still be interested in hearing from anyone else who purchased this product. I'm not sure if I'd feel better if I found out I was not alone.

Craig

Re: smoke fluid ...

Lionel stopped packing the small complementary bottles of smoke fluid with steam engines and sets some time ago. The bottles had a tendency to leak (and often did).

Bob

Thanks. That makes sense. It does seem a bit strange that the online instruction manual lists an inventory of items included in the set:

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Of course, since the owners manual wasn't included I suppose owners wouldn't know what they didn't get. Or, something like that. There is no mention of smoke fluid, though the traction tire (often packed in the bag with the smoke) is mentioned. The 2014 catalog still mentions 3 sections of straight track though I don't think anyone got more than one. The 2013 catalog does indicate only one section (though it also indicates the CW-80 power supply). The 2013 catclog lists "smoke fluid", and this is also indicated as included on the set box - but it's not. This does seem strange for what I think most would consider a "starter set".

Hi Craig,

    I received my set way before Christmas because I had it on Order since the catalog came out for my Grandson for Christmas. After opening the box I noticed everything you did and looked on the outside of the box for the contents. There I found that everything should have been inside the box. I called my supplier and talked with him and he hadn't heard of any other comments from any of his other customers. So the more I thought about it, the more I became infuriated. The main reason I ordered the set was to give to my Grandson for Christmas and His father doesn't know anything about Model Railroading. So I decided to contact Lionel and find out what happened.

     I called Lionel Customer Service. I said to them this was a starter set. I said on the box the contents should have been included all the missing things. They apologized and they sent me a copy of the manual because they didn't have any, Two bottles of smoke fluid and a note that they didn't have any of the manuals and no rubber tires available. They had no explanation as to why this happened.

     My Supplier called me a few weeks after I spoke to lionel and told me none of the sets had those inside and that lionel had none of the manuals. I then told him what I had done and Lionel told me everything he said. I said to Supplier that Lionel delivered a RTR SET without the necessary pieces as to how to anything. Excellent way to gain S Gauge people so they could have larger following. I was shocked at the thought Lionel was so lackluster about the whole matter. I accepted their apology and thanked them for the items they could supply but I decided to keep the set my self and maybe I will get my Grandson a Polar Express for Christmas 2015.

     The little Dockside Set is quite nice but I haven't set it up or run it as yet. It will be a good addition to my collection and operations. I wrote you this to tell you that you are not alone but just one of many.

Happy Railroading in S Gauge

Don

I'm glad to hear some of you have Docksiders that smoke well, even apparently very well.  My experience with them up to this point is they are light, wispy, and in some cases wimpy smokers.  I just observed a B&O unit and a Christmas unit.  Both struggle to generate smoke with anything less than 12VAC applied (pulling a train or they're flying) and that's with care taken not to put in too many drops of smoke fluid (~5) and use a good fluid (e.g. Lionel Premium not earlier smoke fluid).  If it is the case that more recent or the most recent Docksiders smoke better than their predecessors, then that's good to know Lionel addressed that issue, but I'd love to know what's different - heating element resistance, voltage regulator?  

After it was brought to my attention about the missing parts I too found my set to be the same way.  But also it is a really nice set.

I'm not sure what might be different with the latest Docksiders, but the SP unit in my Ready-to-Run set smoked well right out of the box. As I mentioned, I got no smoke fluid with it, but it had apparently been pre-filled (strange) before being shipped.

I have 6 of the earlier Docksiders and found that when using my standard power supplies (American Flyer 30B, American Models (Ott) power supply) they barely produce a wisp of smoke. However, when connected to contemporary Lionel power supplies, even the lowly 30W Powermax, they smoke like the dickens. I'm guessing this has to do with the chopped sine wave characteristics of the newer units. I saw the YouTube features that Lionel produced explaining the difference and how smoke and electro-couplers could be affected and did some testing on my own. For me the newer power supplies produce great smoke. Previously, I'd simply left the small power supplies unopened as I figured my larger 300W supplies would work better. Such is apparently not the case.

Having said that, I did test the SP Docksider from the R-T-R set with my American Models transformer and it did smoke well. The earlier Docksiders smoke poorly unless I use a later chopped sine wave unit. Perhaps they did make changes to the smoke generators in the newer Docksiders.

EDIT: The Lionel video concerning use of new vs old transformers while running locomotives in conventional mode demonstrates how smoke production is affected. It appears to me that this applies to some of the early Flyonel steamers like the Docksider, even though the vid specifically targets TMCC/Legacy units,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1BPCR0OgYA

Thanks.  I run TPC400's which produce "modern" or chopped sine wave AC.  AF Dockside switchers that have been run here smoke a bit better than with direct AC transformer power, but even then not to the point that I would say they smoke a lot or well.  The best smoking Docksider I have is one that I converted to run on TMCC.  The only other one was a NYC unit of a friend of mine that for some unknown reason just smokes better otherwise than all others to date.  Enjoy yours.

I am just glad this set doesn't have the cheesy LTI developed caboose....when Gilbert's two cabooses look fine for any set (even the work caboose).

No damage, just mess.

Rusty