If so, can you please post video/photos?
Thanks!
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Someone has to have one! I'm debating whether to buy one.
I've got one on the brown truck for delivery on Thursday, it's the 2013 version of the Pennsylvania Flyer (6-30233) I impulse purchased for $124 when it was on Lightning Deal sale @ Amazon. I also have the previous 2012 (6-30174) version of the PF set running around the Christmas tree that I picked up at Menards for $119 after rebate to compare it with.
Looking through past catalog entries for the Penn Flyer this appears to be the single biggest change in the classic starter set offering in a lot of years... The locomotive body is reportedly of plastic vs die-cast construction in the 2012 and older sets while adding the LionChief remote & Railsounds RC sounds vs the basic whistling tender. Gone are the billboard/telephone pole scenery bits and the 40w wall transformer which is replaced with an 18v DC wall-wart. The red caboose and tanker + box car appear the same basic configuration as the previous models per the photos as is the FasTrak loop.
I'll take some photos and relay as much useful info as a relative model railroad newb can provide once I do some comparisons between sets including the perspective of my 6,5 and 2 year old kids.
My impressions of the 2012 (6-30174) vs 2013 (6-30233) versions of the Penn Flyer RTR Lionel sets after comparing the two:
The locomotives in BOTH sets are die cast. The 2013 version now has a cast vs separately applied railing detail. Both have engineer/conductor models inside and working headlights. The coloring on the 2013 model is a matte gray-green with a gunmetal tone at the front. The finish on the 2013 is a more semi-gloss black with a more contrasting silver at the front of the locomotive. The PRR logo on the 2012 model looks nicer than the basic number logo on the front of the 2013. The tender on the 2013 gets a brown tone top versus the monochrome black in the 2012.
The Railsounds effects with the new 2013 version are... awful. The horn and bell are terrible samples and sound like they should be paired with a more modern diesel or electric locomotive. The "radio announcement" dialogue also seems very out of place with a steam locomotive... a simple "all aboard" would have been my preference.
The LionChief remote has a couple of minor upgrades over the Thomas edition - specifically it has "notches" between speed settings and has smaller rocker toggle switch to power on and off. It does NOT correct the common complaint with previous remote controlled sets in which the "background" audio continues to play from the tender when power is applied to the track even after the remote is powered off.
The rolling stock cars (box and tanker) models are identical in the two sets with different paint applications.. I got a brown box car and a silver tanker in the 2013 set versus a black box car and yellow tanker in the '12.
The caboose in the 2013 set is brown versus red in the 2012 model and illumination feature has been removed in the newer version... which is a bummer (I like the 2012 caboose a lot better).
The overall packaging is much smarter in the newer version, it's actually possible to put everything back in the box for storage without having half of the stuff inside fall out the bottom. The kit weighs about 4 pounds less and the box is small enough it will probably save some real warehouse/stockroom space.
As a stand-alone set that was play tested by my 2, 5 and 6 year olds they prefer the Lioinchief control in the newer Penn Flyer though they did not like the downgraded caboose lighting or the quality of the electronic sound effects compared to the simple air whistle in the older tender.
Summary compare-contrast - the newer set gets you some upgraded features (remote is good, the sound effects are meh) but you lose some finish quality on the engine and caboose details that are notable. I am glad the rumor about the locomotive being plastic vs die-cast was false. Street price for the newer set seems to be about $30-50 less so overall I'd give the nod to the 2013 set as being the better value for a beginner, if you are buying a set to "harvest" the engine and caboose for a traditional control set I'd buy the 2012 sets while they are going on clearance and still widely available, the eBay resale value on the locomotive has already gone up significantly in the past few weeks.
I'm beginning to think I got SOAKED by the LHS for a 6-30174 Penn Flyer set.
List in the catalog is $289! LHS normally sells at 10% off list, but this was on special for $229.
BJ's Wholesale Club has the 6-30174 set on the shelves for $199, with 8 extra pieces of Fastrack to make a 40x100 oval.
Now I'm hearing about $124 and $119, almost HALF what I paid at the LHS, which in turn was 20% off list.
Yuppie, the confusion has been around since the 0-8-0 was first introduced. It has a plastic motor frame housing, but the shell has been die cast.
The handrail stantions used on the 0-8-0 and the 4-4-2 starter set steam engines appear to be plastic and are thus pretty fragile. I've broken several - and I handle my trains pretty carefully. On the 4-4-2's I've replaced the plastic handrail stantions with metal cotter pins, though you do have to drill the existing hole all the way through the shell to do this.
I'd be very willing to suspect Lionel has gotten calls from families with young kids about broken handrail stantions on starter set locos, and decided to go with cast in ones for this reason alone. If Lionel had to alter the dies to create the cast in handrails, any initial assembly costs savings won't be felt right away. I don't know about the 0-8-0, but there are other versions of the 4-4-2's and 2-4-2's that already had the cast in handrails.
I haven't seen any videos yet of the new LionChief steam engines, but the Santa Fe scout RS-3 set sounds very good for a low cost starter set. And the Alien Set RS-3, while not my particular taste, well I can see kids loving those sound effects - which is why Lionel did this.
Matt, you didn't get soaked by your local hobby shop. Unfortunately Lionel's wholesale structure favors some dealers over others... not every dealer gets the same wholesale pricing. So if your local dealer had to pay more for his inventory, he logically has to sell it accordingly.
This has been a long time complaint of smaller train shops, that the larger mail order places are selling to the public at prices that often match or beat their wholesale price. It may just be the reality of the way things work, but it has no doubt played into the long term after effect of smaller hobby shops closing their doors.
You might feel you paid too much. But if you ask the small dealer, he might very well say the same exact thing when compared to the wholesale other larger mail order Lionel dealers pay... which is why they sell for so much less.
Well I'm just going to stand and salute the flag, knowing that I did my good deed for small business.
Would any of you please post a video?
... the odd buzzing/distortion sound is not a camera trick, I noticed it while I was running the train tonight with or without the cars attached. Need to do some troubleshooting and see if it's the train, power source or something else...
Here is a quick iPhone video, lighting is bad but hopefully it gives some idea what the loco looks like. I've got some baby Madison passenger cars running around the tree rather than the included rolling stock.
FYI, this set just hit $119.99 on Amazon. I posted a thread about it earlier. Of course I had already purchased at a higher price point and had to get a refund credit when I saw it had dropped so low.
If you watch the Amazon lighting deal/holiday deals under the subcategory of Toys its seems like they are putting at least one Lionel set on sale every day lately. In about 40 minutes the Lionel Santa Fe Scout Freight will drop to $99 (shipped) temporarily which is half of MSRP.
Matt, if it's any consolation, my LHS Always sells M.S.R.P. And I do purchase from them
as well as thru the net. I feel it is worth my while to be able to go in and visit and worth
every penny.
I bought the LionChief Flyer for my grandson. Works well. Shorting out the track causes the transformer to turn off...and turns itself on when the short is removed. Very simple to run. Sounds are pretty good for a starter. Haven't done the smoke yet, but I did put 10 drops into the smoke unit.
I'm fortunate that my LHS is Nicholas Smith, whose prices tend to be lower than most places on the 'net...and that's on top of their amazing selection and great service. I'd say 85% or so of what I own came directly from them so I don't feel so bad about saving a little extra money around the holidays. I picked up this set, and the PE Remote and Freight sets ($199.99 each) for a total of $520. Locally it would have run me around $715 or so for all 3. Hopefully that doesn't make me a bad person.
I haven't opened the Pennsy Flyer yet (I have everything delivered to my office to avoid prying eyes), but I've been impressed with the PE set so far. I know my 4-year old daughter can operate the remote with ease, and that's the most important thing right now.
.. wow, I thought it was well priced at $199... ultimate Christmas Tree train deal there.
FYI - Amazon does have a best price guarantee on an item they sell for a lower price within 30 days of your purchase, so if you already purchased this recently you can get it for the current/lower price. Customer service phone number to request the correction/credit is 1-866-216-1072.
Not only is the PE LionChief at $145, but the PE Freight is down to $190. I haven't had any luck getting them to refund money when prices drop, but I have been able to get merchandise credit towards future orders. I think their policies may have changed recently.
Originally Posted by Philly Duke:
Not only is the PE LionChief at $145, but the PE Freight is down to $190. I haven't had any luck getting them to refund money when prices drop, but I have been able to get merchandise credit towards future orders. I think their policies may have changed recently.
As long as you are within 7 days of the delivery date, they will give you a price adjustment. I just got one for the Polar Express LionChief and the Penn Flyer LionChief sets I had delivered on Tues. $145 for the Polar Express and $119 for the Penn Flyer. Ridiculous prices.
$145 for the PE LionChief set is ridiculous. I bit.
It seems pretty cool from the few You Tube videos I've seen (including Ken Jr.'s Trainworld post). Impressive sound for the money. Oops, now I just realized this post is off-topic (not PA Flyer or CE related)...
The PRR logo on the 2012 model looks nicer than the basic number logo on the front of the 2013.
This is correct for a real PRR engine. Although the P-Company didn't have any USRA 0-8-0's, if they did, they certainly wouldn't have had a keystone with interlocking "PRR" on it! A round number plate is correct.
Jon 
I decided to give up on the Penn Flyer set, one of the couplers in the box car now pops open during normal operation after running it with the kids last night... Added to the list of issues with the loco-tender coupler wiring and buzzing audio system and I'm going to let Lionel and Amazon sort it out... maybe if they get enough returns with the same problems they decide it's worth fixing the basic design.
I've got a Santa Fe Scout RS3 freight set along with the Polar Express set from last week's Amazon fire-sale on the truck for delivery today so we'll see if it's just a quibble with the new Penn Flyer set.
Yuppie, can't offer a fix on the buzzing or the loco-tender connection. But the coupler is an easy fix. Not saying this will keep you from returning the set, but just for your info (and others) remove the wheel set closest to the coupler. Then using a flat head screw driver, pop or pry off the coupler thumbtack armature assembly. Heat it up (the safest bet is to use a blow drying, though I have gotten real good at using a lighter), and then bend the armature upward slightly from the point forward of where the thumbtack part of the armature goes down. Then immediately blow on the whole thing to cool it down after you have bent it upward. Reassemble and the problem will disappear.
I've had this problem not a lot, but it does happen on a somewhat consistant basis over the years. I make the quick fix, and the problem of unwanted uncoupling goes away.
And here's a link with some very nice photos of the PRR Flyer 0-8-0 LionChief steam engine. I'm not bothered at all by the cast-in handrails. Looks real nice to me.
Though I have noticed with the 2-4-2 LionChief steamers, the steam tender appears to be setting higher on the trucks as compared with this 0-8-0 or previous production 2-4-2 steamers. Must be some production reason for this. The high riding tender bothers me more than the cast-in handrails.
Thanks for the info on coupler repair, I will keep that in my quiver for future use!
I agree the models for the 2012 and 2013 Lionel PF 0-8-0 steamers are both nice, the matte paint finish and logo on the 2013 is a bit more weathered/realistic looking while the 2012 is prettier (with the chrome handrail and contrasting semi-gloss black/silver paint job set off by the red PRR logo). The 2013 version is not done justice in the marketing photos which make it look like it's made of bright green plastic further confused by the deletion of "die cast" form the the locomotive description when comparing the 2012 and 2013 catalog entries for the set.
I agree on the strange look of the LionChief 2-4-2 loco/tender combos, it almost looks like the tender is of a different/larger scale than the locomotive... if I were to guess based on the photos they are re-using the same basic tender model as their larger 2-8-4 locomotives since it's cheaper than producing another tender model for the 2-4-2 in their value starter sets.
My Two Cents: I wasn't going to get any of the lionchief sets as I alrady have a fews sets and midrange engines sitting in boxes waiting for a someday layout, but when i saw the ridiculous prices on Amazon i nabbed the pennsy set. Well lemme tell ya, I haven't had this much fun running a train since I was kid. love it love it
