First Swinging Bell

The Vision 700E made around 2012 was the first to have a swinging bell. I think only a handful of engines have that feature. Its a feature found only on Legacy engines from the factory though it can be added to other Lionel command engines.

Pete

The swinging bell came out with the VisionLine in 2009. The 2-10-10-2, 0-8-8-0 also have the swinging bell, and came out before the 700e. Outside of these VL releases, I think the only engines with swinging bell are the NYC S-2 electrics from 2017 and the Pennsy 2-8-0s from 2018. Pretty sure thats it for the list, but I may be forgetting something.

The JLC line predates the VisionLine by several years (2000-2006), and does not have the same steam features (only stack).

I'm not sure of any list of engines specifically with swinging bell, but I know the most reasonably priced engines that had swinging bell and whistle steam were the Legacy H-10 engines from a few years ago. I paid just around $400 for mine and the engine is great- and it has both whistle steam and swinging bell. If you're looking for an engine that's "fully loaded" the Vision Line CC2 has swinging bell, whistle steam, and blow-down steam.

The Visionline CC2 from 2009 had the swinging bell as did the Santa Fe 2-10-10-2 from 2010.  Before that, I’m not sure.

-Brian

The 2018 Legacy H-10s have the swinging bell, whistle steam, and all of the other standard Legacy steam features.  Some have complained it's not a completely prototypical version of the H-10 (in fact, I think the bell on prototype H-10s was mechanically actuated and didn't actually swing), but if you're at least as much of an operator as a rivet counter you'll enjoy it, and at a price that's a lot less than most of the other engines that have the swinging bell.  It's a cool feature.  Mine was weathered by Harry Heike and looks great.

My K-Line Big Boy has a swinging bell but it only swings with motion of the engine.

@Norton posted:

The Vision 700E made around 2012 was the first to have a swinging bell. I think only a handful of engines have that feature. Its a feature found only on Legacy engines from the factory though it can be added to other Lionel command engines.

Pete

The first one I know of is the CC2 from 2009, I have that one.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The first one I know of is the CC2 from 2009, I have that one.

John, do you make a kit to add a swinging bell?  I have a Norfolk & Western-LEGACY J Class 746-1931390 I would love to add it to. 

Nope, and the J Class didn't have a swinging bell, it was electrically operated I believe.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Nope, and the J Class didn't have a swinging bell, it was electrically operated I believe.

ok, Then I guess I shouldn't add one. 

Probably not a good candidate anyway due to the position of the bell.   You need space for the coil under the shell, and the board is a Legacy board, so you'd have to upgrade the electronics to Legacy to use it.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Nope, and the J Class didn't have a swinging bell, it was electrically operated I believe.

Pneumatically operated

According to page 46 of the Riddle book I'm reading ("America's Standard Gauge Electric Trains"), American Flyer introduced a "ringing/swinging bell" back in 1927...

Mark in Oregon