K-Line A-5 Pennsylvania switcher

They came with and without TMCC. Cab 94 is conventional, Cab 913 is TMCC. It uses Lionel modular boards without cruise but a Cruise M will fit. It has a puffer smoke unit, 2 chuffs per rev and Railsounds 4.

Sweet little engines. Lionel has used these for their conventional and Lionchief engines.

Pete

Norton posted:

They came with and without TMCC. Cab 94 is conventional, Cab 913 is TMCC. It uses Lionel modular boards without cruise but a Cruise M will fit. It has a puffer smoke unit, 2 chuffs per rev and Railsounds 4.

Sweet little engines. Lionel has used these for their conventional and Lionchief engines.

Pete

Thank you. They have a good bit of pull power behind them? I know, I know “it’s a switcher they don’t usually run distance” however I run a small train yard layout I’d like to run this consistently on. It is a conventional powered layout and I was looking at the 94 so it conventional anyway.

They have some decent weight, heavier than a starter set 0-8-0 for sure. I haven't tried but think 10 modern cars would be no problem, maybe more.

The guys with a Lionchief version could tell you for sure.

Pete

get the lionchief plus version. same engine only better with lionchief plus model as they have fan driven smoke, cruise,better crew talk. plus you can use the lc+ remote to controll it. just power your convetional track to 18 volts. then you have wireless walk around controll. the lionchief plus models are not much more than a used kline one. trainland has them on sale right now. if you buy the kline model it will run ok,but you will want to add the cruise m by err to really get good speed control especially at low speeds. after all that you may spend more or just as much as a new lc+ model with better features. just my two cents.

Like all K-line steam engines they have very little smoke. The 0-4-0 is the only scale steam engine I never had. The 0-6-0 is way more detailed and a beautiful engine. I would try to find one of them but they are getting a little hard to find. Don

Actually, there were two K-Line 0-4-0 models, one was pretty nicely done. the other was a basic version with very limited detail in the running gear.

My major complaint with mine is no fan driven smoke, but I'm going to correct that omission when I get the chance!   I got the TMCC model like new for $200, and all I had to add is the Cruise Commander M for cruise.

I Have the 913 and 411 Kline A5 switchers.I run them together and have had no problems with them. I bought the 913 for 175.00 at a show and the 411 was 125.00 (no box) .

Great video Bob. It demonstrates the impressive audio volume these RS4 boards can produce and also the smoke output can be improved with a simple resistor and batting change. Not uncommon these TMCC versions can be had for under 200 bucks.

Pete

Bob your video has me sold! I like Lionel’s models but I’m trying to diversify my collection a little bit. I have the Marx and lionel side of my collection, now I’d like to look into some of the Atlas and Kline products available. After seeing the video I’m definitely going to look for a well priced model in good condition! I will look into the lionel model as well just for future reference. I’m a wee bit obsessive over switchers recently, specifically 0-6-0’s and 0-4-0’s.

I have the A5 TMCC version....smooth running and mine smokes well....I use it to pull a work train. I will try to find the video.

Peter

From 2013......

Peter

Norton posted:

They came with and without TMCC. Cab 94 is conventional, Cab 913 is TMCC. It uses Lionel modular boards without cruise but a Cruise M will fit. It has a puffer smoke unit, 2 chuffs per rev and Railsounds 4.

Sweet little engines. Lionel has used these for their conventional and Lionchief engines.

Pete

What Pete says.  Mine was a K-Line by Lionel and as aTMCC it does have all the "bells & whistles."  One thing to consider is what era do you want to model. 

Note mine is modeled with "electric" lights some were modeled with "kerosene" (earlier era) lights.

Ron

The LionChief Plus Pennsylvania A5 with Bluetooth (6-84967) using the same molds that produced the higher-end K-Line version.

Trainworld still has them on sale for $299.99 right now.

https://www.trainworld.com/man...plus-a5-w-bluetooth/

Here’s mine:

And here’s a video on my layout to show how it smokes, sounds and runs:

Jim R. posted:

The LionChief Plus Pennsylvania A5 with Bluetooth (6-84967) using the same molds that produced the higher-end K-Line version.

Trainworld still has them on sale for $299.99 right now.

https://www.trainworld.com/man...plus-a5-w-bluetooth/

Here’s mine:

And here’s a video on my layout to show how it smokes, sounds and runs:

Price isn’t what’s selling me. I’ve been looking into both of them now and I still like the Kline model better. The Lionchief model is very nice and has all the features I’m looking for but the Kline model has the paint detail and smooth drive that I love, and really that’s whats selling it for me. It does help that most of the Kline models I find are almost $100 cheaper but that’s not what matters to me at this point. 

@Bicboy95 I can't imagine that Lionel made any mechanical changes to the drive system.  I strongly prefer the "modern" style headlight.  It would be interesting to see side-by-side photos for comparison purposes.

The K-Line with the Cruise Commander M runs a lot smoother than the LC+ model, at least IMO.  You get 100 speed steps instead of 16 or so, much finer control.  Yes, the lack of fan driven smoke is a minus, but that can be fixed.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The K-Line with the Cruise Commander M runs a lot smoother than the LC+ model, at least IMO.  You get 100 speed steps instead of 16 or so, much finer control.  Yes, the lack of fan driven smoke is a minus, but that can be fixed.

I agree. It’s just a very well made model and I love it. You are correct the smoke unit is a decently easy change over from what I’ve seen and I can’t imagine it’s too difficult.

I want to get an A5, but why is it 2 chuff?  Really , I am curious if there is a reason for that 'feature' (lack of 4 chuff feature?).

I get it on the old K Line, 2 chuff was a Lionel/K-Line thing back then for some reason, but why on the new lion chief ones? Is there some tech reason or space issue? 

There the mth ps2 one (4 chuff of course) floating around endlessly on ebay but pretty steep asking price for used.

Probably because LC+ are considered "toy trains."  Sorrowfully, Lionel probably expects them to be run full-tilt.  And on a small-wheeled switcher, 4 chuffs would sound like machine-gun fire.  Others on here who are more familiar with ERR, Super Chuffer, etc., might be able to suggest an upgrade path.  It might involve adding hall sensors or white dots to the inside of your wheel rim, etc.  Whether it's economically justified is up to you!

I have the TMCC  Version and what I love about this little engine is its ability to handle really tight curves. I set up a small display at the office every Christmas using K-Line's SuperStreets track on top of a file cabinet. That's a 16" radius and the A5 handles it flawlessly. Enjoy.

Ted S posted:

Probably because LC+ are considered "toy trains."  Sorrowfully, Lionel probably expects them to be run full-tilt.  And on a small-wheeled switcher, 4 chuffs would sound like machine-gun fire.  Others on here who are more familiar with ERR, Super Chuffer, etc., might be able to suggest an upgrade path.  It might involve adding hall sensors or white dots to the inside of your wheel rim, etc.  Whether it's economically justified is up to you!

Yeah. Here’s “toy”-like LionChief Plus engine running on its second or third speed step. I’ll let others decide for themselves on how well they perform based in this video.

Oh I didn't mean to call the little switcher's slow-speed capability into question.  Even the original K-Line version without cruise was a smooth runner.  I just meant that the convention of two chuffs per revolution for LionChief Plus locos is probably because Lionel's management sees them as toy trains for the traditional O-gauge crowd.  They probably hope that folks seeking more realism in sound and performance would go in for Legacy.

I agree that most of these locos run slow enough that four chuffs would be preferable.  Or make it a jumper on the board so everyone would be happy.

Ted S posted:

Oh I didn't mean to call the little switcher's slow-speed capability into question.  Even the original K-Line version without cruise was a smooth runner.  I just meant that the convention of two chuffs per revolution for LionChief Plus locos is probably because Lionel's management sees them as toy trains for the traditional O-gauge crowd.  They probably hope that folks seeking more realism in sound and performance would go in for Legacy.

I agree that most of these locos run slow enough that four chuffs would be preferable.  Or make it a jumper on the board so everyone would be happy.

I agree. Four chuffs would enhance its slow-speed operations. My guess is that Lionel intended to keep the price low by not designing too many enhancements into it.

Up until now, at least, the LionChief line has been meant for the lower end of the market, but this loco is impressive regardless, especially at the discounted price the large dealers have been able to sell them for in the past month.

Actually, the 2-chuff/4-chuff for LC+ was strictly a no-cost decision by Lionel.  Since the LC+ chuff is generated internally on the logic board, changing that would be as simple as changing a line or two of code in the LC+ code base.  It had nothing to do with the cost, just some marketing decision I would imagine.

I’ve owned the TMCC version for many years. It’s one of my favorite engines and can handle the tightest curves, even the K-Line Superstreets. This little engine is very strong and to be honest it runs fine without cruise control.  I don’t think the Cruise-M board can be installed without some modifications to the inside of the Tender. I miss K-Line, they were making some great products 🚂

3rd Rail / Sunset Models carries the ERR products.

@Newt posted:

I don’t think the Cruise-M board can be installed without some modifications to the inside of the Tender. I miss K-Line, they were making some great products 🚂

Actually, the CC-M goes in the locomotive, and it fits just fine without any modifications.  The tender just has the sound boards.

Here's three of mine, the lead engine is a full up command conversion of the conventional version with fan driven smoke, etc. the other two are stock except for the CC-M installed.  The CC-M is a simple install in these.