So Lionels 2021 big book lists the John Bull sets in two flavors plus a "display set" of the loco and one pax car on a scale flat car. The latter I find very interesting. But those prices-even with a top ten dealer discount is a lot? Or am I "behind the times"?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
As one of the few (only?) purely conventional items in the entire catalog, they caught my eye. That, and the historical value.
Not sure what to say about price. Without knowing any solid figures yet, with that MSRP it's going to come in at about $850 to $899 or so with dealers like Charles Ro and some others.
A bit of dough for sure. I'll have to ponder this one which is my normal routine. I always sleep on the new catalog for a few weeks leading up to the preorder dates.
I probably would get one if I was 10 years younger and had 40% fewer trains already. Glad they are making these. I think they'll sell some. There are people for whom $1,000 isn't a lot of money, hard as that is for many of us to believe. Not everyone's cup of tea, but then again, I like the Area 51 set, and that's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Enjoy whichever...
I wish it had TMCC on board, but it might be too small for the package. Either way I'm still getting one. lol.
I think they look beautiful; and, as a matter of raw aesthetics, the John Bull was always the heritage unit that I admired the most. But it doesn't have smoke, doesn't have sound, doesn't have digital control - the issue for me is whether I have the room to display what is basically a piece of small art. Since the passenger cars now come bundled with the engine (unlike last time, when they were sold separately), I wish Lionel had spread out Legacy controls and speakers in the passenger cars with a tether to the engine. It's not like any of these items have knuckle couplers, they'll always be running only with each other, so if you treat the full train as one unit there's actually more than enough space in there for Legacy and sound.
I do admire Lionel for dreaming up the Pennsy flatcar version. And I think the Uncle Sam version looks great too (navy blue and gold are always a great color scheme).
These caught my eye immediately. I think the Pennsy flatcar version is really neat and will probably be getting it, although the Uncle Sam version does look beautiful.
$874 at Charles Ro. I think I'd call my prediction above pretty close. 
Agreed. If I was to get one, it would be the Uncle Sam version.
First look and the John Bull was the only item that really caught my attention. A bit disappointed it won't have BT control,,.. Still I like the look so most likely will order the Perth/Amboy set.
I will be ordering the Uncle Sam version as I already have the original offered by Lionel in brass/die cast mix
@ericstrains.com posted:I wish it had TMCC on board, but it might be too small for the package. Either way I'm still getting one. lol.
I'm sure at least the ERR Mini Commander II could be stuffed into one of those. 
Sound might be a wild card... I'm thinking on the Uncle Sam version if I were to jump. Disappointing for that money they didn't at least do LC+ 2.0 in them.
No more room on the shelf!
Tons of room there, squeeze those shelves together so you can get two-three more shelves in there! 
I'd consider one at about $5500 so I guess I am being left behind......looks good though.....
On the fence. Leaning towards getting one. I used to live near where it ran (some of the line is still intact). There is still a bit of track in Spotswood NJ with stone sleepers.
One of the original coaches was found being used as a chicken coup. It has since been restored and is in the Smithsonian.
I'm on the fence. I really love these older steam, but lack of command is killing me. Sounds isn't that much of a deal breaker, but command is putting me over the edge. I was hoping to run it in a train with the brass hybrid 4-4-0's. I still might get one and add DCC as I know those boards are small enough to fit, and will add sound too (Yes, I run 3R DCC at home.).
@AlanRail posted:
I also hope Lionel re-releases those other 3 sets too again (Top right and the 2 trains on the 2nd row.).
ERR upgrade would not be a problem. Just put it in one of the passenger cars. Then run 4 wires out of the the car. Two to the tender for a speaker and two to the engine for the motor. No smoke though. Probably need some sort of simulated chuff Like maybe one of John’s chuff switches on a passenger wheel but calibrated against the engine driver.
That said, someone has to explain to me why Bachmann can produce an On30 set with engine, tender, 3 passenger cars, track and a power pack and sell it for $300. They must be losing money hand over fist.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bachm...e:g:7CEAAOSwDyldWHuT
Pete
@Norton posted:That said, someone has to explain to me why Bachmann can produce an On30 set with engine, tender, 3 passenger cars, track and a power pack and sell it for $300. They must be losing money hand over fist.
Easy, there have been 100 times more of the Bachmann set made vs the Lionel set. The tooling is all paid for as well as all the development time. It's all profit now minus materials and shipping.
I see the John Bull sets are scheduled for delivery this month (March 2022). I ordered the PRR display set and the Camder and Amboy set. Would be awesome with command control, and sounds!
Hello All,
I finally made it to my local Hobby Store who was holding the Uncle Sam Set for me. I just got home and unboxed it . I've never seen the previous versions in real life, but I was surprised to see how small it is. The detail is really good IMO, but the operational side of this is terrible !!! It will barely pull two of the coaches on the small loop I set up and if I put the third one on it just sits there and spins the wheels . Previous posters are talking about adding electronics which sounds like a great idea, but with not being able to run it as designed it would be a waste to add anything to this. I'm really disappointed and certainly didn't want a shelf display only unit. I will probably bring it back.
I have the original John Bull set from the 2008 catalog along with the add-on (3rd) passenger. It has a very peppy engine having no problem pulling 3 cars. It's hard for me to imagine Lionel downsizing the engine for the new model. Suggest bringing it back to the store and have them run it on their track. If it doesn't work there, they certainly will give you a refund.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
