Lionel HO

Beautiful photos, Vinny, but now the inevitable question: How well do Lionel HO trains run?

Well, silly me.  I saw the subject and "assumed" y'all were talkin' 'bout vintage Lionel HO.

Instead yer talkin' MODERN Lionel HO.

Had some of the vintage type way back in the 1960s. Don't have any of the modern. SO... I will watch and learn.

Andre

Looks very nice. I wonder if this is the beginning of Lionel making an attempt to get a foot hold into HO.  I do hope they take the next step to improve the detail that other manufactures have to offer. I hate to say it, but we all know HO out numbers O, and the quality of HO is what makes the difference.

Your scenery. Vinny26, is outstanding. Nice job on thebridge.

ray

Ray of sunshine posted:

Looks very nice. I wonder if this is the beginning of Lionel making an attempt to get a foot hold into HO.  I do hope they take the next step to improve the detail that other manufactures have to offer. I hate to say it, but we all know HO out numbers O, and the quality of HO is what makes the difference.

Your scenery. Vinny26, is outstanding. Nice job on thebridge.

ray

HO is a very big pond to play in and brand loyalty isn't much of a factor as it is in O.  So Lionel can't rely on name recognition alone for HO.  It didn't work in the past, it won't work now. 

For the serious HO model railroader, these sets offer little in the way of detailing (the Polar Express pilot is still there and the cars have no rivet details.  Does the observation still have a PE rounded platform?)  At least they're DCC compatible.  However, these sets may be attractive to a newbie modeler getting started in the HO hobby.

What will be interesting to see is what Lionel does with the Mantua and Model Power lines purchased from MRC.

Rusty

Saw a guy in the Wyndham parking lot with a stack of boxed sets of lionel HO from the 50s/60s about up to my waist.  About half the stack was gone the next day.  Must be some demand for it.

"HO is a very big pond to play in and brand loyalty isn't much of a factor as it is in O.  So Lionel can't rely on name recognition alone for HO.  It didn't work in the past, it won't work now."

Yes, it's a big pond.  BUT.  "It won't work now".  I wouldn't be so sure.  

The "Magne-Track" alone is probably the best thing to happen in HO in a century.  Lionel demonstrated the track at the TCA Museum during York Week last year.  Amazing re-thinking of HO track - and track has been one of the BIG problems with HO (for casual hobbyists) over the years.  I suspect that Lionel has taken some care in making sure the trains run ... well.  If not, then the line deserves not to succeed.

Adding BlueTooth is a major plus not to mention having a very simple remote included suggests that Lionel HO may be in for a good ride in HO.    Add in accessories, etc., and Lionel will have created an excellent re-thinking of HO.

Hmm...first off, the "clunky" details on the engine are awful; I can't imagine any "serious" HO guy being interested. A model like that is only going to appeal to the "train set" crowd. Heck, AHM offered a Berkshire back in the 1960s that was much better looking than this thing.  

Here's my beat-up old example from 1971...looks weary, but still runs very well.

Secondly, as far as roadbed-type track is concerned, Kato's "Unitrack", along with Atlas ("True Track") and Bachmann ("EZ Track")  pretty much have that market covered , so I don't see this "Magne-Track" as being the new "gold standard", even for the train set crowd. Plus, I bet you'd find a good deal of HOers are using brands like Micro Engineering and Shinohara, particularly if they like the look of smaller rail size (code 70, etc.)...so to say that this new track "is probably the best thing to happen to HO in a century"...really? 

I'm inclined to agree with Rusty's assessment...FWIW.

Mark in Oregon

rthomps posted:

............................

Adding BlueTooth is a major plus not to mention having a very simple remote included suggests that Lionel HO may be in for a good ride in HO.   Add in accessories, etc., and Lionel will have created an excellent re-thinking of HO.

If they went that way, the 10 year old inside of me (and the adult to some extent) would agree.  As a kid in the late 70's through 80's into HO (since Lionel was not affordable on allowance/simple job money), I always was envious of the accessories available in O Gauge, which is probably what drove me to pursue O gauge once I became an adult with a real job.

The way Lionel has been dealing with accessories lately however, I'd be very surprised (though pleasantly so) if they invested in the costs to scale down all the tooling (for items where that is practical - some probably are not).  Around 15-20 years ago when Lionel re-did almost every PW accessory ever made with a modern version, they were putting a lot into that realm.  IMO lately, not so much.

If they do actually make HO accessories, I might have to get a few to go with some of the HO I still have from childhood.

-Dave

I see Lionel's Magnelock track doesn't use rail joiners.  Do all the rails line up when connected?  It seems to me, slight variances in the production of each piece of track may inevitably cause some of the rails to be slightly misaligned.  Is that not the case?  If not, how did Lionel avoid the problem?

Strummer posted:

Hmm...first off, the "clunky" details on the engine are awful; I can't imagine any "serious" HO guy being interested. A model like that is only going to appeal to the "train set" crowd. Heck, AHM offered a Berkshire back in the 1960s that was much better looking than this thing.  

Here's my beat-up old example from 1971...looks weary, but still runs very well.

Mark in Oregon

Mine looks a little different...

Rusty

...  ...cool!

Mark in Oregon