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Hello all,

I'm considering buying one of the new Lionel lionchief plus diesels, Atlantic coastline in particular and I'm wondering what you guys think of this new set by Lionel. Does it look prototypical and is it powerful enough to pull 518 inch streamline cars?

Please advise if you know any of the Atlantic Coast ones for sale or where I can get a decent deal on one.

Much appreciated thank you Jerry

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I purchased the Santa Fe AA last week and I really like them, they look great and are about the same exact size of my scale lionel Santa Fe F3s (a little wobble in the powered A, which might go away with more run time)  I am pulling 6, 14in. die cast gondola's with homemade loads , with no problems. I found the AA set for $399. I purchased the B unit also if I should need more power but have not run it yet I paid $229 for the B. Shipping $14.50 total for both units.           Good Luck. 

LionChief Plus FT A - B - A  •  Product Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1IqzW9IL7U

LionChief Plus FT A - B - A • This video is a Product Review about the LionChief Plus FT, A - B - A, lash-up. I will be running a Rio Grande but will show all 4 road names for this Lionel Locomotive Lash-up. I will also talk about the features on the remote and how to use them and all the control switches on the underside of the locomotive. I will be using iMovie with a lot of special features, to enhance the video. Enjoy & Thanks for watching.

Gary

I really like my ATSF FT set.   Strong pullers!  I purchased the powered B unit as well.   I expect that it will pull 10+ 18" passenger cars.   I run mine pulling 21 freight cars, and the consist acts as if it is running light (perhaps due to the constant speed control managing the motors).

I did not see a rating button so I will make a couple of suggestions.  The bell and horn buttons were a bit overdone for me.  I actually had to read the directions before I figured out how to vary the sound volume, a mention of that feature in the video would help slow learners  like me.  Nice video, steady is appreciated.  Did you have the powered B unit?  I am wondering how that is set up with these, does one controller wind up running both the powered A and B?  Does the rear coupler work on the nonpowered A and how is that set up?  Just a few thoughts, thanks for posting and keep them coming. 

Train Tunes Tom posted:

I have the Santa Fe AA and B units and have a deal of trouble with the smoke units.  What has been others experience?

These diesels are prolific smoke fluid leakers. No matter how careful you are, most of the fluid will leak out around the perimeter of the manifold and drip all over the interior, soak the electronics, and run out all over the track, fouling the tires and making a mess of your track and other rolling stock. And all the while, the element is burning up the dry smoke unit interior. For every ten drops in, one drop gets to the unit. To make matters worse, fluid gets clogged in the manifold under the stacks, so the fan driven smoke unit pressurizes the trapped fluid causing it to either be forced between the manifold and body, into the shell, or alternatively, come splattering out of the stack, soaking your loco like you've been frying bacon. You may as well have one of those Williams suethe type units with the way it spits like an angry llama. Usually only one or two of the four stacks emits smoke while the balance are clogged with a meniscus from Lionel's "premium" smoke fluid. If you get some of that gas tank sealing goop from an auto parts store, you can seal all around the perimeter of the manifold and at least stops leaks into the loco interior. 

Greg, I had the same issue with the smoke unit on my LC+ GP9. I had to use a light puff of compressed air to unclog it and it leaked.  I had t remove the cover from time to time and clean the inside of smoke fluid. It smoked great other than that. There were other issues that caused me to get my money back.

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