Lionel LionChief Plus features better than expected.

Brian....good to see your post!!  I think these LionChief products are winners for both the hobby and for Lionel!!

Alan

Thanks for the Lion Chief Plus summary.

Glad to hear this and these are on my radar.

9.  Lionel showed a feature on video described as "motor protection".   Run the engine full in one direction, then slam it full in the opposite direction.   Loco does a gradual slow down and then reverse and gradual speedup.

10.  Volume control from the remote.

Thank you for the review.

Peter

I could not locate the LionChief Plus steam locomotives on your web site.  I tried Lionel, Steam engines and I there was only 1 page and no LionChief plus locomotives.  I must have done something wrong.

Steve, Lady and Tex

So does this mean that they can be run by the MTH DCS remote like a normal conventional engine?

I found them OK.  Thanks

Steve, Lady and Tex

I don't see why not but I will have to research that. I will do it tomorrow. I also plan to have a video up on them by tomorrow. Thanks.

Good Steve. I still have to fix a couple of the links on there. I posted that before I checked the website.

Noted feature # 9 listed above;

"Lionel showed a feature on video described as "motor protection".   Run the engine full in one direction, then slam it full in the opposite direction.   Loco does a gradual slow down and then reverse and gradual speedup."

Is this a feature or a failure??

This is a problem with the Lion Chief engines that I have.

I have 3 of the Thomas series. When running them there is about a 4 second delay between where the dial is set on the hand held controller for speed control and when the engine moves??
Is this the case with the LionChief Plus engines as well??

What happens is it makes it nearly impossible to run the train and stop at the correct location.

When I hand the remote to kids they expect the train to respond instantly as any video game or RC car /plane / helicopter.

The little kids at shows turn the dial back and forth and say the train is not running? They turn the dial one way the train does not move? so they turn it the other way train still does not move?

The other problem is that they turn it so far trying to get the train to go that I have had 2 hand held controllers broken at train shows, one the first weekend it was used it was broken within a couple of hours of starting to use it. They turn it so far it breaks off the stop inside the controller or strip the teeth between the dial and controller inside so it spins and does not control anything.

1st time I sent it back to hobby shop to replace it Lionel did not want it back said go to dealer for replacement.

2nd time I took it apart to see how it was designed. there is a very very tiny plastic tab inside the control unit that is very easy to break off.

If Lionel is going to design controllers like this with such a delay in the system, or regardless to sell it to families for kids to run then they need to strengthen the dial so it does not break off as easily.

Lionel\products\find a a product\Locomotives\Steam\LionChief

I'm an electrical engineer and I'd design it this way.  I haven't taken apart a Lioncheif or plus or talked with anyone about the details, but it would not surprise me if the "motor protection" is actually protecting some of the control circuitry providing power to the motor rather than the motor itself: motors are generally pretty robust, solid-state electronics not so much.  

Regardless, the four Thomas's I have all take time, as you observed, to slow when my grandkids or I twisted the remote into the opposite direction.  I both understood why that might be a prudent design feature, why it is a wise feature to have with my grandkids (grandpa has to re-rail the locos and cars less often), and accepted it as a good feature.  

Also, it's somewhat prototypical:  Reverse the throttle/valve settings on a real steam loco to "throw it into reverse" suddenly and it takes more than four seconds: how my movies/TV shows/books have had a speeding locomotive that is thrown into reverse only to hurtle forward into the horrific collision anyway? 

8. Price is affordable. Retail is $429.99. We have on sale for $312.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      That is as much a a legacy engine or a dcs engine. 

"That is as much a a legacy engine or a dcs engine."

Where can you buy a new Legacy or Rail King PS3 steamer for $310-320?  In my experience that's $75-100 less than any such competition, usually much more of a difference for a Legacy steamer.

I just b ought one for less than $320 including shipping - that's less than half what Legacy costs, so they aren't even close.  

That price is not much more than some WBB locos cost - Lioncheif plus is a real bargain as i see it. 

But can you turn the crew talk off and keep the rest of the sounds active?

Yes. You activate it from the Remote. It does not come on by itself.

That's good -- if it were automatic, that would be great for the young'uns, but I'm personally not a fan of it. Push button activation solves it.

I posted a short clip on a new thread of my new LC+ Hudson.   I can report that there is little throttle lag on the LC+.

There is a short lag on the bell and whistle, due to the use of those buttons with a double-tap to open the couplers.  So a short delay is the price for that double-use of the buttons.   I was more worried about accidentally firing the couplers when signaling with the whistle.   Happily, that was not a problem - never happened by accident.

Way to go Lionel - really a great engine.   Sounds are wonderful, slow speed control is amazing, excellent smoke in time with the chuffing.

"But, you can run the MTH stuff with thr DCS remote......"

Certainly true, but only after you've spent another $300 or so on the remote and the TIU to control PS3 in command mode.  Not suggesting that is bad value for money.

However, a Lion Chief Plus loco comes with its own remote.  That's a potential $300-400 savings if you don't require the features of the full-boat Legacy or DCS.  And if you have two such locos, two people can each use a remote without tossing it back and forth .  Or three such locos, etc., in a club environment, for example. It's a supplement to Lionel's Legacy, or a substitute.  There's no conflict.

Me Too.

 Just ordered mine. Thanks for the heads up Brian....

 Bruce....