Lionel LionChief Product Video

Nice smoke rings! Looks like it's puffing Spaghetti-O's!

We have the Thomas the Tank version.  It is great.  3 year olds can operate these.  They run on the Legacy controlled layout. You can run them at the same time you are running a TMCC-Legacy controlled engine.  Controller has the sound,bell, and whistle.  If you are not running conventional and want something that is a cost saver, this is it.

Recently I was awoken by the sound of chuffing.  I thought I was dreaming, only to find my 3 year old son running his Thomas set at 3am by himself.  He was able to plug in the power pack, connect to the track, and get Thomas started all by himself.  This is how you create the future of this hobby.

This seems like a good system. I am glad they went with radio and not an IR remote; should be more reliable.

Though, with matched engines and remotes, the secondary market is gonna be real fun a few years from now. You think it's frustrating the way postwar engines and tenders get separated? Well...

Hi Charlie ,

This photo of your son is priceless, I love it

Also thanks very much for posting the video

Alex

Wow I Really like the idea of a nice remote set for my son. Question I have is at 18 volts what happens when you get a short, from lets say a derailment or putting cars on the track. I seems putting the remote in neutral does not shut off power? Maybe some one with a Thomas set can explain.

Thanks

41miles

Great picture Charlie.

I'll have to take a picture of one of the cards that's hanging on the bulletin board in the DT&M roundhouse.  The cover is a photograph of a couple young guys watching the steam crane at work with the caption something along the lines of, "when young boys look at trains", and when you open it there is a picture of a couple of the railroad crew members in the same position watching the crane.

That's essentially how it worked for me  Glad your son likes his Thomas set.  That smile tells everything.

Thanks for posting.

These now sound a lot more appealing to me after watching this video than I had first thought (which were what were they thinking here?). I will look into a future purchase more seriously now. 

Wonder how long they will keep making the remotes as replacement parts? 5, 10, 20 years?  What happens after that? I still think a fall back to conventional operation is a good idea. And what about track shorts, as a previous poster was also wondering?

My son has had lots of derailments.  We set the engine and cars back on the track and away Thomas goes.

I seem to remember having that issue when I was his age

I'm wondering if the illuminated cars in these sets will have 18v lamps - different from the conventional sets.