Lionel products for 2024 and beyond

@Dylan the Train Man posted:

-2026 Vision Line: I've got a few ideas:

-American Freedom Train locos and passenger cars

About a decade ago Lionel committed to make all the AFT engines and cars.  Lionel has completed two of the engines in Legacy (GS-4 and T1) and 17 of the 26 cars, then stopped making them several years ago.  It would be great if they would complete the rest of the cars, or at least the two Showcase Cars, by 2026.

It's been awhile since a Pennsy Turbine.

I would like to see some updated sounds. New crew talk. A locomotive bell that sounds like a locomotive bell. Air compressor sounds. Alco and GE that have shug shug sound when notching up.

As a proud of owner of the entire bicentennial, Spirit of '76 set (my first train set), I would love to see the semiquincentennial celebrated with a VL scale U36B Frisco red, white and blue engine, 13 PS-1 boxcars depicting the original 13 colonies and their stats, (done in the same paint schemes as the original cars), followed up with a red, white, and blue N8 VL Porthole caboose! 

And, just to make sure history repeats itself, Lionel will only make 250 "State of Virginia" boxcars regardless of how many sets have been ordered. 

A Nebraska Zephyr (Goddesses) train that runs on 036 curves.  Running on 036 curves is important because that'll double sales.  You'll get the Christmas train market.

Full sized Madison - not baby Madison - Polar Express cars.  Sold individually as open stock, not in sets.

Additional body types for each passenger car paint scheme so people can fill out their consists.

I was talking to someone in the train industry yesterday.  He told me that Lionel ignores some groups because it isn't worth their while.  Lionel needs to listen to everyone.

1. People whose layouts are tubular track and have no interest in FastTrack.
2. People whose maximum curve is 031 or 036.  The biggest locomotive they can run is a locomotive that has the running characteristics of a postwar Train Master.
3. People who don't want to buy an entire set to get specific cars.  They want the Themed Set cars, but don't want the engine or FastTrack loop.
4. Retailers who have trains that sit on the shelf for 2 years, but discover that they can't get warranty coverage when they sell the train.

"Lionel needs to listen to everyone."

I'm sure they listen to everyone most of the time, but only when it makes business sense.  Doing otherwise is the fast track (pun intended) to going out of business.

I'm a physician.  If I listened to everyone, I'd be practicing state of the art,  year of our Lord 1600,  medicine a good bit of the time .

Bottom line is that the bottom line has to be considered in any business.  Bottom line for me is  I cannot provide advice or treatment to patients I know is either harmful or sub-optimal, no matter what someone may want.

I'm interested in more operating accessories, and more Area 51, Willy Wonka and British outline stuff, but I suspect I'm in a tiny minority in most of these interests.  Not to mention more postwar and prewar remakes with LionChief technology .   Maybe a Phantom loco in BN, NYC, New Haven or GN colors.  I'm a bit eccentric, to say the least.  Have no illusions they will listen to my likely impractical ideas.

more dash 8 lionchief sets

lionchief 2.0 j class engines and a cool set

lionchief 2.0 GS4

lionchief 2.0 gp38

lionchief 2.0 T1 duplex

lionchief 2.0 galloping goose

lionchief 2.0 e33 rectifier

lionchief 2.0 EP5 electric

another run of lionchief 2.0 gg1s

@cbq9911a posted:

I was talking to someone in the train industry yesterday.  He told me that Lionel ignores some groups because it isn't worth their while.  Lionel needs to listen to everyone.

1. People whose layouts are tubular track and have no interest in FastTrack.
2. People whose maximum curve is 031 or 036.  The biggest locomotive they can run is a locomotive that has the running characteristics of a postwar Train Master.
3. People who don't want to buy an entire set to get specific cars.  They want the Themed Set cars, but don't want the engine or FastTrack loop.
4. Retailers who have trains that sit on the shelf for 2 years, but discover that they can't get warranty coverage when they sell the train.

1. People whose layouts are tubular track and have no interest in FastTrack.

There is enough tubular track out there to last a lifetime. I am sure they dropped this because the money isn't there. They bet on Fastrack, and I would guess that bet has paid off.

1. People whose maximum curve is 031 or 036.  The biggest locomotive they can run is a locomotive that has the running characteristics of a postwar Train Master.

Maybe I am missing something here, but I feel like Lionel has done a lot over the past few years to offer smaller offerings. Yes, there are big boys, but there has been a lot more Legacy small steam from Lionel in the past few years. On top of that, they have added LC2.0 to a number of engines. I feel like they have totally listened to this group. The biggest complaint here is not making scale-proportioned 15" passenger cars, but that feels like a stretch.

@Dylan the Train Man posted:

Going off of a recent post about the 2025 Vision locomotive speculation, I'd like to give my ideas for possible locomotives for the next few years. Lionel has some great celebrations coming in 2024-2026. What items could they make in those years?

-2024:

Lionel announced the Vision Triplex for next year with some cool new features (the wheel slip feature is amazing!). Dave at Lionel revealed that the Base-3 will be released (finally!) in spring 2024, with a new website for the system, and also all of Lionel's power and control systems, coming in January sometime. At their LCCA meeting earlier this year, they announced that 2024 will be the 20th Anniversary of the Polar Express film. That could give us some cool models and products. Here are my suggestions:

-Obviously, we should get the Pere Marquette/Polar Express Berkshire with matching passenger cars. Hopefully Lionel will include some new details on the 20th Anniversary Polar Express loco and rolling stock.

-Along with the PM/PE Berk, we could also see a new NKP Berk with matching rolling stock as well.

-A Polar Express 20th Anniversary starter set will probably be made, too.

-2025:

2025 is Lionel's 125th Anniversary, so that means we could get some cool stuff to celebrate. Here are my suggestions.

2025 is a remake year for Lionel's Vision Line. I have two possibilities for Vision locomotives for 2025:

-NYC 700E Hudson with new roadnumbers and liveries. Maybe we could get scale Irvington Cars or the red articulated Rail Chief set (both would be cool). Maybe some new Hudson models could be made including: ATSF Blue Goose and 3450/3460-Class, Milwaukee Road F6 and F7-Class, CB&Q, B&A, C&NW, CP Rail, CN, etc., as well as the Commodore Vanderbilt Hudson and both J1e and J3a versions of the NYC Hudsons.

-PRR GG1 with new roadnumbers and liveries, including PRR, Penn Central, Conrail, and NJ Transit. I think that a Vision version of the Postwar #2332 Black GG1 and the #2340 Congressional Set Tuscan Red GG1 (with matching passenger cars, of course) would be cool to celebrate Lionel's 125th Anniversary.

Also for 2025, I think Lionel should make Prewar-, Postwar-, and MPC-inspired scale Legacy sets and locomotives (like they did with the Prewar-inspired S2 Electric set a few years ago) including the following:

-CNJ Blue Comet

-C&A Alton Limited

-Southern RR Crescent Limited

-ATSF Super Chief

-UP M-10000/City of Salina and City of Denver

-B&M Flying Yankee

-New Haven EP5 Electric (and other liveries, too)

-E33 Electric (in multiple liveries)

-FM Trainmaster PW- and MPC-Inspired units

Could Lionel re-acquire the tooling for their Tinplate Prewar O-Gauge and Standard Gauge models from MTH? Or did they already when Lionel got some of MTH's tooling?

-2026:

2026 is the 250th Anniversary of the United States. That could mean that Lionel could make some cool patriotic stuff. Also, they will be releasing a brand-new Vision locomotive for that year.

-2026 Vision Line: I've got a few ideas:

-PRR T1 Duplex

-Siemens Charger (SC44, ALC-42, ALC-42E, SCB40, etc.) with matching passenger cars (Siemens Venture, Superliners, Commuter Cars, Surfliners, etc.)

-ET44AC/ET44C4 (with correct truck sideframe details)

-SD70ACe-T4

-EMD F125 "Spirit"

Then we should be getting some new patriotic locomotives. Here are a few of my ideas:

-Top of the list: ATSF Bicentennial SD45-2s, along with ATSF Blue/Yellow, Seaboard, EL, Conrail, Clinchfield, CSX, NS, and BNSF (SD40-2R and SD32ECO w/ 12-Cylinder 710 engine sounds) versions, too

-American Freedom Train locos and passenger cars

-Military units (CSX, NS, etc.) plus new fantasy paint schemes

-Bicentennial units for BN, NS, N&W, UP, etc.

-Matching rolling stock for all of these

Penn Central GG1's would be Awesome.  A Patch over one would be cool.

The next catalog will likely include a GG-1 regular Lionchief set for the 90th Anniversary with the tooling of O27 passenger cars in this years catalog.

What I would love to see is a Brightline SCB-40 and Venture cars.  But would require new tooling.

It's time for Lionel to rerelease the CN black and white consist with the skytop observation car like the Hiawatha. I think it would sell out quickly.

I would buy a fresh Allegheny.

I'm on a New England milk binge lately.   Our local garden club had the honor of holiday decorating the Milk Room at the Frances Osborne Kellogg Museum in Derby, Ct.  This years theme for the Milk Room was Frances association with Storrs, Ct.  Storrs is the home of the University of Connecticut (UCONN).  Frances's Estate endowed the UCONN Dairy Program in perpetuity.  My involvement in researching Frances's UCONN connection peaked my interest in regional steam era milk transport.

I had the Lionel operating milk car from when I was a kid.  I also have the American Flyer Cow on the Track accessory and a few Lionel Milk Reefers with tanks.  I have recently acquired the KBL Operating Milk Loader Depot and KBL Operating Milk Car. 

For 2024 and beyond I would be interested in New England Creamery Reefers from Lionel or accessories to add to my evolving milk and creamery transport scene.

The Vision Line Phantom!

Just make something in Boston and Albany or AEC livery please.  Doesn't have to glow in the dark or speak crew chatter with a Boston accent.  Maybe a 6560 crane car?

I would like to see a middle ground on sets. I have no interest in the Legacy Premium sets and I am not a fan of the basic Lionchief sets. But something with the Lionchief 2.0 and etc. Leave out the track also. I feel like there has to be a market for that.

I guess most O scalers have their wish lists for trains they hope Lionel will make looking ahead. But I'm with RamblerDon. Seems that Lionel makes lots of starter and theme sets to get kids into model railroading along with the higher end stuff running up to and over $2,000. So if I was younger in the hobby, I too, would want to see more middle sets. Ones that aren't so toy-like on the lower end, or so super expensive on the higher end.

I realize that Lionel is now owned by a capital investment firm, so its interest is producing trains it thinks will make the most money. But after scrolling through Lionel's latest Big Book for 2024, I'm glad to be just a small operator and satisfied with what I already have.

To give some examples of what I would like to see is more sets like the 120th Deluxe Lionchief set. Something close to the old Postwar Celebration sets. Keep them traditional sized. Leave out the track and such. Use the new 2.0 tech so they can be ran in conventional or Command Control. They can probably keep the sets around a grand. Seems like a win-win to me.

@Dylan the Train Man posted:

Going off of a recent post about the 2025 Vision locomotive speculation, I'd like to give my ideas for possible locomotives for the next few years. Lionel has some great celebrations coming in 2024-2026. What items could they make in those years?

-2024:

Lionel announced the Vision Triplex for next year with some cool new features (the wheel slip feature is amazing!). Dave at Lionel revealed that the Base-3 will be released (finally!) in spring 2024, with a new website for the system, and also all of Lionel's power and control systems, coming in January sometime. At their LCCA meeting earlier this year, they announced that 2024 will be the 20th Anniversary of the Polar Express film. That could give us some cool models and products. Here are my suggestions:

-Obviously, we should get the Pere Marquette/Polar Express Berkshire with matching passenger cars. Hopefully Lionel will include some new details on the 20th Anniversary Polar Express loco and rolling stock.

-Along with the PM/PE Berk, we could also see a new NKP Berk with matching rolling stock as well.

-A Polar Express 20th Anniversary starter set will probably be made, too.

-2025:

2025 is Lionel's 125th Anniversary, so that means we could get some cool stuff to celebrate. Here are my suggestions.

2025 is a remake year for Lionel's Vision Line. I have two possibilities for Vision locomotives for 2025:

-NYC 700E Hudson with new roadnumbers and liveries. Maybe we could get scale Irvington Cars or the red articulated Rail Chief set (both would be cool). Maybe some new Hudson models could be made including: ATSF Blue Goose and 3450/3460-Class, Milwaukee Road F6 and F7-Class, CB&Q, B&A, C&NW, CP Rail, CN, etc., as well as the Commodore Vanderbilt Hudson and both J1e and J3a versions of the NYC Hudsons.

-PRR GG1 with new roadnumbers and liveries, including PRR, Penn Central, Conrail, and NJ Transit. I think that a Vision version of the Postwar #2332 Black GG1 and the #2340 Congressional Set Tuscan Red GG1 (with matching passenger cars, of course) would be cool to celebrate Lionel's 125th Anniversary.

Also for 2025, I think Lionel should make Prewar-, Postwar-, and MPC-inspired scale Legacy sets and locomotives (like they did with the Prewar-inspired S2 Electric set a few years ago) including the following:

-CNJ Blue Comet

-C&A Alton Limited

-Southern RR Crescent Limited

-ATSF Super Chief

-UP M-10000/City of Salina and City of Denver

-B&M Flying Yankee

-New Haven EP5 Electric (and other liveries, too)

-E33 Electric (in multiple liveries)

-FM Trainmaster PW- and MPC-Inspired units

Could Lionel re-acquire the tooling for their Tinplate Prewar O-Gauge and Standard Gauge models from MTH? Or did they already when Lionel got some of MTH's tooling?

-2026:

2026 is the 250th Anniversary of the United States. That could mean that Lionel could make some cool patriotic stuff. Also, they will be releasing a brand-new Vision locomotive for that year.

-2026 Vision Line: I've got a few ideas:

-PRR T1 Duplex

-Siemens Charger (SC44, ALC-42, ALC-42E, SCB40, etc.) with matching passenger cars (Siemens Venture, Superliners, Commuter Cars, Surfliners, etc.)

-ET44AC/ET44C4 (with correct truck sideframe details)

-SD70ACe-T4

-EMD F125 "Spirit"

Then we should be getting some new patriotic locomotives. Here are a few of my ideas:

-Top of the list: ATSF Bicentennial SD45-2s, along with ATSF Blue/Yellow, Seaboard, EL, Conrail, Clinchfield, CSX, NS, and BNSF (SD40-2R and SD32ECO w/ 12-Cylinder 710 engine sounds) versions, too

-American Freedom Train locos and passenger cars

-Military units (CSX, NS, etc.) plus new fantasy paint schemes

-Bicentennial units for BN, NS, N&W, UP, etc.

-Matching rolling stock for all of these

How one simple thing……trains that don’t dissolve and support that last longer than……..sorry it’s obsolete

I would love to see a Legacy Norfolk & Western / Strasburg Class M

Love to see the C&O Yellow Belly Hudson done in Legacy with 18" aluminum car set.  Now that would be cool.

@Sean's Train Depot posted:

Love to see the C&O Yellow Belly Hudson done in Legacy with 18" aluminum car set.  Now that would be cool.

We're way over due.  Would make a great VL engine.

Back to the future license for products

Two locomotives  and the delorean

Multi Color leds in smoke stack with high speed burst/speed step increase with color change  

While we can hope Lionel listens to each of our unique individual and small group wants and needs, I'm reminded of Bill Bellichick's quote that he listened to the people in the stands, he'd soon be sitting with them.

That aside, I was happy to see the Lionchief 2-4-2 painted in the fantasy Pacemaker in the 2024 catalog as I'm hoping for an LC+2.0 Hudson with the same decoration isn't far behind.

an Al Bowlly boxcar that plays some of his songs

another stab at an accesory with a bluetooth speaker

lionchief Pennsylvania limited yellow kid passenger set rerelease perhaps with the new 675 tooling

Honestly the only thing I really wanna see Lionel make is a Lionchief N&W J Class. It would literally be a money printer for them and outside of 611 and the J class in general being apparently under heavy copyright guard by the VMT I'm surprised Lionel hasn't made one yet