Lionel Ready to Play Construction Set

I have the NYC battery powered 2 gauge freight set, and I chose to run it on the supplied plastic sectional track. Nice sounds and smooth operation. BEST Lionel set for $99 I ever owned! Batteries seemingly last forever!

I've seen these posts on the forum before, but nobody says how they did it. My wife loves STD, and I'd like to make something for her.

@artyoung posted:

I've seen these posts on the forum before, but nobody says how they did it. My wife loves STD, and I'd like to make something for her.

Reasonable easy. Steam loco’s have really wide faced drivers and usually work with no modifications. Diesels will need the same actions as the cars. For the tender and cars, you need to remove the trucks. Everything is held together with Phillips head screws. Once you remove the trucks, you can use a mini wheel puller if you have one to push the axle in about 1/16” at each wheel. I don’t have a small puller so I use a center punch to tap the axle in.

Steve

Thanks Steve, I'm glad it's something fairly easy to do. I was afraid it would entail re-motoring, new drivers, and a third rail pick-up. It's a bit late for Christmas, but her birthday is coming up. Thanks again.

Steve: You inspired me again! I just ordered that yellow construction set (work train?) a few minutes ago from Amazon. As I mentioned above, I run my NYC 2" gauge on the supplied plastic track and I have yet to change the batteries. GREAT FUN for only $99.99. Possibly the best Lionel set for the money I have ever owned!

FYI: The Amazon ad for this set includes a short Lionel promotional video with the set sounds. These should sell out!

Picked one up for 40% off for my kids, ages 2 and 5. They're not ready for o gauge trains, still too delicate and difficult to get back on track for them.. This should be a good in between and they'll love the remote.

Compared to other ready to run sets this one seems to have a lot of play value with the crane and removable payloads.

I just ordered a second one at 40% off so I can run a A-A set up.

Steve

Just got mine running last night! What a hoot! :-)

Lionel should sell a ton of these! Very smooth running and low battery draw. A home run/touchdown for Lionel! And low cost fun!

I bought one and regauged it to standard gauge. Super easy and a really nice set.

No disrespect, but the scale/track ratio is better suited to the supplied plastic track to my eye. To each, his or her own! :-)

Plus, I am LAZY! LOL!

Last year got the Harry Potter set for about $60 or $70 (cannot recall) and it's one of the bargains of the toy train world.  Nice for around the tree or the younger kids to play with and probably destroy eventually. Won't run so fast that it leaves the track, which is a good thing. Does require 6 C batteries for the loco and 3 AAAs for the handheld remote.

@Landsteiner posted:

Last year got the Harry Potter set for about $60 or $70 (cannot recall) and it's one of the bargains of the toy train world.  Nice for around the tree or the younger kids to play with and probably destroy eventually. Won't run so fast that it leaves the track, which is a good thing. Does require 6 C batteries for the loco and 3 AAAs for the handheld remote.

I have started using rechargeable C batteries since I have a number of these sets.

Steve

These sets were a brilliant marketing idea for Lionel. The construction set is especially well done and I love the crew talk!