Lionel Vision Line Triplex Official Brochure.

@Norman R posted:

Lionel 2024 Triplex Brochure: “all new wheel slip simulation… Not just a sound effect this time… the sounds and smoke will follow along”. I have struggled mightily to simply be quiet about this feature. Sadly, I have lost the battle. For a person with an unbalanced sense of humor a wheel slip simulation is a slope that descends into a catalog of whacky behaviors by expensive toy trains.

Its thrilling to see Lionel opening up new frontiers in the never-ending pursuit of O gauge locomotives that authentically replicate behaviors that are undesirable or completely wrong in the prototype. This year they’ve cracked open Pandora’s Box a bit further with authentic motion and sound of wheel slip. Engineers and mechanics don’t want wheel slip - it puts inordinate strain and wear on the locomotive drive train and track rails. O gauge railroading enthusiasts? Well, at least some of us are willing to pay BIG BUCKS to get it to happen.

On the next Visionline offering, maybe Lionel can up the ante with prototypical derailment action which will pitch the locomotive off the track at the press of a button on your Cab 3 remote. (If you don’t have a Cab3 remote, well, sorry, there’s no way you can get this to happen.)

Turning it up another notch, there’s the Visionline with “authentic boiler explosion action”.  Just hit the big red mushroom button on your Lionchief app and the locomotive scatters all over your layout. (The fine print in the brochure says this button may only be pressed one time per purchase.)

The fun doesn’t stop there! The possibilities are endless. People in business and accounting professions can’t wait for the new Penn Central Visionline locomotives. Just hit this feature on your controller and the locomotive goes bankrupt and rolls to a stop. This high-tech financial simulation works great even in TMCC and transformer control modes.

C’mon folks, let’s help Lionel out. What railroading failure modes do you want to see come to life with your next purchase?

I always thought the train wreck sequence sound on the DCS app was a little weird. I activated it once and never touched that button again.

Brad

Yes, when the coal bunker & water tank was full, the Triplex had superb traction, but when it was depleting the traction on the rear-most set was reduced, which makes sense. Potentially, Lionel could mate the depleting coal load feature with an auto-activated wheel slip such that wheel-slip frequency would be correlated with depleting coal load, making the operator stop and re-fuel (sounds like a lot of work )

@kanawha posted:

Apparently the slipping drivers under the tender is very prototypical. According to a short article on the Virginian triplex (The Virginian Railway by H. Reid), "when the coal and water supply in the tender grew low, the lessened weight caused the driving wheels to slip".

Lionel could add another feature, "the 700 had to be halted every two or three miles to build up another full head of steam.. Those three sets of cylinders gobbled up steam faster than the boiler produced it." So Lionel could put a timer in the engine controls so it ran a few minutes then would come to a slow stop, sit for several minutes, and then run for a few minutes before stopping again. "Virginian men were running out of new cuss words faster than the 700 was losing steam." Imagine the opportunity to include some interesting crew talk additions.

The slow engine was good at suffocating the crew in tunnels, "The engineer stuffed a bag over his head to keep from suffocating. The Fireman jumped into the water tank for his trips through Micajah'' tunnel. So an animated Fireman could be added with him jumping into the water tank from time to time.

Finally, "As far as the railway was concerned, the 700 never did make a successful trip... ". So they had it shipped back to Baldwin, removed the engine under the tender, added a trailing truck under the engine, and turned it into a 2-8-8-2. The tender engine got a new boiler and tender and became a 2-8-2. Both of these were fairly successful and lasted to 1953. Lionel could include a separate Mikado boiler and tender that would allow the owner to convert the triplex into two engines and visa versa.

Ken

Maybe Lionel should do the Virginian 700 as a Transformer. You start as a triplex and then convert  to a 2-8-8-2 and a 2-8-2. Could be cool and could cost $4000.

Another thing about this upcoming loco; the locomotive and tender are joined together as one unit. How are you supposed to handle this thing and get it on the track? Can you imagine unboxing it and getting it out of the styrofoam for the first time without damaging it? I don't know how much it's going to weigh, anywhere between 10 to 20 pounds I imagine. I think it could be a lot of trouble. If you want to run it prototypically then think of a scale speed of 10 mph max. Since it was mostly used as a helper locomotive then you would have to change the scale front coupler out for an O gauge non electrocoupler one. This gives me pause as I contemplate whether to order one. At least with the Halloween edition you wouldn't have to worry about prototypical operation. You could just fly like a bat outta **** with a big grin on your face!

@Paul Kallus posted:

Yes, when the coal bunker & water tank was full, the Triplex had superb traction, but when it was depleting the traction on the rear-most set was reduced, which makes sense. Potentially, Lionel could mate the depleting coal load feature with an auto-activated wheel slip such that wheel-slip frequency would be correlated with depleting coal load, making the operator stop and re-fuel (sounds like a lot of work )

But it sure would have been cool to combine those features!

@Paul Kallus posted:

Yes, when the coal bunker & water tank was full, the Triplex had superb traction, but when it was depleting the traction on the rear-most set was reduced, which makes sense. Potentially, Lionel could mate the depleting coal load feature with an auto-activated wheel slip such that wheel-slip frequency would be correlated with depleting coal load, making the operator stop and re-fuel (sounds like a lot of work )

I think there is probably only so much room under a trunk lid and Lionel can only pack so many features into a model. Would be great though.

@Former Member posted:

For the Eerie version glow in the dark drivers would be a nice touch.  Forget smoke how about simulated flames?  Agreed on the tender signage, way too tame.

How about 'Undead Ahead'?

That'd be neat!

Another name: "Graveyard Shift." C'mon Lionel, let's get creative with this. And update the cab figures in all the models for crying out loud...same Weeble-looking dummies for decades now. I replace them with Arttista but it's not easy as it sounds!

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

I think there is probably only so much room under a trunk lid and Lionel can only pack so many features into a model. Would be great though.

Think of what is packed into your cell phone, there's plenty of room to add some features.

@Paul Kallus posted:

That'd be neat!

Another name: "Graveyard Shift." C'mon Lionel, let's get creative with this. And update the cab figures in all the models for crying out loud...same Weeble-looking dummies for decades now. I replace them with Arttista but it's not easy as it sounds!

I'm right behind you Paul!   If Spooky Town  was not already taken by Lemax that would be a thought as well as Deadman's Curve.  We should have a tender signage contest.

Is Monster Mash in the public domain?

And as for cab figures how about Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man,Frankenstein or the Wolfman?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Think of what is packed into your cell phone, there's plenty of room to add some features.

My phone does not have room for a depleting coal load.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Think of what is packed into your cell phone, there's plenty of room to add some features.

Most cell phone features don't require gears, smoke units, piping, and electrical harnesses. It's been awhile since I saw a MTH Triplex, but I do remember thinking the engine looked smaller than I expected. But at that time I was comparing it to my scale Challengers and Big Boys.

I'm sure when they get delivered,  someone will take one apart and find it is quite full.

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

My phone does not have room for a depleting coal load.

Cell phones these days seem to have a depleting bank account feature.

@Paul Kallus posted:

That'd be neat!

Another name: "Graveyard Shift." C'mon Lionel, let's get creative with this. And update the cab figures in all the models for crying out loud...same Weeble-looking dummies for decades now. I replace them with Arttista but it's not easy as it sounds!

Years ago Lionel did a promotion with Wendy's version of a Happy Meal. I just saw a photo of it on line. The giveaway was in a poly bag labeled The Eerie Express with some artwork.

Why not use that again?  It sure beats Happy Halloween IMO.

I saw the Ryan and Dave demo of this awesome new steamer, new to the Lionel line via the MTH buy out. With all of the new features, including the very realistic wheel slip effect, it’s going to be a Show Stopper/Crowd Pleaser on our layouts… I’m excited about this new creation by the Lionel Team. I’m an operator, not a rivet counter, just having fun with my friends in this great hobby…several of my friends have already ordered this new set?? It’s pricey but feature rich…. I’m in Incheon Korea sending this message… Happy Railroading Everyone

So a general question?

Is the super set a good value? I'm going to order at least the engine, but the super set with all the cars is temping.

My .02 cents.

@Sean's Train Depot posted:

That is not correct - I do have the MTH premier version and there is a drive shaft connection between the engine and tender on the MTH version to drive the tender wheels/drivers/rods.  No way dragging a tender could keep 3 drivers and all the side rods in sync with front.  So MTH had a drive shaft between engine and tender.

Sean,

     Thanks I stand corrected. As I stated in my post I never owned a MTH Triplex and was trying to remember how my friends Triplex was constructed. I forgot that he said that the tender’s drive wheels were connected to the engine by a drive shaft. Oh well I was never a big fan of the Triplex so I will not be ordering a Lionel version either. I do think that the tender’s drive wheels would go out of sync with the front drivers if it was dragged as they are connected by the connecting rods and the drive wheels are all the same size across all three sets. When they drag the NW J 611 engine to and from Strasburg the drive wheels never come off the rails how would they go out of sync?

JohnB

Hey @MartyE, I saw the posters on you're wall in the video.  The Kelvin timeline is not real Star Trek.

I forgot about "End of the Line" road name. That'd be appropriate for the Halloween version as it was used by Lionel in past releases.

I really like the look of Lionel's brochure versions of the Russian Blue boiler jackets; to my eye they are the sharpest yet as compared to MTH's versions - mostly due to the dark tint. Though, I've only have seen MTH's early Premier Russian blue versions in person, ~ first couple of runs pre 2010 or so. To me, those versions were too bluish and looked glossy, and while no color pictures of the real McCoy have been found, it's hard to believe the real thing looked like the MTH "blues."

Here's a picture of the MTH HO version but am not sure if it's factory or customized. Still, I like the dark bluish hue that Lionel has in their brochure, the best thus far. But we've been down this road before, will the production versions look like the catalog pictures? It's always a gamble, and at these prices it's a big one. The black version is awesome, too, and has slightly subdued white-rimmed drivers.

@Paul Kallus posted:

I forgot about "End of the Line" road name. That'd be appropriate for the Halloween version as it was used by Lionel in past releases.

I really like the look of Lionel's brochure versions of the Russian Blue boiler jackets; to my eye they are the sharpest yet as compared to MTH's versions - mostly due to the dark tint. Though, I've only have seen MTH's early Premier Russian blue versions in person, ~ first couple of runs pre 2010 or so. To me, those versions were too bluish and looked glossy, and while no color pictures of the real McCoy have been found, it's hard to believe the real thing looked like the MTH "blues."

Here's a picture of the MTH HO version but am not sure if it's factory or customized. Still, I like the dark bluish hue that Lionel has in their brochure, the best thus far. But we've been down this road before, will the production versions look like the catalog pictures? It's always a gamble, and at these prices it's a big one. The black version is awesome, too, and has slightly subdued white-rimmed drivers.

I'm pretty sure that is customized. It's pretty obvious it is weathered if you zoom in.

Didn't Ryan and Dave have the russian blue one on their show? I've been bit by Lionel colors before but I would assume the one on their show would be the color they are using.

Brad

Cool effects much better than my MTH version. And if you don't have a Triplex, I'd get this one.

But I do have one. Not sure spinning wheels are worth $2500.

NOT SURE means I MAY buy one anyways! 

@B rad posted:

Didn't Ryan and Dave have the russian blue one on their show? I've been bit by Lionel colors before but I would assume the one on their show would be the color they are using.

It's be nice if Ryan and Dave brought it to York to see in person....

Oh wait, Lionel boycotted York, so then no.

Has Lionel been known to first bring out a Vision Line version of an engine, and then do a down stream Legacy version?  I am thinking in terms of the Halloween version in which I am having trouble justifying the Vision Line price tag/robust features for a seasonal engine.

@vrf201 posted:

So a general question?

Is the super set a good value? I'm going to order at least the engine, but the super set with all the cars is temping.

Considering that you get a variety of freight cars and 3 Vision/sound cars and some pretty nice looking reefers and boxcars for less than what you would pay for them individually once you factor out the engine, it is a very good value.

Andy

@Former Member posted:

Has Lionel been known to first bring out a Vision Line version of an engine, and then do a down stream Legacy version?  I am thinking in terms of the Halloween version in which I am having trouble justifying the Vision Line price tag/robust features for a seasonal engine.

Not that I know of...but Chuck if you have or build a perennial ghost town and if Lionel should change the "Happy Halloween" to a more frightening name, then you have no reason not to run it year-round

@Andy Hummell posted:

Considering that you get a variety of freight cars and 3 Vision/sound cars and some pretty nice looking reefers and boxcars for less than what you would pay for them individually once you factor out the engine, it is a very good value.

Andy

Thanks Andy!

Yea! I may have to go that route .

$2500 MSRP?  Weren't these like $1400 or so when MTH sold them as Premier models with PS3?  I get we've had inflation, and if you didn't know the MTH model existed that would be one thing, but as neat as the features are, I think the pricing is getting silly.  I guess the market will decide.  

@Ray Lombardo posted:

$2500 MSRP?  Weren't these like $1400 or so when MTH sold them as Premier models with PS3?  I get we've had inflation, and if you didn't know the MTH model existed that would be one thing, but as neat as the features are, I think the pricing is getting silly.  I guess the market will decide.  

These units are much more advanced and have many more features than the MTH models so there is the increased cost of that plus also inflation that goes into the $1000 increased MRSP. So Lionel wanted to add value and needs to charge for it. Maybe a Lionchief model will be released eventually, something like the original MTH that will cost significantly less. Lionel has done it with the Big Boy. The Lionchief version of that wasn't cheap either at about $700. The MRSP of the most recent Big Boys was $2800 I think and so this would seem in line with that. I don't think there is skinning and thievery afoot. And besides many dealers are scraping almost $500 off that price.

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

These units are much more advanced and have many more features than the MTH models so there is the increased cost of that plus also inflation that goes into the $1000 increased MRSP. So Lionel wanted to add value and needs to charge for it. Maybe a Lionchief model will be released eventually, something like the original MTH that will cost significantly less. Lionel has done it with the Big Boy. The Lionchief version of that wasn't cheap either at about $700. The MRSP of the most recent Big Boys was $2800 I think and so this would seem in line with that. I don't think there is skinning and thievery afoot. And besides many dealers are scraping almost $500 off that price.

That is certainly one perspective.  To be clear, I don't think thievery is afoot either but I think Lionel is using their current pricing power and my perspective is that the pricing on these is getting silly.  As I said, the market will decide.  

Not that it applies fully here, but....

I have the MTH one gauge triplex. It has a separate motor in the tender. It is the best puller I've ever owned. I literally cannot put too many cars on her even with the 2% grade outback.

I do think that the wheel slip idea is pretty cool. I could not do that with mine, having rubber tires on her. I would try it some day soon, when the tires get old.

The Halloween one is not my cup of tea.....but why couldn't they include three or four different magnetic boards for the tender with different "spooky" saying so the user can choose. And BTW....I'm ordering the 5014 ;-)

@Engineer-Joe posted:

I do think that the wheel slip idea is pretty cool. I could not do that with mine, having rubber tires on her. I would try it some day soon, when the tires get old.

When the tires get old, rip the old ones off and run it before you put new ones on.

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

These units are much more advanced and have many more features than the MTH models so there is the increased cost of that plus also inflation that goes into the $1000 increased MRSP. So Lionel wanted to add value and needs to charge for it.

The value will be determined when we find out what motor and gearing set up it's delivered with. I wouldn't call ruining perfectly good, if not excellent, MTH drive trains a "value add".

Maybe a Lionchief model will be released eventually, something like the original MTH that will cost significantly less. Lionel has done it with the Big Boy. The Lionchief version of that wasn't cheap either at about $700. The MRSP of the most recent Big Boys was $2800 I think and so this would seem in line with that. I don't think there is skinning and thievery afoot. And besides many dealers are scraping almost $500 off that price.

The fact they can sell a LionChief model for 700 and then charge $2800 for a VL says A LOT in my opinion.

I got that flyer in the LCCA email, but had to look elsewhere to find out how much it cost.  At that price, I think I better find the time to get this home made 2-14-2 loco going again.  Built by William (?) Buckhalter whose dad T.V. Buckhalter was working for Timken when he developed the roller bearing.  William's sister was married to a good friend of mine (he is 88 now), and he gave this to me, with many cars from the 30 and 40s that had been home made or scratchbuilt, and several Lionel locos, that had been modified with piping, different head lamps and marker lights, and just about all were Atlantic, 0-6-0 or modified 4 drive locos.  William had a large layout all run from just one transformer, a Lionel 250 watt Trainmaster with all four controls painted a different color and labeled Colt Shoe Upgrade, Colt Shoe Downgrade, Bridge to Yard New Main, and Yard to Bridge Old Main.  Sounds like a dual track oval of some sort. No pictures are known to exist in the family collections, and it was all down in the Edisto area of SC in the attic of his home, back in the days before air conditioning.  You know the heat, humidity and salt air must have played havoc with track  continuity.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

When the tires get old, rip the old ones off and run it before you put new ones on.

Yep!!

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

Lionel has done it with the Big Boy. The Lionchief version of that wasn't cheap either at about $700.

$700 for LC2 Big Boy is a steal!!  The MSRP on that thing was $1200 and most dealers were selling them for $1000 to $1100. MTH ran an Imperial version at the same time with identical features with a $850 MSRP and dealer prices were $750 to $800.

@H1000 posted:

$700 for LC2 Big Boy is a steal!!  The MSRP on that thing was $1200 and most dealers were selling them for $1000 to $1100. MTH ran an Imperial version at the same time with identical features with a $850 MSRP and dealer prices were $750 to $800.

Yeah I know now. I should have refreshed my memory a little bit before I spoke.

@superwarp1 posted:

Hey @MartyE, I saw the posters on you're wall in the video.  The Kelvin timeline is not real Star Trek.

It's all we had for a long time, sadly.

I do like the LCCA offering.

Is it official "Rain on Other People's Parade" day?   

@Norman R posted:

- That’s an interesting aspect of the Halloween Triplex. How many days out of the year do folks run their Halloween trains? What is the cost per hour of a Halloween Triplex when you consider the amount of time you might feel like running it? Don’t get me wrong, if you have disposable income and a Halloween train can bring you some happiness, I’m all for that. I guess even if does involve howling wheel slip to wake the dead. Some might want to extend the running season by hanging a small wreath and miniature Christmas LEDs on their Triplex to bring it closer to being a “Nightmare Before Christmas” train. There are a few people who would be able to recognize Jack Skellington in 1/48 scale, even if he were wearing an engineer’s cap.

Yes, wheel slip is a real, undesirable behavior that happened on the prototype.  But to any engineer worth his salt, the macabre idea of wanting to induce wheel slip for entertainment is absolutely ghoulish.

Good point, Norman, a competent locomotive engineer cringes at the idea of wheel slip...I like your description "ghoulish."

As for Halloween-themed trains & layouts, the usual euphemistic stuff, e.g., "Happy Halloween" has no appeal for me, but it probably does for many hobbyists and for people who want to set up a train for the trick or treaters. I prefer the fun aspects of the monster & ghost themed trains and am endeavoring to build and detail structures and scenes for those areas of my layout where few dare to enter on All Hallows Eve. Here's a few examples...and while they only constitute a small part of the overall basement run they nevertheless encourage year-round running of ghost trains I am working on about half-dozen or so more structures and scenes.

Paul – You give our forum friend Run A Muck Chuck advice that by adding horror themed elements to his layout he can run Halloween trains any time of the year. Then you show us pictures of that executed beautifully for your layout. Your character is true. After giving advice you can say “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”.