Lionel website got a facelift

In the new Search feature, the focus is on product that are available or will soon be available.

There is no Shipping Schedule in the new website. No shipping schedule to update.

Andrew

It's there.  Scroll to the bottom and click on the shipping schedule link  

New site looks great and modern.

Is there still a way to research past offerings?

Edit - I found the archive. I guess that's the only way but it doesn't have the same functionality as the old site.

The old product finder works, at least for now at:

https://www.lionelsupport.com/Products/Finder/

The shipping schedule is not as obvious now if it is at the bottom.

Andrew

Nice find! Glad it's still there.

because if you remember from notch6 interview the shipping schedule is going to be tied into actual shipping soon.

Looks awesome! They finally have site that works on tablets and smartphones. 

Chris

Let's hope the accuracy of information improves with that planned enhancement.  The initial list that's there now -- updated 8/25/2015 -- certainly doesn't seem to instill any confidence, since it lists the Texas Special 18" aluminum passenger cars with a Feb 2016 delivery.  

Weren't these cancelled a few months ago?     I had them on pre-order with Charlie Ro, and received a letter from Charlie suggesting the 21" version of the cars instead, since the 18" versions were cancelled.  Yet here we have a fresh document dated 8/25/2015 that indicates otherwise.  Ironically, this latest list doesn't even reference the new 21" ABS passenger cars -- at least not that I saw.  

I do like the new look-and-feel of the website.  Very nicely done.  Now let's just hope going forward that Lionel can give us all a better sense that the folks Stateside actually know what's going on overseas.    At this point, they're not off to a good start in that regard.  Still clueless.  

David

Cool.

I thought I was going nuts, I wanted to find a certain what is the part number of a Northern Pacific SD70Ace and couldn't find the product locator.

And then I was going to post, but was afraid I would look  like an idiot that didn't see the posting about the Lionel website changed last month, where were you.

Google searches still come up with the old .cfm webpage.

I agree!

I like it.  It's about time -- long overdue!

May look more modern and more attractive, but way too much scrolling is needed to find basic functionality that was readily visible before.

yep, me too. RTR sets are mixed in Track and Power. Logic is not as good as previous version.

Still poking around...

Like the new artwork, makes for exciting pages.

  Click on screenshot to enlarge.

That was my initial impression also.

I'm learning to use it and some of the pages are still the 'old site' format, which is fine.

Overall, I like it.  More to follow as we use it...

Well here's the new line by Lionel for younger train enthusiasts. Lionel Imagineering. 

http://www.lionel.com/categories/imagineering 

A quick Google search yields this offering at Target. (There's a Batman and Joker as well)

http://www.target.com/p/lionel...playset/-/A-21494951

Interesting. Useful in getting more kids into trains I would presume, though interest over Brio/Thomas/Chuggington might be hard to overcome. 

It's nice to see that there's an online store now. Lionel is selling products directly to its customers. 

So far, the support portion of their website appears to me to be unchanged. Being that I think it works well, I'm glad.

+1 !

Actually, the support protion has changed. While it still has the same look and feel of the old site all of the drop down menus are now tabs across the screen

Lionel has been selling directly to its customers for some time and they have been known to undercut the prices of the local hobby shops to the point where the items they are selling on their website are actually less than the LHS can buy them form their distributors

like the old site better, was much faster to find what you were looking for. they went backwards with this redesign...

While I like the look-and-feel of the new graphics, actual usage of the new site is far from intuitive.  I've only used the new site on my iPad... Haven't tried it on a desktop computer yet.

Personally, I much prefer websites that employ grid technology, which allows presentation of LOTS of items so visitors can see as much as possible on the home page.  Then select and delve further as needed.  CNN.com and USAToday.com are great examples.  

With the new Lionel website, there's too much of a need to jump from page to page before finding what you need.  Again, I'm using my iPad, so perhaps it's a function of the site's mobile presentation.  For example, try finding something as basic as the catalog listing.  It's there, but should we really need to go on an adventure to find it?  It was quicker to find the info with Google rather than the Lionel site directly.   Not good.

Hopefully, they'll rethink the presentation design.  Facelift?  Perhaps... But the doctor didn't smooth out all the wrinkles yet.  

David

Very attractive when you get the opening page. A much more modern look. I like it!

Where are the catalogs?

Its about time.  Until yesterday, the home page was embarrassingly still promoting the "Design Your Own Boxcar" contest which ended a month or more ago!

http://www.lionel.com/catalogs

Bring back the old site, it took me a while to find things.

Looks like Lionel dropped some of the engines from production. Now you will not be getting two unique cab numbers for the ES44AC's in NS, Santa Fe or FEC. I don't like this all. I ordered two Santa Fe ES44AC's. Same deal with the SD40's! 

Regards,

Swafford   

Interesting that you pointed that out!    But I wouldn't draw any conclusions yet based on the 8/25-update of the shipping schedule.  As I pointed out earlier, it still lists the supposedly-cancelled Texas Special 18" aluminum passenger cars (among others) arriving in Feb 2016, and makes no reference to the new 21" ABS cars.  In short, it's still one huge mess of mis-information.  Basic communication just doesn't seem to be Lionel's strong suit.

David

In addition to the link already posted (which most folks likely found via Google), I did stumble upon a catalog "box" after clicking on "products".  Then you needed to scroll all the way to the end of the next page past several product pictures to see two boxes... One of which was "catalogs".

Terrible design.  Whoever laid this out has a major disconnect with the user audience.  While the initial graphics are pretty and refreshing, the usability of this site -- especially on a mobile device like an iPad (which is all I've used so far) -- is terrible.

Time to scrap this design and hit the reset button.  But no need to completely reinvent the wheel here.  There are lots of examples of existing sites with well laid-out designs.  This just isn't one of them.

David

David, youre just never happy

Hmm... how do I get to the parts catalog? Never mind ... found it...

I like the link to Lionel Tracks... very cool stories.... Guess it will take some time to get use to...

Actually, I'm quite happy with sites like CNN.com and USAToday.com (to name a few), which present a tremendously larger amount of info more efficiently.  But I would agree that I don't seem to be on the same wavelength with some of the folks at Lionel these days.

BTW, I did check out the site using my desktop computer w/30" Apple Cinema Display, and there's much more real-estate and consequently less scrolling required to find things on Lionel's new site.  All too often nowadays, web designers are forced to make lots of compromises when supporting mobile devices.  I don't use my iPhone all that much to browse websites for this very reason.  However, iPads have become an increasingly popular way to view websites.  And Lionel's new website design just doesn't do it for me on the iPad.  For now, when I need to visit lionel.com, it will be on my desktop.

David

Good Day David,

I sure hope Lionel does produce two unique cab numbers on each of the road names offered on the ES44AC and SD40!

Regards,

Frank

Me too, Frank!  I have two Santa Fe ES44AC's on order as a "modern/alternative" locomotive option for my new El Capitan train when I give the more conventional F3 configuration a rest.  One powered ES44 ain't gonna cut it!!!   

David

You might have to clear your history. 

When does the new catalog come out?