Looking For Comments On The Lionel Lion Chief and Lion Chief Plus+ Remote Engines And Sets

My son has two of the Lion Chief Plus Locomotives. At first I was anti-Lion Chief, however after running his engines and running the starter sets I have to admit I misjudged the entire product line. They work well and it puts remote control at a great starting point for people entering the hobby. I am impressed with them.

Scott Smith

I picked up my first LionChief Plus loco right before Christmas. It's the B&O Pacific. Totally satisfied. The looks, speed control, smoke and other features all work great. What really sold me on the LC+ line is the ability to also run it conventionally. I'm a postwar conventional guy for the most part and am really happy with these.

I've already pre-ordered one of the LC+ NW-2 diesels (scheduled for May '15).

We've been having fun all through the Christmas Season with the LionChief Polar Express and Silver Bell Express sets on our displays.

This morning we discovered LionChief + and RailKing with the Remote Comander play very well together on the same track.

I have six Lionchief Plus locos. they run great, have good smoke, and okay sound.   I had problems with one loco (a flywheel came loose, nothing to do with the remote).  The remotes are great, I love them.  

We just got our first one for Christmas and my son has been having a ball with it.  Me too I must admit.  Here is my son's review .... 

https://ogrforum.com/t...58#39441157652201558

I hadn't bought any Lionel locos for several years until a Lionchief Plus.  I must say I'm very happy with it.  If it turns out to a reliable runner like all my William's locos I'll buy more.  

how is this for pulling power...

In the beginning, I really didn't know much about LC+/LC to make an opinion or to get me to buy one. 

I learned on the forum here. Plus, one of the guys in the club (National Capital Trackers) bought a Pennsy Mikado and has a variety of the LC Thomas items. I chewed his ear about them. Instead of talking about it, the next day he brought his LC+ Pennsy Mikado for me to test out. I was hooked. Also had a lot of good words from the forum here. I ordered a LC+ Chessie Mikado from a forum sponsor. I asked them to test prior to shipping. I was told it was good to go and was excited for it to arrive. Got it and no way it was tested. Didn't run at all. Totally dead. Mechanically and electronically. Box hadn't had the "factory sealed" tape broken. I returned it and bought from another forum sponsor and got ANOTHER dud. After some arguing back and forth, I finally got a good one. What a joy it is to run. Unfortunately, there are two sponsors I won't buy from again. 

People don't understand that these things CAN, WILL, and DO run with TMCC/Legacy and DCS. The proof is HERE. In the first shot, that is my LC+ Chessie Mikado on the outside loop with the freight train with the others, running great. In the last shot, that is an LC Thomas. Following closely behind is my MTH PS3 Amtrak Dash 8 running on DCS. 

Only issue I have with my Mikado is the smoke unit fan died. Not a major loss since I don't really run smoke but I'll send it in eventually for repair. Overall, I've been very, very happy with my engine. Other club members have bought some LC+ engines and some LC Thomas items and all have great things to say about them. 

We got my son a LC polar express and we both love it.  Smoke is great, response to control is very smooth. I don't care for the chuff noise but that's a preference.  I am sold on mth dcs system for operation and the lc/lc+ fits in just fine.  I don't think I  would buy another lc engine unless it was in a set I really wanted, however I would not have a problem with an lc+ engine, largely for the ability to adjust the volume. Overall a solid item as toy trains go. No problems here. 

I don't have any LC or LC+, but they have been well received by almost everyone here that has purchased one of them. Many good reviews. Good sets, and a good value too.

As a newbie, I bought the Lionchief Polar Express Anniversary edition this December online from a dealer in New Hampshire.  The set was perfect out of the box except for the ornamental whistle - was bent to the side and broke off upon straightening - no worry - got three spares from Lionel Parts.  It took a number of doses of smoke fluid to get smoke, but, now using MegaSteam, it smokes like a champ and blows smoke rings - nice touch.  The whistle is very realistic as are other Tom Hanks dialogues from the movie, chuffing sounds excellent.  If you turn off the remote but leave power to the track, the loco will go to sleep (sounds stop, lights stay on) - another nice touch.

Because of the Polar Express, I immediately bought a Lionchief Plus Pacific B&O Hudson and tender online from a dealer in Brooklyn.  It was perfect out of the box except for the smoke unit.  The fan unit was weak at first and then eventually stopped.  I will send it in for repair this summer.  Its whistle is not as realistic as the Polar Express but OK.  The crawl speed, engine fit and finish, remote controlled tender coupler, LED headlight, great chuffing sound, dispatcher dialogue overshadow the smoke unit issue. All in all, I like it and would buy another if something happened to it.

RickM46

Thank you all for your responses and comments. Do anyone of you have the Albert Hall Set I mentioned above? The only negative comment I can make about the set is the talking between I would guess the engineer and the fireman or conductor. The engineer speaks with a heavy Cockney British accent and most of what he says is hard to understand but it is still interesting anyway. Love the European steam whistle sound. Maybe the Lionel folks would consider doing another British or European steam locomotive set in the same price range?

This year I bought a LC Polar Express locomotive to run on the River City 3 Railers modular layout. The biggest complement I can make is this is the first Polar Express engine to survive our December display. The first time I ran PE, the engine got "smoked" at our Science Museum display the weekend after Thanksgiving. It pulls all of the PE cars effortlessly.

Gilly

I received a LionChief Plus B&O Pacific [6-81307] a couple of days ago.  The engine is quite attractive, and the number of features at this price point seems very appealing.  Using the remote is also quite enjoyable, as the remote is actually smaller than the original TMCC remote.  

I decided to eliminate the duck-unders on my current layout, which required removing the 0-72 mainline.  On this particular layout, I now plan to run the smaller locos, and, given their size and features "out of the box".  I'll plan to add more LionChief Plus locos over time.

I should note that the fan driven smoke unit appears to have quit working properly after the first day, which, of course, is not pleasant [ I did blow into the stack to clear any potential smoke fluid bubble(s) as Lionel recommends and that didn't solve the problem.]  I will call Lionel this week to discuss the issue, but, if necessary,  I will plan to have it properly repaired by Lionel under the warranty since the loco is such a treat.

Cordially,

Dennis

I have the LC Western Union set, and love it.  Good sound, good smoke, great control.  This one has the old style General puffer unit, and blows great smoke rings.  The Old West Geezer crew dialog is funny the first time you hear it, and I play it for new folks now and then.  I'm looking forward to finding a LC Dockside 0-6-0 for my Inner loop. 

Dennis,

For possible additions to your LC+ roster, Lionel has produced an RS-3 switcher, FT AA unit diesels, and most recently some nice NW-2 switchers. In December, there are several Rectifier Electrics due to be delivered.

As for the basic LionChief - remote capability is definitely a bonus and doesn't have the wiring headaches associated with tmmc or legacy. Downside to it is there's no speed control but it does move smoother at slower speeds. Also because of 18 volts applied to track, these engines generally smoke much better than conventional locos at comparable speeds.

As For LionChief Plus, the same smoke bonus as LionChief when in remote mode and the additional bonus of speed control guaranteeing constant speed irregardless of terrain or slope. While Plus engines will operate in conventional mode the engine really wasn't designed to do so but Lionel just made (forces) it to operate that way and it loses some of its remote mode features while others diminish greatly when running conventional mode. Example is loss of some sound announcement capabilities when in conventional mode vs. remote. Also much diminished smoke output unless you run train at such high voltage and speed it almost runs off the track. Finally not as slow and smooth speed in conventional operation as in remote operation.

TMCC and Legacy aren't headaches at all - they're very simple to wire. (MTH's DCS system is more challenging.) However, LionChief is extremely simple.

Excellent summary of differences between LC and LC Plus.  The "Plus" in the name is an understatement IMHO!  

Will LionChief locos work with most Lionel transformers and the loco's unique remote?

For example, would the Polar Express Lion Chief operate with my ZWL (the new ZW) and the LionChief PE Remote?  Obviously the PE won't operate in conventional mode because the loco is not a LionChief Plus.  

We certainly sell a lot of them. Very popular. We have one of the Camelbacks running on our layout for people to try. 

We certainly sell a lot of them. Very popular. We have one of the Camelbacks running on our layout for people to try. 

Dennis, Yes, the "plain vanilla" Lion Chief locos should work with virtually any transformer (recommended at 18 volts). And as you mention it only works with the supplied remote.

The Lion Chief Plus locos will run conventionally or with the remote. 

I was against them when they came out, and still am after owning some.  I wanted to get my younger son into trains as he loves when I run mine, and he keeps trying to take my remote, so I bought some Thomas sets.  They only come LC now so I figured it was a great way to try them.  I am not impressed with their performance at all.  He likes running them for about 5 min, then off he goes.  I can get closer to 10 if I give him my Cab-1.  The bell and whistle are easy to operate and he loves that, but the fact that it doesn't immediately respond to the red knob is a major source of frustration for him, and the main reason he quits playing with it.  He wants it to stop or change direction and it takes so long to reflect the change that he ends up twisting the knob back and forth and the locomotive just keeps going speed unchanged.  And at full track power it's either fast or faster.  I have to drop the track voltage to 6 volts to get any kind of speed gradient, and then it can creep with the best of them, but then that's not enough juice to get my Legacy locomotives going.  So I have no plans to buy any more LC/+ items, unless they are super cheap and I convert them to TMCC.  And if Lionel really will stop making conventional RTR sets, this means I'll never buy another set.

Since I now have more experience with Lionel products, I do not plan on buying any more Lionchief locos.  I do have the Lionchief PE set and a Lionchief+ B&O.  They are both great and run well with their respective remotes (did have to send the B&O back to Lionel to fix the smoke unit).  Now, in addition, I have 2 Legacy 900 controlled engines (Big Boy and Pere Marquette Berkshire from Mr.Muffin).  They are great runners.  I like the idea of 1 remote to control both.  I do not have my layout built yet but plan on having 3 lines controlled by the Legacy remote; now I have to figure what to run on the third line.

I suppose its a great idea if you limit your train experience to watching trains move back and forth. 

Let's not forget what it won't do.  I believe no lashups possible between LC motive power or having the ability to control remote FT switches. And what about adding RC accessories.  

Or the ability to expand with  older TMCC and newer Legacy motive power..

Joe

I would caution however to avoid the really cheap LC starter sets.  I got one to try out for my younger son.  Even though he is barely two years old, he gets the basic idea, even if he hasn't really figured out the speed control yet.  My main problem with the set was that the engine does not have a functioning headlight and therefore even if you turn the sound off, it still makes a ton of noise when standing still.  Adding a light so that you know its powered up would have made it possible to do away with the cacophony of annoyance that is the sound of this engine at rest.  Also, the amounts are not the least bit clear.  I finally pulled out the instructions to read what it was supposed to be saying.  If I get another one it will be an LC+.

I currently have 4 LC + engines (3 Steam ,1 RS-3) and the Silver Bells LC set.  All run great.  I like the LC+ features and price point. Even though I have Legacy and sensor tracks on my layout and I mostly run legacy steam engines, I will continue to add LC+ to my inventory if I like their looks.

I have 2 LC + They are every thing that Lionel said they would be. They are not Legacy. I have a large around the room layout. Just watching my 2 1/2 old grandson use the remote with his 1 year old cousin reaching for it pleases me . We had to disconnect tha auto couplers . Blowing the horn constantly would activate the coupler. It never ceases to amaze me how smart young babies are. With all the electronic devices that are out there, the LC + is a piece of cake for him. I would recommend any one wanting to start out in trains with young kids BUY BUY BUY Thanks tstark

Lots of good information here, but the last couple of posts highlight for me one of the key points. Even though they both feature the remote, Lion Chief and Lion Chief Plus are totally different animals.  Good to keep that in mind when considering who you're buying for/who is using the trains, price point, features of the trains, etc.

Great point!  Hopefully Lionel will make a LionChief Plus Polar Express!

I also use TMCC and will use Legacy on another layout.  As time marches on,

the smaller remote is much easier on the hands!

I tend to push people to buy a RailKing RTR Set if they are getting into the hobby because of all the features and variety available from MTH. For example many younger families are impressed when they find out that they can hook their iPod up to a TIU and play music through the engine's speakers. However the Lion Chief Thomas the Tank Engine Set remains a favorite for many and I cannot blame them for that!

I should also point out that my single most popular video on YouTube is my review of the Lion Chief NYC Hudson at over 6600 views. I have 7 videos featuring Lionel products, with the rest being MTH or real trains.

Some of us were discussing this (the next round of Lion Chief Plus locos) in another thread not long ago. As usual, all sorts of pleas for this loco or that. Many calls for some F3s, for example.  And a PE in LC+ would probably fly off the shelves!

I set up for kids train shows several times a year.

I have 7 of the cheaper Thomas LionChief sets and 1 of the LionChief + steamers.

So far they have run since they have been on the market, 1 loose part on a control board in Percy  controller. Kids have snapped off 4 of the dials for controlling train speed. They turn it and when it does not respond quickly they keep turning till it breaks after the 1st one broke I made a metal bracket to prevent them turning it to far but they still bent the bracket over and defeated a few more times on various remotes. I had to repair them about an hour a piece. I now have the remotes bolted down with wood on sides and Plexiglas cover cut to allow dial to rotate only forward part way.  I do about 20 days of display per year from 6 to 12 hours a day so trains running all the time. Contacts on some trains wear out fast even with oil and cleaning. So far no motor burnouts.

Engines stall out occasionally though in contact I have to lift an engine off the track place it on a different track then it starts running again and can put it back on original track then it runs fine for a few hours, not sure why they do this.

I have bells and whistles covered up now as when you get 7 bells going drives you nuts. have little toys for sounds for the kids.

I think overall the LionChief sets are excellent value a cheap trainset that for me has been working very very well over many many shows with constant abuse by the kids. I like how the engines are slow to respond to the remote.

The LionChief + engine I do not think was good value, I bought it with a discount from a major OGR sponsor one of the bigger discount dealers and when I got it home with discount shipping and 2 sets of taxes and really bad exchange rate right now (north of the border) it cost me $550

The engine pulls well GN steamer and has  OK smoke and bell whistle. But chuffing sounds get a bit boring digital sounding limited talking. And semi scale toy look.

For the price I think the MTH beginner sets with remotes is a much better deal you can get a whole loop of track, remote better sounding and full electronics engine that can be run with DCS full electronics package. With a full set track engine for less that it costs for 1 Lionel LionChief + engine!

I have one LC+ locomotive, the Camelback.  I was trying to stick to scale sized locomotives, it's one of the few in the line that have scale measurements.  It's a pretty nice little locomotive, runs well, great smoke, and quite decent sound.

I had a GN Mikado that I sold here on the board.... it was awesome though!  Looks great!  Runs great!  Sounds good!  Everything was really nice.  The ONLY problem I guess I had with it was that if I fire up my layout and don't turn the remote to the Lion Chief ON it sits there and beeps until you do.   

I am currently going through a cutting back phase so that was one of the engines cut from the roster.   

Well, at that price I don't blame you.   With a little shopping around -- and some good timing -- I picked up my most recent Lion Chief Plus steam loco for $295, delivered.