Looking to buy my first Legacy Engine. Is CAB2 discontinued. I don't see it on the Lionel Website anymore

If you want to buy a Cab2 Legacy System you will have to go to the secondary market.  Lionel has discontinued them in favor of Base3 and Cab3 App.

The boat has sailed. There may be a store somewhere that might have them but they are not on the internet.

Pete

I found this link?

#990 LEGACY Command Set (lionel.com)

so...  instead of $400, now I have to pay $500.  plus own a tablet / phone.   Yes we all own a phone...but I'm just complaining....   

I will probably only use bluetooth for the time being ... keeps it cheap...can only buy one BIG thing a year!!!

You could preorder the Base3 for $400.

I’ve seen Base3 preorder as low as $400 from a forum sponsor. I don’t know if they’ll stay that low then they ship though.

new to the forum.  Didn't see a pre-order link that cheap.  I'll have to find that sponsor.

Spend $40-50 for a LionChief universal remote.  No need for a command base.  Controls recent Legacy engines in command mode with the most important commands (speed, direction, sounds, uncoupling).  Wait and see when the Base 3 is available, which may not be for many months or even a year is my guess.  I think the universal remote makes more sense with one Legacy engine rather than buying Legacy, TMCC and such on the used market with no warranty and, in general, exorbitant prices.  Just my thought.

@Landsteiner posted:

Spend $40-50 for a LionChief universal remote.  No need for a command base.  Controls recent Legacy engines in command mode with the most important commands (speed, direction, sounds, uncoupling).  Wait and see when the Base 3 is available, which may not be for many months or even a year is my guess.  I think the universal remote makes more sense with one Legacy engine rather than buying Legacy, TMCC and such on the used market with no warranty and, in general, exorbitant prices.  Just my thought.

Great comments. Lionel’s Universal Remote sometimes gets lost in the discussions of wiring diagrams, Base3 vs Cab-3 vs DCS.  

However, the Universal Remote is a ingenious device that requires no command base, no phone app, no special wiring. And it’s only about $45.00 or so. Eve should have one, if even if as a backup if your command base goes belly up.  

The sponsor with the $399 price for the Base 3 is Nassau Hobby Center, but they will require a 10% non-refundable deposit.  Charles Ro and others are at $340 or 350 or so with no deposit.  Personally I'd just wait and see about early reports .  And, as I suggested, consider buying an inexpensive Universal Remote that will control up to 3 LionChief, LionChief+ or Legacy locos equipped with Bluetooth (last few years).  Just check the outside of the loco box and it will be noted whether it can be controlled by the Universal Remote.  Out of stock some places but available from Lionel and Amazon it appears.

https://www.lionelstore.com/Un...e-Controller-683071?

https://www.amazon.com/Lionel-...oKW_kEUaAjF0EALw_wcB

anyone know if the cab3 remote app will replace the current linonchief app?

also of note.... i'm still working on my app a little bit, but i have an application that lets me control bluetooth engines via a computer(raspberry pi)  which I also can now control via a web api remotely.  I can't do a million functions but pretty much replicated the bluetooth applications

@idaband posted:

anyone know if the cab3 remote app will replace the current lionchief app?

also of note.... i'm still working on my app a little bit, but i have an application that lets me control bluetooth engines via a computer(raspberry pi)  which I also can now control via a web api remotely.  I can't do a million functions but pretty much replicated the bluetooth applications

I think that you are ahead of most of us, including me, in understanding this, and I don't know the answer to your specific question; maybe an expert like @MartyE will weigh in.  You do highlight a problem that I think may have been lost in the news about the discontinuation of CAB2, which is how someone just getting into Legacy will deal with sourcing a control. Not an issue for me as I have one and a backup I will not give up at any price, but the transition to a new method of control without a dedicated remote won't be seamless.

@Hancock52 posted:

I think that you are ahead of most of us, including me, in understanding this, and I don't know the answer to your specific question; maybe an expert like @MartyE will weigh in.  You do highlight a problem that I think may have been lost in the news about the discontinuation of CAB2, which is how someone just getting into Legacy will deal with sourcing a control. Not an issue for me as I have one and a backup I will not give up at any price, but the transition to a new method of control without a dedicated remote won't be seamless.

It is my understanding that the new App w/ Cab3 and Bluetooth for those engines will replace the current LC App.  From what Dave and Ryan have said, the LC Bluetooth portion of the App will still be a free download.  To get the Cab3 portion you either pay an additional $29 or buy a Base3 and get a code for an included download.

I suspect the new App will be available when Base3 is released or a little earlier.

Remember Cab1Ls are still being produced and compatible with Base3.

@MartyE posted:

Remember Cab1Ls are still being produced and compatible with Base3.

Yes, but no access to Legacy specific features, not even the full range of quilling whistle.

Just so the O.P. knows what they are, or are not getting.

@RickO posted:

Yes, but no access to Legacy specific features, not even the full range of quilling whistle.

Just so the O.P. knows what they are, or are not getting.

All too true, but I assume that Lionel has made a calculation that there's more in it for them making people who don't already have a CAB2 set to acquire a Base3 instead. Not a complaint from me because it's their call, and maintaining full functionality for Legacy features (including the whistle and all the bells - being facetious) despite outmoded hardware in the existing remote is my main concern. This is what the Base3 is supposed to do, as I understand it.

@idaband posted:

anyone know if the cab3 remote app will replace the current linonchief app?

If you look at pages (I believe) 7 and 8 of the new catalog it shows the difference between the cab3 app using bluetooth and the cab3 app using the cab3 base. I appears that when using BT without the base the cab3 app is configured much like the current Lionchief app. When connected to wifi through the cab3 command base it is a totally different configuration with more features available. With that being said I would think that it would replace the current Lionchief app. No point in keeping it around.

Brad

@idaband posted:

anyone know if the cab3 remote app will replace the current linonchief app?

Yes, the Cab3 app will include an update of the LionChief app. This was stated explicitly in one of the recent videos with Dave Olson.

"The sponsor with the $399 price for the Base 3 is Nassau Hobby Center, but they will require a 10% non-refundable deposit.  Charles Ro and others are at$340 or 350 or so with no deposit."

I think the price at Charles Ro is $440.  No deposit is correct. 

Nassau provides free shipping, I believe, on "pre-orders".

As I stated somewhere else, either of these two vendors - or the others mentioned in another thread  - are great to buy from.  Then, too , is your local hobby shop.

Oops I was off by 100 dollars. Thanks RT.