Must have LionChief sets

Always liked the Christmas Light Express! I'm just overloaded with Christmas trains!!!

Sunrise

IMO, one of the great ones was the Peanuts Halloween http://www.lionel.com/products...control-set-6-30214/

This is because the sounds of the engine are "normal" and you get whistle and bell for year round running. But, when you press the dialog button- then you get a great halloween track- and the whistle changes to a wolf howling and the bell changes to the spooky large slow bell. So it's basically got 2 modes- normal for everyday running steam usage, and then seasonal Halloween sounds.

I wish Lionel had made more Lionchief engines with this dynamic mode change- normal so you can use the engine year round with normal sounds, and then for the season (Christmas or Halloween are the 2 big common ones) special sounds.

Not my video but it shows the sound features https://youtu.be/HRVy3Iqg8BQ?s...Jo3jEyNnDpD&t=78

I bought the Area 51 Set about 4-5 years ago. Not my usual interest, but it's a fun set and Lionel continues to produce rolling stock for it (see the just released catalog). The other thing that really made this one stand out is the lighted green FasTrak included in the set.

@Vernon Barry posted:

IMO, one of the great ones was the Peanuts Halloween http://www.lionel.com/products...control-set-6-30214/

This is because the sounds of the engine are "normal" and you get whistle and bell for year round running. But, when you press the dialog button- then you get a great halloween track- and the whistle changes to a wolf howling and the bell changes to the spooky large slow bell. So it's basically got 2 modes- normal for everyday running steam usage, and then seasonal Halloween sounds.

I wish Lionel had made more Lionchief engines with this dynamic mode change- normal so you can use the engine year round with normal sounds, and then for the season (Christmas or Halloween are the 2 big common ones) special sounds.

Not my video but it shows the sound features https://youtu.be/HRVy3Iqg8BQ?s...Jo3jEyNnDpD&t=78

That is pretty cool. So is there no dialog when you press the button again it’s just an on/off of the Halloween recordings?  

The WDW 50th set is also one of my favorites, and is responsible for me really getting all the way into o gauge, but my #1 set is definitely the Star Trek set.  I realize I represent a pretty small demographic here since you can still find these things new in the box for around $350-$400.

The best feature in my opinion is the "bell" plays the red alert sound.  Also the horn is the transporter sound, all of the dialog is Picard with some classic lines.  The cars are all aquarium style and the holodeck car has a scrolling marquee with a train on it, and the lenticular lens switches between the holodeck grid and an old west town.  There are a good number of add-on cars, most of which are getting a little hard to find and expensive.  The dilithium crystal gondola, which glows purple, is particularly nice.

Not exactly lionchief, but they also made a TMCC speeder that is painted like a shuttle craft.  The crew figures even have next gen uniforms!

Sean also did a review on this set if you want to check it out.