New 2014 Vol. 2 Lionel Catalog

Well up until recently, Lionels TMCC/Legacy operated all of Lionels engines for 20 years.

It appears, MTH folks are more willing to accept a few extra buttons and added capability.Having said that,  I don't thing you can get a Railking set for under $200.

Apples and oranges.

There should be only one remote to operate everything.

Or at least a way to LINK all of the small Lionchief remotes so they can be controlled by the Legacy Cab2 remote.

WOW all I can say is I may have to go back to work after seeing this !

Lionel has out done itself. They could have done better on the $$$

I also forgot to mention, the majority of the Lionchief ( steamers anyway) were offered as TMCC locos years ago, and in this incarnation can be operated by the legacy handheld.

I "suspect" making the Lionchief locos legacy compatable would push them beyond their "entry level price point". Then folks would say they might as well just buy a full blown legacy loco.

I guess the question is, where does Lionel draw the line? No matter where, someone is likely to be unhappy.

I viewed the catalog on my smart phone. I take it there's no American Flyer. Not like I was expecting any. 

Some nice locomotives. But being primarily an S Gauger, I would only buy one if the loco, money and mood got together at the same time. Like the ten wheelers, and the GP 30s. 

I will pre-order the Soo Line boxcar because it's Soo Line, and maybe the DSS&A and the new Pennsy caboose.

Good catalog, hope you all found something you like.

I tend to agree. I think the LionChief Plus line has a lot of interest, and, in fact, much of that from experienced operators. Fact is, although there is a lot of attention on the Forum devoted to the huge (and Expensive) scale stuff, there is a relatively silent majority who have limited budgets and limited space, for whom LionChief Plus offerings have a lot of interest.

With their great cruise systems, LionChief Plus is, essentially - and finally - a traditional line with can motors and cruise, which a lot of folks have been wanting for a long time. Lionel never produced a cruise system for Pullmor motors, but LionChief Plus now fills that need for traditional operators. 

So for that market, it would be a very good thing to have a way to get rid of the one-controller-per-engine concept, so a whole new traditional line can be realized. And the Post War Celebration line can be put on LionChief Plus chassis too, for that matter.

STICKER SHOCK.  

MSRP of $80 for a PS-1 Boxcar.  EMS

The MSRP's are completely meaningless nowadays except for comparison purposes.  Best to look at dealer street prices which appear to be 25-30% off MSRP.  Even with that, some stuff raises a few eyebrows while other stuff seems more "in line".

The new GP30 and S2 diesels are ridiculously priced even at $470 street price not to mention the $650 MSRP.  Who's gonna order those things at that price?    Would you pay those prices for NIB diesels here on the forum?  At worst, sellers would be laughed at... and at best, the item would sit with no takers.  So why would you pay those crazy prices to Lionel?  Just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. 

OTOH, you have the Y6b street prices coming in the $1300-$1400 range which is much more "in line" compared to the former JLC Y6b prices of years past.  So go figure.

At best, the pricing in the 2014 Vol 2 catalog is inconsistent.  Somebody dropped the ball by not looking at the big picture. 

David

The PS-1 40' Boxcars are for the Soo Line, Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and Green Bay & Western, so if you model the Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota area, you have to purchase all 3 of them.

Andrew

Strange that they put the accessories before the trains. Same old, same old stuff.

I like the Green Bay & Western but $60 is a little steep. Maybe in a year it will be on a close out list for under $40

Does anyone know the estimated ship date for preorder items that appear in this catalog? I am trying to calculate my budget. Thanks. 

Didn't see anything that is a must have and it looks like pricing is still edging up. Maybe more inventory for Charlies warehouse sales next year.

Make that Green Bay & Western PS-1 40' Boxcar the one & only boxcar you will buy this year and it will be affordable.

Andrew

I really could understand why you'll need to go back to work.

That $850.00  ten wheeler pressed out  from 15 year old undetailed tooling is the biggest joke in the catalog.

$650.00 Gp 30's aren't far behind..

For once I can say, nothing of interest in it for me...

Joe. 

I was so busy looking inside, I just noticed the cover.  Most gosh-awful catalog cover for Lionel in years.  Great content inside, but the cover is an abysmal failure... IMHO, of course. 

David

 At least its not 75 year old tooling like they used on that $1600 hudson.

FWIW,not really a ton of detail on the prototype either.

Yes, pretty astounding pricing on some of these things. As mentioned by others above, it's also $650 msrp for the S-2 switchers! Even at street pricing, as RockyMountaineer noted, this is getting crazy. Add your shipping cost to the street prices, and you're now looking at almost $500 for Legacy Geeps and switchers. And it's going to be rough sledding for LHS owners, who have to sell at prices closer to MSRP.

Another surprise: even Geeps and switchers are now BTO! So that policy appears to be creeping down the line. Next it could be BTO boxcars. 

Neither of these developments please me at all, and certainly most others feel the same way. One winner could be the LionChief Plus line, which is probably looking more and more attractive to a lot of people.

One group that will welcome these prices, though: aftermarket sellers of older stuff. 

Am I correct in my understanding that you need a remote for "each" LionChef or "LionChefPlus" Loco?

To run them remotely, yes, each engine has a dedicated remote. LionChief Plus engines can also be run conventionally with a transformer.

Check out our prices too. Thanks

I think Lionchief is a great idea.  I just wish the remotes were all of a higher quality...and the locos could all run conventionally without cranking up the power all the way.  I gave a friend a Thomas Lionchief set for his son...they went crazy over it...but the battery case broke after one use.  Not to mention it was very difficult to remove.  It still worked but the small details could be tougher.

Right. Those are on my list - nice to see them.

Question on the plug and play track pieces, I am assuming the 3 inch male cord not pictured can be used to hook non plug and play accessories?  I have the remake for the 352 ice station from 2000 or 2001 and wonder how i can use that on a plug and play layout?

My concern about Lionel Fastrack plug and play accessories is that if one attaches, say, 25 accessories won't it drain track power? Besides, aren't accessories supposed to be powered at 14 V and not the 18 V that the track uses?

Perhaps plug and play is geared toward OGR newbies who need to quickly hook up an accessory or two to their RTR set. Not sure though but I do like the concept.

I have the ten wheeler leagacy from 2008, I think. It is a well detailed loco, it listed at $649 then. If these are  similar it will be a good product.

Fred

It will but two thoughts:  my guess is they are targeting Lionchief Plus operators to some degree and if you have to apply full track power to run the trains the only issue would be having a large transformer.  So for some of this demographic, one that includes kids, it is very handy.  Second, for temporary or holiday layouts it is a handy thing to have.  When I was a young kid I built layouts using track power for the accessories.  Only when I started builing layouts later in grammar and high school did I use separate accessory power.

I'm hoping.  I got mine pre-ordered now - at 30% off it is very little more than I paid four years ago for my Legacy Atlantic 0 one of my best locos and I'm hoping the ten-wheeler  runs similarly and has a similar level of detail to the older ten-wheelers I have seen like yours audi. They are nice looking.  

Interesting in that the 37842 CN tractor trailer as being advertised as new is actually the same item from the CN GP-9 Piggyback set from 2012Vol1.  Also the 81063 Gateman (plug and play) is the same number as advertised in 2014RTR.