Reissue the Lionchief plus NW2

The LionChief line is for sets and entry level products in the hobby. It is not meant to compete with more scale-like and expensive products.  You can buy a Lionel set with LionChief sometimes as inexpensively as $150 for Thomas and similar products.  The price range of $150-300 for LionChief sets is much more attractive to many dealers and consumers than the $400 plus of other manufacturers.

You can also buy a LionChief separate sale locomotive from Charles Ro and similar dealers for around $200, or substantially less than any other command control/digital sound locomotives.  These aren't intended for those who insist on scale fidelity and full command control features/high quality sound and are willing to pay for these enhancements.  You'll need to go to Legacy or perhaps LionChief Plus 2.0 for those features, with attendant increases in cost.

In short, LionChief is an economy version of toy trains.  I assume you and many knew these facts, but thought it would be useful to lay them out for those unfamiliar with the line.

Landsteiner makes a great point! LionChief is a gateway into our hobby.

A gateway that needs to be:

- Inviting

- Inexpensive

- Not intimating (not complex)

- Fun enough to hook you and your family

I think Lionel did an excellent job meeting all of those criteria with the LionChief sets. We need new blood into the hobby and set made for an experience hobbyist may be seen as too much to far for the novice. Nevertheless, these sets are very nice and can be enjoyed by more established O gauge Train guys as well.

Once in the hobby, the newbie will find himself on an enjoyable journey of discovery that can quickly lead to Lionel legacy locomotives. From the LionChief Starter set.  Want to run a relatively inexpensive LionChief locomotive as well as your starter set? Why step right up to the $40 Universal remote. No extra boxes, no wires, you don't need an oscilloscope or voltmeter to install it. Just turn that orange remote and you are good to go.  You only need one hand to use it too!

Once that orange universal remote in in the new guys hand, he can start thinking about that first Legacy locomotive. "So Mr. Dealer, you are telling me I can run that highly detailed Lionel legacy Maine Central GP9 with my little orange remote?  And I can run it on the same track that I got in my LionChief starter set?"

"Yes, Mr. New Customer!, Not only that, you don't need to buy a new Command Control system to enjoy many of this Legacy locomotive's features" (That will come later!)

And so an other lifelong Lionel Legacy enthusiast is born. To me, this is what is going to cause the slow die off of the decanted DCS system: A lack of a simple starter set that gets the newbie on the path of DCS. By the time the newbie has moved up to Legacy, he won't need or care about other control systems. He will have plenty of locomotive choices in the Lionel legacy universe, both new and old stock that he will be buying Lionel legacy locomotives for years just trying to catch up.

I think the OP is talking about LC PLUS which was marketed as a step above LC, and he was complimentary of the LC+ NW2's details. I agree with him that an NW2 LC+2 would be a winner.....seemed like it was a winner in TMCC with the PWC series and LC+ more recently.

Easily one of my favorite locos in the Lion Chief Plus line. Looks great, runs well and also one of my best smokers.

@Madockawando posted:

Landsteiner makes a great point! LionChief is a gateway into our hobby.

A gateway that needs to be:

- Inviting

- Inexpensive

- Not intimating (not complex)

- Fun enough to hook you and your family

I think Lionel did an excellent job meeting all of those criteria with the LionChief sets. We need new blood into the hobby and set made for an experience hobbyist may be seen as too much to far for the novice. Nevertheless, these sets are very nice and can be enjoyed by more established O gauge Train guys as well.

Once in the hobby, the newbie will find himself on an enjoyable journey of discovery that can quickly lead to Lionel legacy locomotives. From the LionChief Starter set.  Want to run a relatively inexpensive LionChief locomotive as well as your starter set? Why step right up to the $40 Universal remote. No extra boxes, no wires, you don't need an oscilloscope or voltmeter to install it. Just turn that orange remote and you are good to go.  You only need one hand to use it too!

Once that orange universal remote in in the new guys hand, he can start thinking about that first Legacy locomotive. "So Mr. Dealer, you are telling me I can run that highly detailed Lionel legacy Maine Central GP9 with my little orange remote?  And I can run it on the same track that I got in my LionChief starter set?"

"Yes, Mr. New Customer!, Not only that, you don't need to buy a new Command Control system to enjoy many of this Legacy locomotive's features" (That will come later!)

And so an other lifelong Lionel Legacy enthusiast is born. To me, this is what is going to cause the slow die off of the decanted DCS system: A lack of a simple starter set that gets the newbie on the path of DCS. By the time the newbie has moved up to Legacy, he won't need or care about other control systems. He will have plenty of locomotive choices in the Lionel legacy universe, both new and old stock that he will be buying Lionel legacy locomotives for years just trying to catch up.

What happened with me is that I started with LC+ for slow, smooth speed control, love it, and then recently graduated to the DCS Remote Control Set so I could run my MTH PS2 & 3 engines like my LC+ engines. Now that I know the DCS basics, I also love DCS.

No Legacy yet, but got one on order that, hopefully, will arrive in July. I look forward to running it with the LC Universal Remote or with the LC App on my smartphone. Arnold

Hi Arnold,  that is very interesting! In a sense, you do confirm the importance of LionChief getting people hooked on the remote control aspect of our hobby. I sure you pathway to the higher (and more expensive) trains is what Lionel and dealers are hoping for.   You will enjoy running Legacy wit the universal remote.

@johnstrains posted:

Easily one of my favorite locos in the Lion Chief Plus line. Looks great, runs well and also one of my best smokers.

That is a nice looking engine. Like I said in the first post, keep it close to the price of the lc+1.0 and Lionel can take my money! Is it a decent puller?

@raising4daughters posted:

I think the OP is talking about LC PLUS which was marketed as a step above LC, and he was complimentary of the LC+ NW2's details. I agree with him that an NW2 LC+2 would be a winner.....seemed like it was a winner in TMCC with the PWC series and LC+ more recently.

Someone gets an A+

@Csxcellent posted:

That is a nice looking engine. Like I said in the first post, keep it close to the price of the lc+1.0 and Lionel can take my money! Is it a decent puller?

Absolutely, pulls fine. My one and only complaint about the NW2s is they have sort of a tinny sounding horn even running at the prescribed 18 v. But not a deal breaker by any means. As I recall at the time (5-6 years ago) these first run LC+ NW2s sold very well.

@johnstrains posted:

Absolutely, pulls fine. My one and only complaint about the NW2s is they have sort of a tinny sounding horn even running at the prescribed 18 v. But not a deal breaker by any means. As I recall at the time (5-6 years ago) these first run LC+ NW2s sold very well.

Thanks. If I understand the latest lc+2.0 and legacy upgrades correctly, I think you can adjust the pitch of horns and bells on the newer stuff.

Johnstrain,

The NW2 Lionchief Plus is on my Christmas list for this winter.  Is this a "Traditional" size diesel, about 10.5" from end to end, or is this one of the larger "Scale" diesels, at about 12" from end to end?

Although the shell looks a little plain, I am not above sprucing it up by painting the roof, horn, bell, front antenna, window shades, back door and front grill in silver or black, to add more "detail".  I did this with my old Lionel NW2 Pullmor and it looked really great.

Mannyrock

If Lionel should reissue the LC NW2, they need to please put the correct truck sideframes on it per the catalog illustrations and like the original postwar version.

AAR type A switcher trucks vs AAR type B road trucks.  I refuse to by any others until this is corrected.

And yes Lionel was notified by me years back on this issue that the trucks were wrong and all I got was that the catalogs are illustrations only.

Gray

@johnstrains posted:

Easily one of my favorite locos in the Lion Chief Plus line. Looks great, runs well and also one of my best smokers.

I like it! It looks clean and solid. I bet is looks great pulling a Postwar consist!

@Mannyrock posted:

Johnstrain,

The NW2 Lionchief Plus is on my Christmas list for this winter.  Is this a "Traditional" size diesel, about 10.5" from end to end, or is this one of the larger "Scale" diesels, at about 12" from end to end?

Although the shell looks a little plain, I am not above sprucing it up by painting the roof, horn, bell, front antenna, window shades, back door and front grill in silver or black, to add more "detail".  I did this with my old Lionel NW2 Pullmor and it looked really great.

Mannyrock

These are basically identical to most of the Lionel PW Switchers, i.e., they're 12 inches from coupler to coupler.

Thanks John,

The 12" coupler to coupler generally equates to about 10.5 inches from front rail to back rail.   This is the size I like.  I remove the front coupler, and it makes the unit look smaller for my layout.

Mannyrock

I just had another idea for the theoretical next run of the lc+ NW2. How about a North Pole Central one in green and/or red. I already have more Christmas engines than I know what to do with, but may pick one up anyway.  I would also be interested in any railway that runs through Maryland. Csx, b&o, chessie and most of all Ma&Pa (I just realized how many railroads used the NW2) would be awesome.

One more random thought on the subject. With lionel’s legacy nw2, would a lc+2.0 with the lesser detailing compete directly with the legacy version?