S Gaugian Interview with Lionel

Hi Bill,

Two easy question:

1) Will Lionel/Flyer be coming out with new products?

2) When will the fabulous Berkshires be rerun?

That's a good start.

I'd like to know how Lionel plans to grow participation in S.  Do they prefer to cater to the existing base and, if so, primarily with Gilbert-based designs or hirail/scale? What percentage of their business and therefore planned designs are aimed at hirail/scale?  How do they want AF S to look in five years?

Frankly, I'm curious if Lionel feels they grow S at the expense of their O/O-27 line or grow by stealing HO modelers away.  I'd like to think the latter.

I failed at keeping my questions singular in nature.

Will we ever see detail/roadname specific models like the U33C, Challenger, Y-3 again?

When will Lionel make scale size modern rolling stock to run behind all the beautiful Legacy diesels they made?  Lionel makes many engines and rolling stock in O gauge that require wider curves than O36 so why not rolling stock that requires R27 in S gauge?

I would like Lionel to manufacture the All aboard panels that can make a complete layout.

Make these in various radius sizes to accommodate both old and new Flyer trains.

These were originally sold back in 1965 and 1966.

Thanks, Phil 

Kinda the old standbys...

Is there still a commitment to Legacy in S beyond what is already in the portfolio, such as a SD40-2.

Has lionel looked at another run of challengers maybe to include smoking whistle? 

How does Lionel feel the reception is to the newly tolled wood sided reefer, considering the market was not short of that particular type of car.

Will we see a scale modern frieght car to go with the legacy diesels that have been produced?

Will the newly tooled GP7 have trucks that are similar to the depiction in the catalog? The trucks appear overly tall for the loco.

Ben

 

I would ask about the plans for LC+ with bluetooth in future locos.   I mean FlyerChief with bluetooth.

Ken Oscale - This is not about O.  this is about American Flyer by Lionel - S Gauge 

Thanks for your replies so far.

I asked MTH and Lionel about making modern freight rolling stock last year.  The answer was no.  I can see if anything has changed.  The reason was most modelers use engines from the past especially steam engines.  That is where they felt the most buyers were. 

When will we get more Berkshires?

Uh, no one runs the modern diesels they (Lionel) have been selling (maybe they don't sell??).

I don't run them all the time, but they are fine locomotives.

Rusty

I think in some of the non heritage road names, they sold rather well. If you recall, BNSF, UP, NS...all were quick sellers on Ro's website. The only ones I remember being discounted were some of the NS heritage units. 

Ben

I have 11 of the modern Lionel AF diesels and 6 cylindrical hoppers.  Pretty short consist for 11 engines.  American Models doesn't make 2005+ freight cars and Desplaines Hobbies doesn't show pictures of what they have so not sure how modern their stuff is.  In my mind "modern" has conspicuity marks on the cars.

OK guys....I need questions not statements please.

Any plans to combine bluetooth with legacy for the best of all worlds.

+ on the SD40-2

Brendan

 

Any plans for new steam?  Also what did they decide about plastic steam?

Any plans for another modern diesel ( sd40-2, another round of sd70 or es44)?

Does Lionel plan to manufacture an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 steam switcher?

Does Lionel plan to offer any newly tooled "Scale" engines or rolling stock in the next catalog? Scale meaning code 110 scale wheels and Kadee coupler compatible.

I don't think it is negative to ask them if they have in fact decided to exit the scale market and focus on AF. I for one would like to know as I have zero interest in anything AF.

Does Lionel plan to make more PE sets? Any chance of a Daylight 4-8-4? Any plan to put an Operating Mail Bag mechanism in a Streamline baggage car? Will the new GP7s have swinging pilots (I hope not!)? There Bill; pick any, all or none!

Roundhouse Bill,

Will you be there Saturday?  I'll be with North Penn S Gaugers.

Francine

The kid in me wants you to ask them if there will ever be a Thomas the Tank set!

Brendan

Francine:  I will be in York Tuesday and then leaving Friday afternoon.

A TT set would probably sell pretty well, but who has the licensing permit? It would also lend itself to MANY add-ons.

Questions for Lionel

Engines and Cars

1. For your O gauge cars you produce powered B units in Legacy. There have been several Alco Passenger sets the Lionel has issued 12+ cars for (i.e. Northern Pacific). Would you consider making Powered Legacy B units to help pull these larger sets?
2. Lionel has made deals with MTH in the past to license selected items under the Lionel name that MTH can produce. Would Lionel consider some coordination with MTH to help grow “S” as a whole so that they don’t step on each others toes (Woodside box cars) and make the same items? (Creating new tooling would help grow “S” and would benefit both companies.)
3. The tooling for Passenger Cars is almost 65 years old. Would Lionel consider investing in new tooling to make more scale like longer cars with detailed interiors? Figuring with all the road names previously issued this tooling should be extremely economical as is could be used again and again.
4. With the success of the Polar Express would Lionel consider another popular entry point offering? My local dealer just suggested that they should make Thomas the tank engine in “S” as he felt a 2 rail Thomas would be a huge success and would take sales from HO bachman and move them to Lionel.

Fastrack

1. Lionel twice listed RR crossings but then cancelled them. IS there a way we can at least get the roadbed produced for the crossing and then apply separate crossing gates?
2. Will lionel release the Legacy sensor track for S to support all the Legacy engines they produced?
3. Any chance for 30”+ radius curves could be produced?
4. Will an S gauge Plug and play track for accessories be produced?

 

Accessories

1. Any chance Lionel would consider making some of the older S gauge accessories perhaps with some updates such as sounds for the Cattle loader which might encourage people to buy new ones?

General

1. Would Lionel consider doing any of the following:
   1. Sending a survey to their S gauge customers asking what they want.
   2. Hosting an on-line forum once a year to chat with their S gauge customers.

 

Rocco

traindavid posted:

A TT set would probably sell pretty well, but who has the licensing permit? It would also lend itself to MANY add-ons.

I assumed Lionel would already have had licensing since they have G and O TT sets.  They have plenty of licensing exprerience - PE, Disney, Nascar, MLB, etc.

Brendan

Will the next run of Berkshires include Bluetooth capability? (Please!)

Thanks again for your time and effort collecting input and doing these interviews Bill.

Mike

As Columbo would say, "One more thing".  Does Lionel have any plans to add an FC/LC module to the ERR selection?

Brendan

I think Bachmann currently has the Thomas and Friends license.

It's not an exclusive license.

Brendan

Uh, " Does Lionel have any plans to add an FC/LC module to the ERR selection?" What d'ya talk, What d'ya talk? I actually have no idea! Of course, I still run trains with mechanical reverse units! (I also own a model T, so trains aren't the only place I'm behind the times!)

Thought of more questions for Lionel...

Will they consider expanding the FasTrack turnouts to include numbered turnouts with straight diverging routes like a #4, #5, #6, or #8?

Also, what about the possibility of curved turnouts like a 27"r/20"r ? That could be useful for a lot of people I would think.

Finally, would they consider offering passenger cars with detailed interiors and LED lighting?

As Columbo would say, "One more thing".  Does Lionel have any plans to add an FC/LC module to the ERR selection?

Brendan_______________

I don't know what these are or what they do.

Sorry Bill

Does Lionel have any plans to add an Flyerchief/Lionchief  board to the Electric Railroad board selection?

Brendan

traindavid posted:

A TT set would probably sell pretty well, but who has the licensing permit? It would also lend itself to MANY add-ons.

David,

Lionel already has the rights to make Thomas in O and G, so making it in S won't be a problem.  Fitting electronics is.

Anyone have any remaining  questions as I am going to put them together to send my contact at Lionel?

I would like to ask Lionel if they would consider making a Plymouth Yard Switcher that would have been in use in the 1950’s. It would be nice if it had a detailed shell with directional lighting. Conventional control would be OK, but TMCC or FlyerChief would be even better.

Thanks,

John.

Is Lionel going to consider a starter set that is not holiday themed? Something other than that docksider they have been schlepping around for the past 20 years....something with FlyerChief?  If they want to have any success with the baldwins being scooped up and put into sets, they should consider installing Bluetooth or FC into them.  

Ben

Would they consider a Flyerchief GE 44 ton switcher or  Legacy Hudson with centipede tender?

 

Rich

Good Day,

My thinking all the train companies are still far behind in using the Internet as a marketing too.......

Would Lionel consider presenting a questionnaire form on their website?  Perhaps a questionnaire with 25 questions on products. One questionnaire form per person because your email address would identify you.

Regards,

Swafford

Now that Lionel is adding Legacy electronics to Gilbert-era PAs, would they consider using the tooling for the Pacifics and Mikados to bring them back as Legacy locomotives with conventional AC/DC, Legacy AC, and DCC capabilities similar to the electronics in the SD70ACe and ES44AC?

Have they given any thought to updating the U33C and bringing it back with the same up-to-date Legacy electronics and the "pivoting pilot" they cleverly designed for the SD70ACe? (Lionel solved all of the electrical contact loss problems that this locomotive and the original SD70ACe had when they introduced the ES44AC. Amortizing the U33C tooling with another, updated production run might be economical now that they have identified and fixed most bugs and objections.)

The questions were already finished Tokelly but thanks.  

By the way, Lionel can't make the TMCC Pacifics and Mikados as the tooling was lost.  Also, the PAs have had Legacy for two earlier runs and it is not new for 2017.

"Lionel can't make the TMCC Pacifics and Mikados as the tooling was lost. " I'm assuming this happened when the China manufacture "dumped" everyone. This is ONE of the problems with outsourcing your manufacturing processes. Ying and Yang as the Chinese would say. So, one assumes that they would have to start from scratch to build those steamers.

Crying shame, the Mikado is a beautiful piece! 

Ben

David, no you are making a mistake.  First, Sandra Kan did not dump Lionel. Second, Lionel doesn't know what happened to them because of so many management and location changes since the company made those.  My contact at Lionel says that the tooling might have been owned by the Chinese company and not Lionel.  Anyway I was told that to make those again all new tooling would be required and there was not much chance they would ever me made again.

Hi Bill & all, I may have the "facts" wrong, but the results are the same: due to outsourcing production, there isn't close control over many aspects, such as ownership of tooling and preservation of tooling. Apparently Lionel doesn't even know who was supposed to have ownership! The second part of your posting is perhaps the most troubling, "not much chance they would ever me (sic) made again." This means one of two or three things, 1) sales did not meet expectations or 2) Building from scratch is too expensive nowadays, due to market demands; which means 3) we aren't likely to see ANY new steamers other than ones for which the tooling still exists. A sad state of affairs, for which I have no answers. Of course, I preface this all with, "What do I know?"

Roundhouse Bill posted:

David, no you are making a mistake.  First, Sandra Kan did not dump Lionel. Second, Lionel doesn't know what happened to them because of so many management and location changes since the company made those.  My contact at Lionel says that the tooling might have been owned by the Chinese company and not Lionel.  Anyway I was told that to make those again all new tooling would be required and there was not much chance they would ever me made again.

Sad to hear that they've lost track of the Mikado/Pacific tooling.

SandaKan did not own that tooling, nor were they in the tooling ownership business.

Any project kicked-off by one of their importing partners was paid for, and owned, by that entity.

TRW

I have also recently heard that Lionel lost the Barrel Loader tooling as well. 

 

That is really distressing, considering how long that tooling survived. However, didn't MTH make some too? If so, there are copies out there!

Please guys start another post if you would.  Lost tooling is not my suject.

Aww, c'mon Bill, this is a railroad forum, threads get derailed all the time!! Besides, it does speak to what may or may not be made again. (I'd start a new thread, but I lost it. . . .)

Are they going to do build to order in S?

They already have, the SP and D&H Alco locos from about 2 years ago. I suspect much of production now is BTO, based on dealer orders.

traindavid posted:

They already have, the SP and D&H Alco locos from about 2 years ago. I suspect much of production now is BTO, based on dealer orders.

Agreed.  If they weren't following BTO, how come some folks got shorted on their Berkshires?

Rusty

My guess is the local hobby shops were the ones shorted on the Berks as they all go through a distributor and not direct from Lionel.  I always use a major dealer like Charles Ro as they are never shorted and get any extras.  

I already had that as a question for all the new items in the catalog.

Roundhouse Bill posted:

My guess is the local hobby shops were the ones shorted on the Berks as they all go through a distributor and not direct from Lionel.  I always use a major dealer like Charles Ro as they are never shorted and get any extras.  

I already had that as a question for all the new items in the catalog.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of those dealers further up the food chain find they need additional units and get them at the expense of the smaller hobby shop.

Roundhouse Bill posted:

My guess is the local hobby shops were the ones shorted on the Berks as they all go through a distributor and not direct from Lionel.  I always use a major dealer like Charles Ro as they are never shorted and get any extras.  

I already had that as a question for all the new items in the catalog.

Not exactly fair is it? 

Penalize customers because they want to support their local hobby shop...

Rusty

Part of the fallacy of basing production on pre-orders is that quite a few of us are reluctant to pre-order, having been "burned" in the past. It's kind of a "lose-lose" situation. If you pre-order, and then a dealer "dumps" a bunch of the product at less than pre-order price, you pay "too much;" but if you don't pre-order, then the company figures there isn't a demand for that item and it isn't produced. . . .

They must not see it as a fallacy as they have been doing it for several years.  It does give them a guarantee of sales and no leftovers that they have to discount heavily or dump to get rid of. Remember it isn't about you deciding not to pre-order till you see the product.  It is about the company making a profit and staying in business.  

Bill,

 I well understand the need to stay in business: I'm third generation self-employed. The problem with that business plan is one does not push the envelope and stumble across gold that way.  Yes, it guarantees sales of what you produce, but it also introduces mediocrity. Pre-sales is only one measurement of market potential.

That's all I'm saying! It would likely be a more accurate measurement if not for the long delays in past promised product. I know, the delays are not always (if any) the fault of Big L, but it is the nature of outsourced manufacturing.

I know, I'm repeating myself! Oh well, you know railroaders, they tend to be single tracked. . . .