I am new to this forum & this is my first post. I am going to York to purchase 1 or 2 Legacy engines in April. I wanted to run Cab1L Base & Remote but now the prices are ridiculous. My question is does Blue tooth run all the features on the Legacy as well as Cab1L. Cab 3 at this point does not interest me. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Blue tooth does run most of the features of recent locos, but not every Legacy feature. However, I've had issues with the newest Legacy products where the sound is off or very low, and I could only fix it with my iPad, not my Cab2. You can also control locos with BT voice commands, but we found that gets old fast. BT does control every feature of LionChief engines equipped with BT.
What would you suggest to run Legacy trains. Cab1LBase & Remote or Cab2 Base & Remote (even though the prices are insane & if you can even find them) or go with Cab#3 or just go Blue Tooth & enjoy what you get. I hate to buy a train with all kinds of features & only be able to access a few. Thanks for your feedback.
One huge problem with existing Lionel BT products is the range. I have a 12 x 24 layout, and none of the BT equipped locomotives can be controlled end to end on the layout if I'm standing on one end, the signal always drops out. Unless you're going to be certainly no more than a maximum distance of 18-20 feet from the locomotive with your smart device, you will likely have issue.
Good to know. My platform is 10 1/2 X 25 but I would most likely stand in the middle say about 12' in the center. I also have 2 tunnels each approximately 4 ' long on each end. Do you see any posing problems. Also by running Legacy with BT, what features do I lose operating.
You get the basic operating features for the locomotive, speed, direction, whistle, bell, smoke on/off, couplers. However, what is missing is the features using the train brake and momentum to create a practically infinite variety of labor effects, anything using the AUX3 button, etc.
For the tunnels, it depends on how they affect the BT signal, that would be dependent on a variety of factors. As far as standing centered on the layout, if I'm going to be tethered to one spot, what's the point of wireless remote control? 
I can see your point but would still be able to move around somewhat as apposed to sitting at a transformer.
My other question about BT is I see people using an IPAD instead of their phone. I am not an apple person so can I use a notebook that is Microsoft driven, or is it android & apple only. Thanks for your help
I know that the LCS App only runs on Apple devices, and the Lionel iCAB App only runs on Apple devices. The Lionchief BT app runs on Android, but only on newer phones. It appears that Lionel leans heavily on the Apple side of things, so don't count on sterling support for Android. I hear tell the CAB3 App will run on both, I'll believe it when I see it.
again thank you for your help. I guess I will have to wait to see if I can find a Cab1L orCab2 at a somewhat fair price or wait til Cab3 comes out to actually see what works.
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