Model Train Journal

I seldom go to other forums and suspect this might be big news on others,
I have a few comments.
I have always been a Lionel fan and supporter. I am not a real collector. I get stuff I want to play with on my layout.
For the first time, I think, there is absolutely nothing in a Lionel catalog I would like to have. If I had a lot of extra
money to spend I could buy something. But there is nothing I am attracted to at all.
I see little to interest young buyers either. Looks like some nice looking HO stuff. But I don't care.

Lots of enthusiasm compared with any other manufacturer's catalog . Can't please everyone. Anyway, we old guys have most everything we need, right?

Neil wrote:Lots of enthusiasm compared with any other manufacturer's catalog . Can't please everyone. Anyway, we old guys have most everything we need, right?

Really?
And yes.
I don't have a lot but that still applies for me.

I did see one item that I may pre-order, one of the red B&O I12 cabin cars. Especially if it can be easily to two-rail.

Remember I said if I had a kot of money I could spend---I would buy all of the B&O wagon top cabooses. I always liked the real thing.

rogruth wrote:Remember I said if I had a lot of money I could spend---I would buy all of the B&O wagon top cabooses. I always liked the real thing.

A friend does have most of them. And he is looking at two more from this catalog.

Has Lionel ever done their FTs in the original Santa Fe catwisker paint scheme?:



I see their $99 0-6-0T is now $250. Will wonders never cease? I noticed they are TMCC operable, but no mention of Legacy.

"I see their $99 0-6-0T is now $250."

Consider that this loco now has command and sound. That adds $150 even in HO or N. This loco is a relative bargain for today. You won't find an O gauge loco with command and sound for that MSRP from any other vendor is my guess. It's also available from some retailers for under $200. I realize that's a lot of money for some folks, but compared with the market, it's amazingly priced.

Roy wrote:I see their $99 0-6-0T is now $250.

Neil wrote:Consider that this loco now has command and sound. That adds $150 even in HO or N. This loco is a relative bargain for today. You won't find an O gauge loco with command and sound for that MSRP from any other vendor is my guess. It's also available from some retailers for under $200. I realize that's a lot of money for some folks, but compared with the market, it's amazingly priced.

It would be one thing if they offered command control as an option, but they don't. If you want a Lionel 0-6-0T, you have to pay for command control, period.

"If you want a Lionel 0-6-0T, you have to pay for command control, period."

I think if you want almost any locomotive from Lionel, MTH, 3rd Rail and Atlas you are going to get command control of some sort (LC, LC+, LC+2.0, TMCC, Legacy or PS3) and digital sound. The days of conventional only, analog sound are gone, much the way you cannot get a stick shift transmission or a car with manual windows/no air conditioning. Fortunately there are zillions of conventional locos on the market at very reasonable prices, but all are previously owned. But for new production, you are going to have to pay for command and sound whether you like them or not. The market has spoken and people were not buying conventional only when Lionel offered both command and conventional versions of locos some years ago. In this niche market there just isn't the justification for doubling inventory and logistic challenges I gather.

J. S. Bach wrote:I did see one item that I may pre-order, one of the red B&O I12 cabin cars. Especially if it can be easily to two-rail.

How would you tell in advance?

Roy wrote:If you want a Lionel 0-6-0T, you have to pay for command control, period.

Neil wrote:I think if you want almost any locomotive from Lionel, MTH, 3rd Rail and Atlas you are going to get command control of some sort (LC, LC+, LC+2.0, TMCC, Legacy or PS3) and digital sound. The days of conventional only, analog sound are gone, much the way you cannot get a stick shift transmission or a car with manual windows/no air conditioning. Fortunately there are zillions of conventional locos on the market at very reasonable prices, but all are previously owned. But for new production, you are going to have to pay for command and sound whether you like them or not. The market has spoken and people were not buying conventional only when Lionel offered both command and conventional versions of locos some years ago. In this niche market there just isn't the justification for doubling inventory and logistic challenges I gather.

I've never thought of LionChief as command control, but rather, as simple radio control. However, if you say it's command control, that's good enough for me. It's also news to me, that you can no longer buy a car with a manual transmission.

It seemed to me that the period where you could get either conventional or Lionchief trains was quite brief. Sort of like American Flyer's transition from link to knuckle couplers.

I have to wonder about the significance of the 0-6-0T's advertising, which mentions TMCC, but not Legacy control.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

J. S. Bach wrote:I did see one item that I may pre-order, one of the red B&O I12 cabin cars. Especially if it can be easily to two-rail.

How would you tell in advance?

A friend has several from the previous run, I asked him to send a photo of the underside of the platform.

I also noticed the vista dome cars with video cameras. They've been putting cheap video cameras on RC planes for a long time. Lionel now should take the next step, and put such cameras in locomotive cabs and caboose cupolas. Maybe, even placed to look out ordinary passenger windows.

Did anyone see the toy passenger cars on page 54?

Ridiculous.

Somebody spent valuable tooling $$ on this?

George