Lionel LC+ vs. MTH...looking for your experiences, recommendations and comparisons...

I have Railing and LC+ (and Lionel conventional engines) on my layout. 

Railking and LC+, while in similar ballfields, are arguably marketed for different people. LC+ more to expanding the RTR set and Railking to some of the more seasoned hobbyists. 

Obviously LC+ has one remote per engine. If you were going with the full DCS system, you can run 99 engines at once using one remote. The DCS Remote Commander, IMO, isn't worth the time. It is rather unreliable and "clunky" to use. The full DCS system can either be set up in 5 minutes and work perfectly or you can end up pulling your hair out to make it work. In terms of sheer reliability, LC+ blows MTH and DCS away. 

In terms of expansion ease, some may hesitate at many LC+ remotes. DCS has beat Lionel in that area. In fact, it is easy to point out the +/- for each. 

Overall, I love the LC+ products - easy, fun, reliable. DCS is great also and Railking engines come ready to run with PS2 or PS3 making upgrading to DCS easy. MTH Railking products, generally in similar price range as LC+ steamers, such as the Imperial series are beautifully detailed and rival Premier level detail. 

Typical operating session on my layout will have at least 6 locomotives operating at any one time. Trying to handle 6 LC+ remotes at one time would be chaos.

It depends on what you're trying to do...  If you want to run 2 or 3 trains with friends, each having independent control, LionChief Plus will be a lot more affordable (because you would have to buy 2 or 3 DCS remotes.)

The LionChief+ remote is more "kid-friendly" IMO (fewer buttons and no glass to break.)  The DCS remote has a history of problems with the thumbwheel.  It came out circa 2002 and this was never corrected in a redesign.

As a SYSTEM, DCS has a lot more features, if you're going to use it to run your whole layout, record and play back operating sequences, etc.  Depending on the size and complexity of your layout, you might have to pay special attention to your wiring, because the DCS signal is fed to your locos through the track.  As far as I've read, LC+ sends a radio signal directly to the loco, so if you're in range it should work reliably.

Under the shell LC+ and RK steam locos are fully comparable in quality and construction.  Both will look and run ok on sharper curves with traditional rolling stock.

One more observation: MTH locos with Protosound-2 run pretty well in "conventional" mode, so if you don't mind standing at the transformer, you can get some play value out of your RailKing locos even if you don't buy a DCS system right away.  Good luck!  -Ted

I like both and have a lot of both.  Specfically, six LC+ and perhaps four times as many MTH.  It is important to realize though, that most of my MTH I have are Premier (far most expensive) or upper-end RK/Imperial (merely more expensive) than LC+.  

So, comparing LC+ to semi-scale, $300 (after discount) range MTH locos, I prefer the LC+ steamers but will not touch the LC+ diesels. 

Why? Everything said above is basically correctly.  I do not view LC+ as only for kids, however.  Yes, DCS and Legacy have many more features and far more things you can control more precisely, but how much do you need?  I prefer the simplicity of LC+, and the fact that it uses radio, not the track, for signal prorogation.  It gives me all the control I need including awesome speed control for switching (which I rarely do but its fun to have). 

I have four LC+ steamers and love them all and they have proved very durable and reliable.  I don't buy LC+ diesels because I have two and both have failed and prove to be unrepairable (by me, maybe Lionel could fix them, but I think they have some design defect).  

I have some recent MTH diesels in the LC+ price range, such as the recently released RK NW-2.  It is a super little engine.  Sclae size, great runner.  Okay sound.  Adequate puller, but not the greatest (it's a surprisingly small loco so it doesn't have weight on its side like larger diesels).  I would have preferred to pay $50 more or thereabouts for smoke, though.  

I have an LC+ Hudson, Pacific and Mikado. Other than the smoke unit dying in the Mikado, in the first hour, they have been very reliable and run great. I also have some MTH RailKing Imperial and they have more detail and features if you use DCS. I guess it just depends what you are looking for.

Smoke unit in my Hudson didn't even last that long, kept me from buying anymore, and Lee's problem with the gp's are giving me second thoughts also.

Art

I know this isn't the original posters question, but I must say I have the LC Penn switcher from the set and it smokes great ( not fan driven ) and I have lots of fun with that little engine.

Art

I appreciate everybody's thoughts and comments. Looks like, at least for the present time, that I'll continue on with the two (2) LC+ steam locomotives that I currently own and use. I would like to add a diesel switcher in the future and will probably take a look at the new LC+ NW-2 when it gets released sometime later this year. Quite honestly, I'm certainly not interested in joining in the trials and tribulations that Lee Willis has endured with the LC+ GP-7's. And haven't heard or seen any updates with regard to the recalled RS-3's...maybe that platform was having the same issue as is the GP-7's??? No word on really what the problem was or is? Thanks again for the feedback...