Lionel Plug N Play

Well, even though they are portable which is an upside, the downside is that I miss the days where accessories were hooked in by wires.

Change is good. I think Lionel is looking at the new kids on the block that like instant gratification. Who ever thought we would accept running our trains without both hands on the ZW handles.

Romiller 

I have three of these accessories.  I like them a lot.  My only two complaints are that the default wires are not long enough and I have to drill really large holes to accommodate the plug.

Is there like any way to cut the wires off of the accessory and put in your own length of wires of your choice? 

The wires are just jacketed going up to the connector. So it is easy to just clip off the connector and have your two power wires.

The accessories come with the connector that has two leads for traditional wiring. The PnP system is intended for people who like to setup the annual Christmas layout, or get out their trains every now and then and use them on the carpet, etc. So the current product still meets the needs for both the traditional wiring folk as well as newcomers and people looking for easy wiring that is not hooked up on a permanent layout.

In response to Panther's comment - you could unsolder the leads from the wire inside of the accessory, then run the wire through your bench-work and resolder the wires to the accessory again. This would keep you from having to drill large holes to accept the connectors. But my assumption is that if you're going to go through all this just to wire in an accessory, then it would be better to just wire the accessory in a traditional manner.

I do not see that Lionel has left anyone in the dust with the new connector system. And the accessories do not have to be run to track power only. 6-82406 can be run to a transformer and then this can be used to power three PnP accessories without requiring use of track voltage. This will also require the use of a pigtail connector or you can just clip the wires.

This all seems easy to me. Wondering where the confusion and/or animosity is rising from.

Looks to me like plug and play was devised for layouts having constant voltage on the track.  Folks with Lion Chief sets having only that puny little wall-wart are going to need a bigger power supply if they want to hook up more than one accessory, as are those who wish to run more than one LC locomotive at a time.

Pete

I believe you're right Pete. However, I would think that a CW-80 might be enough for most carpet set-ups since many of the accessories are only operated one at a time and it's usually when the train is not moving.

I like the intent of the PnP system. The execution seems just a little "overcooked" with the expensive proprietary connections, etc. but I'm trying to view it from the new hobbyist's point of view. Those who don't have a basement full of tubular track, traditional accessories and large, multi-tap xformers to run them all.

Texas Pete posted:

Looks to me like plug and play was devised for layouts having constant voltage on the track.  Folks with Lion Chief sets having only that puny little wall-wart are going to need a bigger power supply if they want to hook up more than one accessory, as are those who wish to run more than one LC locomotive at a time.

Pete

You are 100% correct. They are trying to appeal to a new, hopefully growing, crowd as opposed to the old, probably shrinking, crowd.

Yes, anyone looking to run more than one locomotive and/or one accessory will have to get a better power supply. Lionel sells a larger supply in the form of their 72-Watt Lionchief Wall Pack at a reasonable price.

Starter sets did not come with ZW transformers back in the day. They came with the minimum required to make the train go around the loop.

TrainingDave posted:

In response to Panther's comment - you could unsolder the leads from the wire inside of the accessory, then run the wire through your bench-work and resolder the wires to the accessory again. This would keep you from having to drill large holes to accept the connectors. But my assumption is that if you're going to go through all this just to wire in an accessory, then it would be better to just wire the accessory in a traditional manner.

I agree.  It comes with an adapter as well.  I was just trying to keep the wires in place and hold true to the plug-n-play feature.   I move items around all the time on my layout so having the plug-in-play option was nice.  I also do a lot of trading items and that was another reason to avoid cutting the wire.   I only drilled the hole for one of the accessories.  

I believe Lionel has now gone to a larger power pack for it's Lion Chief sets, 54 watt (3 amp), instead of the smaller ones they had in the sets originally. I think they also sell adapters to go to regular wire connections for the Plug-N-Play items.

Hi folks.  I just purchased a Lionel 6-82874 Early Intermodal Work House With Sounds.  It's plug and play equipped.  I concur about the necessary large hole to accommodate making the wiring disappear for these plug and play equipped items.  I always hate to get out the 3/4 inch bit and start mauling my plywood.  Given that, here's a few questions.  First have any of you ever just cut the connector off and wired the accessory (black and red wire only) directly to the transformer?  Second, just ranting and I'm sure no one knows the answer, but why does this particular accessory not come with an on/off feature?  I can't imagine given all the sound producing equipment we all have that at some point you won't want silence.  Third, can you just cut the connectors off and wire it old school to the transformer and hook it up to a standard Lionel small switch to enable an on/off?  Just looking for thoughts...  Thanks!

Jim Miehls posted:

Hi folks.  I just purchased a Lionel 6-82874 Early Intermodal Work House With Sounds.  It's plug and play equipped.  I concur about the necessary large hole to accommodate making the wiring disappear for these plug and play equipped items.  I always hate to get out the 3/4 inch bit and start mauling my plywood.  Given that, here's a few questions.  First have any of you ever just cut the connector off and wired the accessory (black and red wire only) directly to the transformer?  Second, just ranting and I'm sure no one knows the answer, but why does this particular accessory not come with an on/off feature?  I can't imagine given all the sound producing equipment we all have that at some point you won't want silence.  Third, can you just cut the connectors off and wire it old school to the transformer and hook it up to a standard Lionel small switch to enable an on/off?  Just looking for thoughts...  Thanks!

As stated above there is no difference between these and the older non plug and play accessories except that the have a cord with a plug on the end instead of terminals like we are used to.  You can cut it off and wire it the standard way.  I like to keep mine intact and just use a pigtail instead.  

I found the lack of a on/off switch for the work house also annoying especially for the price.  Lionel just saving money I guess.  

I plan to wire it in series with some accessories so it goes on and off when that accessory is turned on and off.

Thanks!  Nice idea to use them in phase with other accessories.  I agree, probably cost savings for Lionel.  Another issue, the new Sawmill 6-82023 I just bought can only be used in Command.  I had no idea.  I was going to swap it with my old one on my granddaughters conventional layout because I liked the lights and sound idea.   I haven't upgraded her to Command yet.  I know they made 6-14265 in 2008 with lights and sounds conventional.  That one is kind of tough to find.  Lionel knows how to frustrate people into buying more product as good as anybody.

Jim Miehls posted:

Thanks!  Nice idea to use them in phase with other accessories.  I agree, probably cost savings for Lionel.  Another issue, the new Sawmill 6-82023 I just bought can only be used in Command.  I had no idea.  I was going to swap it with my old one on my granddaughters conventional layout because I liked the lights and sound idea.   I haven't upgraded her to Command yet.  I know they made 6-14265 in 2008 with lights and sounds conventional.  That one is kind of tough to find.  Lionel knows how to frustrate people into buying more product as good as anybody.

Actually the old one with sound was never produced, it was catalogued but then canceled.  So the new command one just released is the only one ever made with sound.  

That would explain the hard to find idea.  Thanks for the update!

@Emily Shelton Here is a link to the Lionel Command Control Crane Sounds Work House Owner's Manual from Lionel's support site.

On page 6 there is a note that the White wire is not connected.  You are correct, Red is Hot and Black is Common.

I hope this helps and that you enjoy your new acquisition.