I attached a video in post # 7 or so, on down this thread, just a minute ago.
----------------------Original post is below .....................................................
I asked my LHS to set one aside and they called this afternoon when the shipment came in.
Why? Not sure. Curiosity - I know it is strange my buying this given that I run only conventional - hypocritical even, but I wanted to try Lionel's new system out.
The photo below shows the set, a simple oval, and all-plastic (okay, the wheels are metal) Thomas, Clarabell and Annie cars. I think these are the same as prior Thomas offerings by Lionel. Thomas feels quite hefty in spite of the plastic and I imagine could pulls a few more cars. All this for $159 list. Wow.
Anyway, I did not even unwrap the instruction manual. Should not have to: is it simple enough for a five year old? Yes. I put together the track. I put Thomas and friends on the track. I plugged the power supply into the wall and then the other into the special track section (see small photo). Immediately Thomas started chuffing - a slow, "at idle" chuffing rate - imagine an old Railsounds or Trainsounds or whatever the first generation of Lionel electronic sound was, through a tiny, tiny speaker. Not too loud, not much fidelity (worst I have ever heard, actually, but okay . . . $159.
I then pirated three batteries from a TV remote control to power the remote, closed the battery cover and pressed various buttons. Nothing happened. Oh! There is an ON-OFF switch on the right side of the remote. I turn it to "On." The red light on the top of the remote glows. I turn the throttle knob. Thomas takes off, chuffing. Looks to have a bit of a momentum feature built into the electronics, or maybe he just takes a while to work up to speed. Regardless, at full throttle he's moving uncomfortably close to tumping over in the curves, I think. I slow him down to the slowest speed he will go - not Legacy slow, but a bit slower than any of my conventional locos will go. I push the bell button. Ding dign ding. Not loud, not a really good bell sound, but okay . . . The horn. Hmmm - definatley a sound. Maybe that is a horn -- Thomas probably isn't going to be too, uhhh, dare I say, horny? It's a noise anyway . . . A third button makes some sort of sound, I think someone shouting "All Aboard." Not sure really. None of these sounds is really loud, but probably that's good, given kids will play with it. Thomas goes in reverse, too. I set him to backing up at a slow speed.
Actually it is a cute set and the Lionel remote works very simply, and very well. It's not Legacy, but that is what I like about this. It doesn't feel like a computer system to me - just a simple knob and buttons: hold the transformer controls in my hand type of thing.
Thomas is still backing up. My wife comes in and demands the batteries for her remote: apparently stealing them is a cardinal sin in our household. I turn off the remote, open the battery pack, and hand her the batteries. Strange - Thomas is still backing up. I watch. He backs up for a while at a steady speed, and then seems to gradually lose interest and slow to a stop and begins chuffing at idle.
When I get more batteries I'm going to try to discover how many speed steps he has, etc.
and I wonder, Thomas has just one motor. But do you think the electronics board in there would maybe power two, like - in a BEEP?
