I think you're right, John. Lionel is responding to consumer demand for people wanting to buy Lionel trains with non-conventional operation and they developed an upscale brand that fills the gap between LC starter sets and Legacy plus the additional demand for people who have grown up with iPads and Wi-Fi technology and wanted BT capability and they came up with this new LC+ BT line of trains.
I may be mistaken, but I believe this new line of LC+ engines is superior to the previous line-up of LC+ engines in that the BT app allows for momentum settings, dedicated coupler buttons, individual sound volume for whistle, bell, speech and background sounds, custom pitch settings for bell and whistle, speed limit setting and remote smoke on/off, which I don't think were all available with the original LC+ line ?
I just think there are an awful lot of people out there who wish this line-up had come out before they invested in a Legacy system because now they're caught between having to continue to invest in that system at higher price points or buying into the new LC+ BT system.
I'm sure I'll probably pick up one of the new LC+ BT engines to compare the two systems, but I would be satisfied if Lionel comes out with a protocol that allows at least partial/limited control of Legacy through the LC+ BT app and if the LC+ BT app allows operation of multiple engines.
