I have worked on many of these and they are fun to run. They are very smooth runners and are well built. I get to see many of these. The sounds are also good. These are going to have Bluetooth from this time forward. I recently got to run a FlyerChief Northern with Bluetooth and it impressed me big time. I have seen a few engines in my time and this was a new experience. The app is free and it does many things. I feel that all you need to do is run one for a test and you will be hooked.
I do repairs for a Lionel Dealer and my only complaint is when someone would send a locomotive in without the remote. When I test, I test in conventional and remote mode. Lionel recently released a universal remote that will control three locomotives. I am a happy camper with this remote. This is a well done product also.