"The new Lionel catalogue says on page 70: "LionChief Plus 2.0 engines do not come with their own remote."
That's only for the separate sale locos, which makes some sense. LC+2.0 sets with track on pp. 74-75 (Granite Run Quarry; Easter Eggspress and Christmas Candies) come with a LC remote. The LC+2.0 set on pp. 82-83 (Pennsylvania Fast Freight) contains no track and no remote. The Manufacturer's Set I mentioned above in error is actually a Legacy set with no track. So we are both right to some extent 
. Sets with track will include a LC remote, at least in this catalog, as would also make sense.
I would hope they won't move to selling sets intended for beginners with track that have no control capabilities unless you pay for them yourself, as MTH does. This just raises the barrier to entry into the hobby a bit, which makes no marketing sense to me.
The wisdom of LionChief is, I think, now pretty much evident, as you and I seem to agree. Inexpensive, simple, reliable and flexible. A home run in my opinion. LC+2.0 extends that approach one more step by including TMCC/Legacy functions.
