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Hi, thinking of buying a Lionchief plus SD60M , don`t want to buy with out hearing sounds. also opinions as to their reliability. i have one lionchief steamer (080 set) that did not hold up after few weeks of running, smoke unit not smoking,making clicking sound, wheel wobble, chuff out of sync. do like the idea of being able to run off remote,phone,or conventional . any videos, info would be helpful thanks.

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"For the same price you can get the MTH premier Sd60M, that looks better, much better detail and sounds great. "

I think you (or maybe I) may be confusing the LionChief Plus line with the Legacy level loco that has LionChief+, which is what Lionel's description of this product implies.  I doubt that this Lionel SD60 locomotive is inferior to the MTH Premier in appearance and detail.  It's the same as the Lionel Legacy SD60, but with LionChief+ electronics, so it has Bluetooth, LC+, and conventional capabilities as I understand it.  Unless he has DCS, the MTH  loco will not operate in command mode, which is worth keeping in mind.

Landsteiner posted:

"For the same price you can get the MTH premier Sd60M, that looks better, much better detail and sounds great. "

I think you (or maybe I) may be confusing the LionChief Plus line with the Legacy level loco that has LionChief+, which is what Lionel's description of this product implies.  I doubt that this Lionel SD60 locomotive is inferior to the MTH Premier in appearance and detail.  It's the same as the Lionel Legacy SD60, but with LionChief+ electronics, so it has Bluetooth, LC+, and conventional capabilities as I understand it.  Unless he has DCS, the MTH  loco will not operate in command mode, which is worth keeping in mind.

But it is the same price or less. Compare the two, the MTH has better detail. No it does not have blue tooth but who cares. 

Now if the Lionel was a little cheaper and better detail I would have bought it but after seeing it at my LHS I decided against it. Nothing special about it IMO. 

Dave

The MTH has see through vent details. The Lionel does not, just deeply recessed. MTH made at least two versions of the SD60M. One had marker lights and the other did not. The Lionel also does not. Aside from those discrepancies the Lionel has fine detail. I can't tell you how an SD60 is supposed to sound. But I can tell you the Lionel has the same prime mover sounds as my Lionel SD40-2. I like my Lionel because it has super bright headlights, a nice horn, high quality sounds (not necessarily protypical) and super slow speeds.

Overall very happy with my new csx sd60 LC+, that being said,  the only drawbacks im not a fan of are the significant lag to response in bluetooth, perfer remote, and the need to blow into smokestack often, so smoke will continue...fine piece tho, my 2nd LC+ w/ bluetooth...will purchase another as the impressive slow speed operation and sounds are very nice

I have operated conventional up to this point and have not gone digital yet, with the price of LC+ and CC engines being somewhat close, i may not make the move, saving $300 on a system which could just go to another LC+, i do have some questions as to powering track with my current transformers but dont want to hijack the thread. 

Lastly the instructions included do not work with revised remote, re: sound, however all adjustments can be made in bluetooth and carried over to remote. Im impressed so far and have no real issues in a weeklong christmas display with the sd60 other than clearing stack

As far as see thru vents, i will clarify and try to post finished pics soon.

The sd60 has see thru vent Grills, Grills, not see thru inside body, you can only see thru, to the body, NOT thru or inside, if you so desire you can remove the vents, as i have and dremel the openings as to give you the ability to see thru, and inside, then replace the see thru grills.  Its quite nice when its done, but DOES NOT come this way from lionel. The roof fan grills are the same way, see thru grills only, not thru inside body, just thru to the fan blades, which spin freely, however are hard to see, i have removed the grills and painted the fan blades a contrasting color to improve visibility, but i held off on cutting those open to the inside at this time.

I am also installing marker lights on the front, marker/class lights are not included from the factory.

It is a very nice detailed locomotive, all the added on detail is really nice, i took mine to another level, with additional detailing, which any experienced modeler can do, but its not required, its a delicate project,  i wouldnt recommend it for a beginner, especially since its super nice right out of the box.

At dealer we set the NS legacy version next to NS Lionchief Plus and bodies are identical. Sound is pretty good, same people in cab, smokes good, but not as much fan speed as legacy, horn is very nice, runs good at slow speed. I noticed Lionel did not offer any scale Lionchied in the 2018 catalog. Great for club operation where legacy signal can be fuzzy at times.  Had to get one just for easy operation, a first for me. 

Lionel seems to have backed away from the Scale Lionchief locomotive idea in favor of putting bluetooth in all legacy locomotives. If you want to run a legacy bluetooth engine the same way you would run a lionchief just use the universal remote instead of your Legacy base and you are good to go! Simple controls on a legacy engine, and fewer remotes to keep track of.

romiller49 posted:

Obviously the man wants the Lionchief plus. You say Bluetooth “who cares” well maybe he cares. 

I have one of the Lionel SD60 models (LC+/Bluetooth) on order. Having pruchased another Lionel locomotive with LC+/Bluetooth) in the recent past, I can say that I really enjoyed both the control flexibility (Bluetooth) and the sounds.

alcors110 posted:

I just ordered a Burlington northern Bluetooth sd60m from trainworld, cant wait to operate it!

That's also the one I ordered, and from the same place. Was informed that it shipped today. It will be the first new locomotive from any manufacturer to run on my new layout, which currently holds just a temporary 126' long (approximately) single loop of track in a distorted dog bone configuration. I will, of course, report back here once the SD is up and running.

BANDOB posted:

The thread says: Any Videos..... So, here's a video. UP Lion Chief Plus SD60M on a freight at Great Scale and Railroad Collectors Show, Timonium, MD, February 4, 2018. You can see how well the locomotive smokes, and how an 8-year old can have a good time as engineer.

 

 

Hard to see in the video but it looks like the Lionchief version of the UP engine does not have the flashing roof strobe like the Legacy versions.  Is that correct?  Thanks.

Trainlover9943 posted:
trainroomgary posted:

Hi Members:

What Lionel Catalog has the SD60M • LionChief Plus - in 4 road names......?

I could not find the SD60M • LionChief Plus in the Lionel 2018 Big Book.  What catalog is it in and the page number?

Thanks: Gary

@trainroomgary 2017 V1 pages 20-21 Screenshot attached 

Hi Trainlover9943 Matt

1 Screenshot Lionel Catalogs

Matt: Help, went to the 

http://www.lionel.com/catalogs     /    There is no 2017 Vol. 1 Catalog  /  Which catalog did you use for your screenshot.

Thanks: Gary

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