Thar Be Flyer Here...

Hmmmm....different road numbers and no scale wheels offered on the diesels....Hmmmm

I would think the "DCC enabled" feature of the SD70ACe would be appealing to some people.  I am not quite sure what a "pivoting pilot" is, but it apparently new to American Flyer.  It is odd that there is no mention of scale wheels, but they do mention there will be mounting holes/pads for scale couplers.  

 

I am probably the only one who wanted to see the last 2 UP heritage engines cataloged more than the NS heritage ones.  I am sure they will come along.  I guess we will have to wait till 2013's American Flyer catalog to see the new RTR set.  I was surprised not to see the 2-8-8-2's re listed in this catalog.

 

I will probably order the two Canadian hoppers.  

 

I hope some answers will be had at York from Lionel about some of the question marks with the SD70ACe.  If anyone is going, and is able to take a picture of a production sample, please post it!!!!

 

Ben

I believe "DCC Enabled" means a DCC decoder that will control the TMCC/Legacy electronics.

 

There was a mention a while back the SD70 pilots would be like the O Gauge "Vision Line" pilots.  They will remain in aligned with the body if nothing is coupled, but will swing if something is coupled.

 

It is a little puzzling that there's no mention scale wheel versions or wheel availability.  I'm beginning to wonder if the Flyer section is in the main catalog is a "teaser" and more will be in a dedicated Flyer catalog.

 

Rusty

I said on another thread that Lionel would never do DCC and I am very happy to be proven wrong.

Now that its officially announced I suppose I can comment now. If you are interested in DCC, Lionel has done a very nice job with the implementation for S gauge. You should be very happy when you receive the product. It works quite well. It is puzzling to me that they aren't offering scale wheels. I can't believe that there are that many buyers running Hirail track that want DCC. It also seems odd that the hoppers do have scale wheels and couplers. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe they will offer an upgrade for the Sd-70s... Doesn't make much sense the way it is now though. I doubt you will see a separate S catalog again until Feb or so. I would guess 1 catalog a year is what you will see.

Unfortunatley, while I like what Lionel is doing for the Flyer line, I have little confidence in the catalog descriptions as to wheels and couplers.  The catalog illustrations are of little help because they're still O Gauge cars Photoshopped for S.

 

And things have changed on the U33C's and Challengers between cataloging and product delivery. 

 

I know, I know...  "Verify product descriptions on the box..."  Those have been known to be in error, also.

 

I'm waiting for once the cylindrical hoppers come out to see how they're equipped and how easy they'll be to "scalify."

 

Rusty

I was just checking out the Lionel catalog specifically these hoppers. Do any of these hoppers have a prototypical paint scheme? I know for sure that the CNJ, Lackawanna, NYC, and  Erie are not prototypical. Not that I am knocking anyone who buys one. Just not my cup of tea.

The Canadian and Pennsy cars are prototypical(or at least prototypically lettered.)  The others are fantasy to match the Heritage SD70's.

 

Rusty

Oh, OK. Thanks a lot Rusty. I appreciate it. OK, so where it says "NS Heritage" is a fantasy scheme. Got it. Any chance these cars were used in the steam era? I tried blowing up the pics to see the numbers but it just gets too blurry.

Phil:

 

In the AF catalog, the SP is accurately printed.  These cars (Alcan, Aluminum Company of Canada) were first produced in 1959.  Most class 1 railroads had dieselized by then.

 

Roger