A LOOK AT THE NEW LIONEL THEATER CAR

Really neat Alex!!!

Very Nice looking car. Hopefully we won't see the QC issues on these as we did with the UP Excursion cars.

zhubl posted:

Very Nice looking car. Hopefully we won't see the QC issues on these as we did with the UP Excursion cars.

My entire UP excursion set came free of any issues. It’s an awesome set. 

Thanks Alex for the videos and sneak peek!! I’m looking forward to the UP edition!!!

NOW THAT is really COOL! 

Thanks Alex... so when are they coming in?

Anybody notice the flat theater seating??? Are they going to fix that?

Steve

Alex, Thanks for the video.  I like it!  I'm glad to hear that the camera installation was straight forward.  

L & N posted:

Anybody notice the flat theater seating??? Are they going to fix that?

Steve

What do you mean?

L & N posted:

Anybody notice the flat theater seating??? Are they going to fix that?

Steve

Hi Steve 

The theater seating isn’t flat , see the picture. I placed a level from the back to towards the front , there’s a full bubble difference in height. 

I could see that it was inclined from your one video. I didn't get the question. 

MartyE posted:

I could see that it was inclined from your one video. I didn't get the question. 

Hi Marty 

I agree with you too , you can see in the video that the seats and floor rise up as they go from Back to front. Nice work by Lionel 

Alex 

Nice video Alex. Can't wait to get mine

 

Nice Alex - Thanks. Hard to tell from the 'video of a video' but do you see any degradation of video quality through the glass or unwanted reflections from it either?  Is it 'glass' or something else?

This is awesome Alex...  thanks for sharing and for your continued work in keeping us in the loop as projects progress at the mother ship.  😁

It was mentioned earlier but I hadn’t seen anything else on it... any thoughts on when we may see them shipped?  Looks like they have a solid prototype...  shouldn’t be hard to get moving on them now.  

I'd like to thank Dave and Ryan for letting Alex give us these sneak peeks.  Thanks to Alex for taking the time to do this.  It's really appreciated.

L & N posted:

Anybody notice the flat theater seating??? Are they going to fix that?

Steve

NOPE. Please look again! Why should Lionel Fix what is not broken?

 

Alex M posted:

Hi all, 

Dave just shippped this to me so I could post pictures and videos. This is just the Prototype, if you have any questions I’ll  do my best to answer them. Dave prepped me well on this. Hope you all enjoy !

The last video (if it works ) is a video of a video if that makes sense, it won’t let me upload the theater car video. I had to use another I phone and take a video of the video  LOL  😂 If I figure it out I’ll let you all know  

 

When I first saw these two photos I thought they were flat also but watching the video I see the seats are not flat.  My question is what is the big black thing in the middle top of the rear glass?  Does the real car have a TV or projection screen there?

Gene Anstine

c.sam posted:

Nice Alex - Thanks. Hard to tell from the 'video of a video' but do you see any degradation of video quality through the glass or unwanted reflections from it either?  Is it 'glass' or something else?

Hi Sam

It's not glass, it's a plastic material and there was absolutely no reflections or issues.

Thanks, Alex

grfd59 posted:

Alex M posted:

Hi all, 

Dave just shippped this to me so I could post pictures and videos. This is just the Prototype, if you have any questions I’ll  do my best to answer them. Dave prepped me well on this. Hope you all enjoy !

The last video (if it works ) is a video of a video if that makes sense, it won’t let me upload the theater car video. I had to use another I phone and take a video of the video  LOL  😂 If I figure it out I’ll let you all know  

 

When I first saw these two photos I thought they were flat also but watching the video I see the seats are not flat.  My question is what is the big black thing in the middle top of the rear glass?  Does the real car have a TV or projection screen there?

Gene Anstine

Hi Gene,

That square plate seems to be a glare guard to block the interior cab overhead LED lighting from the video camera.

Thanks, Alex

BHalfway posted:

This is awesome Alex...  thanks for sharing and for your continued work in keeping us in the loop as projects progress at the mother ship.  😁

It was mentioned earlier but I hadn’t seen anything else on it... any thoughts on when we may see them shipped?  Looks like they have a solid prototype...  shouldn’t be hard to get moving on them now.  

Hi Byron,

I thank you for your nice comments, last i heard these cars are suppose to be released October/November. IMO they will be released Christmas time.

Alex

MartyE posted:

I'd like to thank Dave and Ryan for letting Alex give us these sneak peeks.  Thanks to Alex for taking the time to do this.  It's really appreciated.

Hi Marty,

Thanks for your kind words, I enjoy doing this for Lionel and I appreciate Dave letting me share this with the OGR forum. It's great to get an early sneak peak at what's coming out in the future.

Alex

Alex, great review.  I have only one question, did you test the range of the receiving device, ie phone, Ipad, etc?  I don't have one on order, now I am rethinking that based on your review.

 

Alex,

Also, how did your record and then save the video? Can you post instructions or do a video of transferring the video?

Kevin 

I smell popcorn.

PeterA posted:

Alex, great review.  I have only one question, did you test the range of the receiving device, ie phone, Ipad, etc?  I don't have one on order, now I am rethinking that based on your review.

 

Hi peter 

i didn’t test the distance , I’ll try it in the next couple of days and get back to you 

Alex 

PSU1980 posted:

Alex,

Also, how did your record and then save the video? Can you post instructions or do a video of transferring the video?

Kevin 

Hi Kevin, 

Recording is simple , once you’re logged on it’s just a matter of pressing the record button and you’re recording. The recordings and snap shot pictures are automatically saved on the App. You simply click on one Icon and you can view all of your recordings and pictures 

Alex 

If only it could get here sooner.....

A post on another thread indicated that the factory in China that closed was lined up to make these theater cars. Can anyone comment?

Jan

The gist of the discussion regarding AFFatech was that they produced the 21" Lionel passenger cars and were the designated factory for the theater cars. I have one on order...

If this is true, Lionel must find a new factory for these cars. That could be a very long delay.

I have ridden the BNSF Geometry car; would dearly like to have one of these!

 

Jan

 

bigtruckpete posted:

zhubl posted:

Very Nice looking car. Hopefully we won't see the QC issues on these as we did with the UP Excursion cars.

My entire UP excursion set came free of any issues. It’s an awesome set. 

Thanks Alex for the videos and sneak peek!! I’m looking forward to the UP edition!!!

lil bit if thread jacking...but both of mine arrived issue free as well.

HiramO posted:

A post on another thread indicated that the factory in China that closed was lined up to make these theater cars. Can anyone comment?

Jan

Now that would be a real bummer!!!

 

Looking cool!  Thanks for sharing.

Harold

Can someone from lionel re- confirm that the theatre cars will make the August 28th departure date? I know notch 6 did (Ryan on the podcast) but that was recorded before the closing. 

mouth is watering when will we get them???

Ryan Kunkle said on the notch6 podcast they were shipping from China on August 28th.  I would expect dealers to have them by early to mid October.

Neal Jeter

If the factory is closed, is there anyone left to ship these in the future, on August 28th, (2018 I assume) ?  When the factory doors are locked, how does the hired help get in?

When was the podcast recorded?  Before or after the factory closing announcement.

( I had a lady come into my print shop and tell me she was going into business with a woman who just died.  I had to explain to her that dead people cannot sign legal papers to enter into a business agreement.  I never saw her again.  By the way, the dead woman was the money person.)   I don't know why that story comes to mind now.  Maybe our trains will come from beyond the grave.

Confused,  John Rowlen

The factory closed following the Notch 6 podcast, therefore the date Ryan gave is likely wrong now. I can't say what will happen for sure, so maybe @Dave Olson or @Conrail6358 can provide insight. I really hope they are still on track to be delivered soon.

Unless I missed it there is no mention of Lionel being affected by the shutdown in the Atlas Factory Shutdown thread.  Several companies are listed on page four of the thread but Lionel is not one of them.

Neal Jeter

The following was posted in the Atlas Factory Shutdown thread:

As of today...

Affected are:

Atlas (Official Announcement)
Bluford Shops (Official Announcement)
Bowser (Official Announcement)
ExactRail (Official Announcement)
Fox Valley Models (Official Announcement)
Intermountain (Official Announcement)
Spring Mills Depot (Official Announcement)
Trainworx Inc. (Official Announcement) Note: Not Darci's Trainworx
Wheels of Time (Official Announcement)

Not affected are:

Athearn (Official Announcement)
Bachmann/Kader - Kader owns their factories
Rapido (Official Announcement)
Scale Trains (Official Announcement)
Walthers (Official Announcement)

Not dependent on China:

Accurail (Illinois based with in house production)
MTL (Oregon based with in house production)
Kadee (Oregon based with in house production)
Kato (Japanese company with production based in Japan)
Shinohara (Japanese based, but shutting down due to retirement)

From what is being published, the impact is going to be most felt in HO and N scale, however there is also collateral damage to the O and Z scale sectors.

Andre

 

Maxrailroad posted:

The factory closed following the Notch 6 podcast, therefore the date Ryan gave is likely wrong now. I can't say what will happen for sure, so maybe @Dave Olson or @Conrail6358 can provide insight. I really hope they are still on track to be delivered soon.

If they know, most likely they will not post it here.  I would wait and keep an eye on an "official" Lionel channel.  I noticed that those guys posting has dropped off dramatically which is unfortunate for us.  Hopefully they'll put out something on their webpage or Facebook page.  Of course the Ryan and Dave show is tomorrow so someone could ask there.

MartyE posted:

Maxrailroad posted:

The factory closed following the Notch 6 podcast, therefore the date Ryan gave is likely wrong now. I can't say what will happen for sure, so maybe @Dave Olson or @Conrail6358 can provide insight. I really hope they are still on track to be delivered soon.

  I noticed that those guys posting has dropped off dramatically which is unfortunate for us. 

I've noticed that also and I will say that I honestly don't blame them. As the old saying goes "you never look a gift horse in the mouth"

Alex, Thanks very much for all these sneak peaks you do it's very much appreciated!!

Now all I need is a bucket of popcorn and a cold drink,sit back and enjoy the ride.

Doug

Its a very cool car!!!

Looks pretty cool!  Thanks Alex! 

Can someone post the product number for this car?

The NS theater car is 84230.

Neal Jeter 

Thanks Neal.

The product description says something about being able to see the video on your PC via wi-fi. Any idea what that will take (I don't have a smartphone so Apple or Android doesn't work for me).

I emailed Dave Olson and he told me the theater cars are delayed but they are still expecting them by the end of the year.

Neal Jeter

Are they not shipping out August 28th then? Lionel has not released an official Theater car update after the factory closing. 

Zach:

They are not shipping on the 28th.  I am not sure when they will ship but Dave said he still expects them by the end of the year.

Neal   

Lionlman posted:

Zach:

They are not shipping on the 28th.  I am not sure when they will ship but Dave said he still expects them by the end of the year.

Neal   

Thanks for the update, the wait continues I guess. 

Checking on the Theater Cars.  "They are due at the end of the year."  This year?

John:

The theater cars were already in production when the factory shutdown.  Dave hoped production could be completed by the end of this year.  

Neal Jeter

First, any chance of seeing a video clip Alex?

Second, our new laptop does not have a CD drive so is there an alternative way to load the software? (I might have missed it.) Otherwise cancelling the caboose.

BobbyD posted:

First, any chance of seeing a video clip Alex?

Second, our new laptop does not have a CD drive so is there an alternative way to load the software? (I might have missed it.) Otherwise cancelling the caboose.

In this day and age there are other ways of getting the software.  I certainly wouldn't cancel a car because of no having a CD drive.

MartyE posted:

BobbyD posted:

First, any chance of seeing a video clip Alex?

Second, our new laptop does not have a CD drive so is there an alternative way to load the software? (I might have missed it.) Otherwise cancelling the caboose.

In this day and age there are other ways of getting the software.  I certainly wouldn't cancel a car because of no having a CD drive.

I bought an inexpensive stand alone CD drive for these issues years ago. I would think it might be more up to date for these apps to come with a small jump drive or a download from the Lionel web site even better.

 

Alex, Do you know if the new Lionel caboose will have the same camera? I would assume so but just wanted

to be sure. Is the caboose still on schedule? Great resolution and no "skipping"!! Unclepeterr

Has anybody put figures in the seats of this car? 

Andrew

falconservice posted:

Has anybody put figures in the seats of this car? 

Andrew

Probably not because no one has them yet. 

BobbyD posted:

First, any chance of seeing a video clip Alex?

Second, our new laptop does not have a CD drive so is there an alternative way to load the software? (I might have missed it.) Otherwise cancelling the caboose.

Hi Bobby

There's a video clip on page one in my first post, also a CD drive is quite easy to get. I wouldn't cancel the caboose.

Alex

UnclePeteRR posted:

Alex, Do you know if the new Lionel caboose will have the same camera? I would assume so but just wanted

to be sure. Is the caboose still on schedule? Great resolution and no "skipping"!! Unclepeterr

As far as i know it's the same camera , as for the scheduling I'm not sure

Alex

Alex M posted:

BobbyD posted:

First, any chance of seeing a video clip Alex?

Second, our new laptop does not have a CD drive so is there an alternative way to load the software? (I might have missed it.) Otherwise cancelling the caboose.

Hi Bobby

There's a video clip on page one in my first post, also a CD drive is quite easy to get. I wouldn't cancel the caboose.

Alex

Right. I even bought a plug in floppy drive some years ago to have just in case...10 bucks.

I'm not getting too excited about the theater car not being here. I still have to buy Kadee couplers for the original 7 cars and correctly mount them.

Ironically, I waited all that time for those car passenger cars and now they sit in Tupperware bin under the layout.

I figure when this car comes it will give me a kick in the pants to get the set up and running.

Sure does NOT look like this!

Ron

I talked to Ryan Kunkle at the Lionel booth at York today.   The theater cars are on the water and should be here in four to six weeks.

Neal Jeter 

 

Alex M posted:

Hi all, 

Dave just shippped this to me so I could post pictures and videos. This is just the Prototype, if you have any questions I’ll  do my best to answer them. Dave prepped me well on this. Hope you all enjoy !

The last video (if it works ) is a video of a video if that makes sense, it won’t let me upload the theater car video. I had to use another I phone and take a video of the video  LOL  😂 If I figure it out I’ll let you all know  

Alex,

In looking at the manual page above, it shows a "Pan/Tilt Control" - so can the Lionel Theater Car camera (and presumably the Lionel Caboose camera) pan and tilt around so that you're not stuck just looking straight back in a rigid fixed position?

Very nice. And if you get bored watching where you've been, you can put it on the front of the train.

A couple of years ago I saw one of these cars on the tail end for a train pulling out of Harlingen.  I assumed the guys sitting there were boozing it up.  Apparently my mistake.

My question.   What is the point of attaching this car to rear of the train on the layout and seeing where you have been?  That is never a compelling view.  It is like trying to watch life in reverse.  Why not stick the car in front of the engine and get a real look at where you are going.

Several years ago my wife and I rode the BNSF theater car....it was her first ride on a train. That night it was cold and snowing....great view with the snow flying around in the outside bright lights.

Would you please post a photo or two of the underside, especially of and around the trucks? I would like to see how difficult it will be to convert to two-rail. TIA

Lionlman posted:

I talked to Ryan Kunkle at the Lionel booth at York today.   The theater cars are on the water and should be here in four to six weeks.

Neal Jeter 

 

Do you know if this applies to the station sounds dome cars as well? 

Will Ebbert posted:

Lionlman posted:

I talked to Ryan Kunkle at the Lionel booth at York today.   The theater cars are on the water and should be here in four to six weeks.

Neal Jeter 

 

Do you know if this applies to the station sounds dome cars as well? 

I’ll try to ask him tomorrow.  

Lionlman posted:

I talked to Ryan Kunkle at the Lionel booth at York today.   The theater cars are on the water and should be here in four to six weeks.

Neal Jeter 

 

YES YES YES YES!!!

I dont see what's hard to understand. To view is not from the engine forward because it is based on the passenger's viewpoint. That view is more common for more people total, including crew Cab view was done already. I got along fine with a similar view from the back of a station wagon as a kid. But it can cause motion sickness in some folks well. I have a pal that wouldn't be able to handle the reverse view without getting sick. I doubt the view being a camera and screen would help him .

The dome cars with StationSounds and the other 21” passenger cars are on the water.  My guess is these are all in the same container with the theater cars.  

Lionlman posted:

The dome cars with StationSounds and the other 21” passenger cars are on the water.  My guess is these are all in the same container with the theater cars.  

Fantastic! I can't wait to see and hear them! 

Well, back to the origins of the topic, cameras in a train car.  At York, in (about) 1994, Neil Young had his portable layout there.  All of his engines had forward facing "invisible" cameras in them.  There were many screens in the tent, so one could watch as the trains went around his well detailed layout.

You could actually purchase a video that included a view of yourself, as you watched the motion of the trains!

The look was simply awesome!

Alex,
Thanks for posting!  I finally received my theater car.  I think it is a blast to play with, although I was disappointed with the weak written instructions that gave minimal information about the app and the lack of help menu in the app itself.   There is one thing I have not figured out.  How do I save/download recordings and snapshots to my camera roll?  When in recordings tab I see download arrows at the top of the page but I was unable to initiate download (the camera was off line at the time).

thanks!

Now the big question is how do you adjust the height of the tombstone camera when the bottomobo the video from this car pics up the floor edge of this car before the big glass window?

Electronically if there is a crop or zoom adj. otherwise I'd look for physical adjusting screws inside for tilt/pan. For recordings a good video editor or free app if you can run one, will often have a zoom/crop to clean up with. I recently saw a railsounds era video cam engine for under $100. How good or bad was it?

Got mine yesterday, I have noticed the same about the camera. On contrary the color difference doesn’t truly bother me. 

T4TT posted:

Alex,
Thanks for posting!  I finally received my theater car.  I think it is a blast to play with, although I was disappointed with the weak written instructions that gave minimal information about the app and the lack of help menu in the app itself.   There is one thing I have not figured out.  How do I save/download recordings and snapshots to my camera roll?  When in recordings tab I see download arrows at the top of the page but I was unable to initiate download (the camera was off line at the time).

thanks!

When i did the review i had the prototype car , i didn't have any instructions or a manual. So unfortunately i don't know how to do that. Plus my theater car is still sitting at my local hobby shop waiting for me to pick it up. LOL 

Thanks, Alex

Alex,

I was curious how you managed to remove the glare from the interior light (looks like you applied tape to the glass?). I like the camera but the glare and reflection of the interior diminishes the view, any suggestions? thanks

Brian

booker110 posted:

Alex,

I was curious how you managed to remove the glare from the interior light (looks like you applied tape to the glass?). I like the camera but the glare and reflection of the interior diminishes the view, any suggestions? thanks

Brian

Hi Brian, 

 The car i had was the prototype which i didn't do anything to, If i remember correctly i shut off the interior lighting while i was videoing. I didn't add anything to the glass. 

Alex

I removed the plexiglass and the reflexion from a light disappear also the two verticle "smears", I have not tackled the bar across the bottom which remains.  The camera gets it power I believe from the metal sheet running the length of the car, I did not try to adjust the camera upward yet.  Seems to me that it would have been an easy design fix to not have 20% of the bottom of the screen unavailable because of the camera angle.

T4TT posted:

Alex,  There is one thing I have not figured out.  How do I save/download recordings and snapshots to my camera roll?  When in recordings tab I see download arrows at the top of the page but I was unable to initiate download (the camera was off line at the time).

thanks!

HOME OF THE JADA RAILROAD

 

Please, WHAT ICON????????????? This is driving me nuts!!

Obviously, someone has figured this out because there are videos posted on YouTube. I spent more than two hours messing with this and still can figure it out. The manual is worthless when it comes to play-back and downloading videos.

Someone, please. How in the heck do you do this?

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

jeremy ferrell posted:

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

Ok hopefully this helps this is only for Apple iPhone, I have no experience with android, and haven’t messed with the computer program much. The manual and app have much to be desired but it’s functional. What I have been doing is holding down on said video clip then a menu comes up with a “share” option. Here is a short clip, like I said hope this helps. 

I'd never heard of theater cars before.  They look like modern day versions of observation cars that allow a lot of people to look out the back window.  Are they used nationwide now?

phrankenstign posted:

I'd never heard of theater cars before.  They look like modern day versions of observation cars that allow a lot of people to look out the back window.  Are they used nationwide now?

They are  modified passenger cars to allow railroad officials and guests, often shipping customers, to view the railroad, or inspect track.  They run on office car, executive trains. Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific, and I believe BNSF all have versions of this car.

zhubl posted:

jeremy ferrell posted:

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

Ok hopefully this helps this is only for Apple iPhone, I have no experience with android, and haven’t messed with the computer program much. The manual and app have much to be desired but it’s functional. What I have been doing is holding down on said video clip then a menu comes up with a “share” option. Here is a short clip, like I said hope this helps. 

Thanks this was helpful.   Will it let you send your videos and photos in text messages.   I’m getting error messages when I try to do so.   

Canadian National has theater type cars.

Andrew

zhubl posted:

jeremy ferrell posted:

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

 holding down on said video clip then a menu comes up with a “share” option. Here is a short clip, like I said hope this helps. 

Thank you! How in the heck was a fat gray haired old man supposed to figure that out???? I'm a Microsoft guy. I find 99% of Apple product operations to be completely counter intuitive...

jeremy ferrell posted:

zhubl posted:

jeremy ferrell posted:

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

Ok hopefully this helps this is only for Apple iPhone, I have no experience with android, and haven’t messed with the computer program much. The manual and app have much to be desired but it’s functional. What I have been doing is holding down on said video clip then a menu comes up with a “share” option. Here is a short clip, like I said hope this helps. 

Thanks this was helpful.   Will it let you send your videos and photos in text messages.   I’m getting error messages when I try to do so.   

I did have issues trying this at the train show today. Might for one make sure your not still connected to the Car WiFi. If that doesn’t help, might have to save the clip to your phone then send it as a text. 

zhubl posted:

jeremy ferrell posted:

zhubl posted:

jeremy ferrell posted:

Taking videos and pictures isn’t difficult as you mentioned but I can’t figure out how to share them.  

Ok hopefully this helps this is only for Apple iPhone, I have no experience with android, and haven’t messed with the computer program much. The manual and app have much to be desired but it’s functional. What I have been doing is holding down on said video clip then a menu comes up with a “share” option. Here is a short clip, like I said hope this helps. 

Thanks this was helpful.   Will it let you send your videos and photos in text messages.   I’m getting error messages when I try to do so.   

I did have issues trying this at the train show today. Might for one make sure your not still connected to the Car WiFi. If that doesn’t help, might have to save the clip to your phone then send it as a text. 

So I’ve been able to share a photo via text but no such luck with video 

My buddy Kanawha got this thing figured out.

Wrong assumption #1 on my part, I was trying to treat this thing like a digital camera. What I assumed was that pictures/videos were stored on internal memory in the car. They are not. The images recorded are saved to your smart phone.

Here's a cut/paste of Kanawha's email: