I'm really looking forward to getting one of these, though I'm waiting for the 2021 catalog just in case Lionel puts out some new road names. It's better sized as a switcher for those of us running semi-scale/traditional sized gear. In an era of skyrocketing MSRPs, this one alsio seems like a bargain.
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I'm still waiting for the two that I have reserved, don't know where they are. I hear that some of the sets with that engine have arrived, but I haven't seen anyone posting about them.
Same here. Waiting on one. Somebody mentioned in another thread that their dealer said they expect a Lionel delivery this week. Of course no way to know what's in that shipment.
I'm waiting for my BEDT on order. I'm hoping this recent flurry of interest means the arrival is at hand ?
@shorling posted:I'm waiting for my BEDT on order. I'm hoping this recent flurry of interest means the arrival is at hand ?
That's also my preorder. Liked the look of it in the catalog.
Does that include this one?
https://www.lionel.com/product...ionchief-set-2022090
If so, I received mine last week from Charles Ro and have been running it heavily for several days. I don't buy much new stuff, so I don't know what's considered "normal problems" for a modern starter loco. Just really fell in love with this little set when I saw it.
The chuffing effect makes mine run with stuttering, jerky movements at low speeds. This has gotten a little better over a few days of running and following a light grease and oil. I eventually had to stick a piece of a paper clip in the mechanism of the rear coupler to keep it from randomly opening, so for all intents, it's now a nonfunctional coupler.
Lifetime conventional runner, so I'd prefer a handle in my hand and not the whole remote thing, but it's an overall good product, aside from the aforementioned items. Smokes great, all sounds are loud and vivid.
Hopefully it better than the first run. our club has one and I have had to remoter it twice as it has $1 motor mounted vertically , the bearings wear in the motor and then gears start to get chewed up and it fails. there is no easy way to get it apart for normal lubrication to keep it from happening. everything else about the loco is very nicely built but the cheap choice of motor makes its lifetime very short. and also No parts available so next go around this loco is history.
@Rick Rubino posted:Hopefully it better than the first run. our club has one and I have had to remoter it twice as it has $1 motor mounted vertically , the bearings wear in the motor and then gears start to get chewed up and it fails. there is no easy way to get it apart for normal lubrication to keep it from happening. everything else about the loco is very nicely built but the cheap choice of motor makes its lifetime very short. and also No parts available so next go around this loco is history.
Well, considering this is LC Plus 2.0 and quite a bit of a redesign (per Lionel Dave's comments some months back), let's hope for better results.
I have high hopes for the new docksider, and I'm eager to get mine! 
The the engine in the PE Elf set mentioned is not the same as the separate sale ones. It does not have Electrocouplers and lacks other features. There is another set, Christmas candy set but not sure what that engine has.
@johnstrains posted:That's also my preorder. Liked the look of it in the catalog.
My layout is a reflection of our family. My parents were New Yorker's and although I've spent my entire life in CT the New York influence did rub off on me. So, I also liked the look but it was the "Brooklyn" that attracted me. Also, No. 15 lives on in another life as prototype size Thomas the Tank based in Strasburg.
@WaynePa posted:The the engine in the PE Elf set mentioned is not the same as the separate sale ones. It does not have Electrocouplers and lacks other features. There is another set, Christmas candy set but not sure what that engine has.
Ah, understood. Thank you for the clarification!
@WaynePa posted:The the engine in the PE Elf set mentioned is not the same as the separate sale ones. It does not have Electrocouplers and lacks other features. There is another set, Christmas candy set but not sure what that engine has.
Interesting, I wondered about the set engines. I'll wait for mine to come.
I wish mine would show up as well. I try to keep it out of my mind but it's tough.
Just came in Two year wait Will try it out at the club tomorrow
I'd like to know how they managed to shoehorn a smoke unit and sound in these. It must have a slot car motor.
Rick, that's why I bought it, I'm curious to take one apart and see how they fit all that stuff in there!
@bluelinec4 Thanks for sharing, it looks great. When you have a moment, could you please share a picture of the bottom of the engine that shows how the electrocouplers are mounted to the frame?
@JD2035RR posted:@bluelinec4 Thanks for sharing, it looks great. When you have a moment, could you please share a picture of the bottom of the engine that shows how the electrocouplers are mounted to the frame?
Here are some more pics of the bottom
Got a notice from Charles Ro today about new arrivals. The Docksiders are in.
Mine arrived from Charles Ro today.
Just got my Fedex shipping info. My 0-6-0 arrives Sunday.
I just received mine today!
Mat
It looks like they got the speaker setup as the conventional ones I have. Hopefully the speaker (or baffle?) is upgraded to sound better.
I got my engine from CT Trains in Zelienople, PA. He hasn't sent a notification yet though. Hopefully it just shows up!
Well, there's not a lot of places to put the speaker on something this size. FWIW, I suspect some of the sound quality issues with the original were likely the whistle board.
The real estate is definitely limited.
The original just seemed like it had no bass. Can bass be improved with improved baffle and sound file/board?
I received mine today. I will post pics and videos this week end. To start, it has the slow power up like the new b6sbs. When power is applied in tmcc mode, the engine stays dark and silent. After addressing the loc, the engine lights fade in and then the sounds start up. Engine has odyssey2, smoke, 4 chuffs, front and rear headlights, operating couplers. It's loaded with details - coupled cut bars, engineer figure, all diecast. This has some surprising heft for a small loc. Lionel packs spare tires, tool to remove side rods, and a pipette for filling the smoke unit. Engine seems to stutter a bit on speed step 1. Hoping some break in will smooth it out. It has 5 whistle pitches and 5 bell pitches. So far I really like it. Sounds are very good. I only tested in tmcc. I will test Bluetooth this weekend. Very impressed.
I am still waiting on mine. Ordered from Charles Ro so hopefully it ships soon.
These are great little engines, nice detail, good to hear the reviews above. If Lionel has indeed done the upgrades to the motor and gears then may consider getting one, would like to hear how these hold up. Have many Lionel engines LionChief and LionChief + the last few years that have failed with very little use and light loads. Just replaced the drive wheel gear set on a $500 LC+ engine today that had died after about 2 hours use from new, and corrected the factory motor - gear design that had a lot of gear slack allowing gear slip and failure.
I have the original much older conventional version of this 0-6-0 switcher still trying to figure out how to get a new motor in as they are not available.
The features are great on these new engines. Hopefully they will hold up and come out with more road names. The LC Plus 2.0 electronics and features add a nice selection of fun options for operating the newer engines.
@kj356 posted:I have the original much older conventional version of this 0-6-0 switcher still trying to figure out how to get a new motor in as they are not available.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...e-and-series-2-motor
I was recently successful in getting the series 2 replacement motor into the series 1 frame with a minor modification to the frame. See link above. Granted, it will never be as feature rich as this LC+2.0 version.
Make some quick videos. This engine smokes like crazy. Its constant fan driven smoke. Its does not puff. After a few laps the stutter has gotten better. I think it's just break in.
Bummer that the smoke isn't chuffing, I may have to try to fix that.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Bummer that the smoke isn't chuffing, I may have to try to fix that.
Once you find a solution, and I'm sure you will, you could be a very busy man or is that even busier!!
Got mine yesterday from Legacy Station. Ran kind of clunky at first before I realized it didn't come with the traction tires installed. Slapped the tires on and gave it a rip around the layout. Pretty smooth operation for such small wheels. I found it seems to respond better when controlled using REL100 on the Cab 2 remote.
This engine has a tiny electrical footprint though and even the slightest voltage drop anywhere on your layout will make it cutout. The rear coupler droops a bit but I am sure that is easily fixed. Like said above, it smokes like crazy and seems like it wants to puff at really low speeds but the 4 chuffs per rev on such tiny wheels turns it into a constant fan operation.
The detail and paint is excellent especially considering its a $215 engine all in. Overall very happy outside of the minor quirks noted above.
That sound sure kicks the crap out of my old conventional 0-6-0! It looks like it pumps out a ton of smoke for its size haha
If someone is able to report on how they work going through O72 switches I would be grateful. As long as it has no issues at 5 smph I'm good to go.
-Greg
Passes through my Fastrack O-72, O60, O48, and O36 switches pulling a boxcar no sweat.
I wonder how it functions with Ross switches? What's the measurement between the pickups? I'm guessing my curved O72/O96 switches and the double-slip switches may be an issue.
My layout is all ross and ross 072 switched. It ran through all of them without any problems. The rollers are spaced 3.5" apart.
Joe, the O72 Ross switches aren't an issue, there's a pretty short gap between the center tracks, I'm more worried about the longer switches. Glad I got rid of the #6 switches, I know they would have been an issue!
Makes sense. The rollers are only 3.5 inches apart so if those switches have a greater gap, then this switcher won't make it.
It promises to be "interesting". The curved switches "look" like 3 1/2" is enough, but time will tell. Given some of the issues I've heard about powering the extra rails with a relay, I'd rather avoid that if possible. I'm adding drops to accommodate that option if I have to, but I'll leave them unconnected if I don't need them.
The pickup assembly appears to be the same as on the conventional versions, and I run mine at slow speeds through O72, #4, and #5 switches with no trouble at all.
It does look the same, I'm hoping to avoid the relays for most of the switches. I'm preparing to have to use them at least on the double-slip switches, but we'll see. I wired drops for them, just in case...
Well, that was fun. After running for about 1/2 an hour the loco now trips my Lionel brick after sitting on the track for 10 seconds or so. Can hear an arcing noise coming from the loco. Back to Lionel for what is my first and last experience with BTO/preorder.
I'm curious if this thing is actually scale sized since it's a little dock switcher. Anyone know if it's scale or semi-scale?
@Doug Kinsman posted:Well, that was fun. After running for about 1/2 an hour the loco now trips my Lionel brick after sitting on the track for 10 seconds or so. Can hear an arcing noise coming from the loco. Back to Lionel for what is my first and last experience with BTO/preorder.
WOW, that's a bummer! Given the price, this is one I suspect I'll take apart and make sure nothing is going to short before I do any significant running.
@BNSF-Matt posted:I'm curious if this thing is actually scale sized since it's a little dock switcher. Anyone know if it's scale or semi-scale?
It's scale sized amazingly enough.
Rusty
The scale size is one reason I was attracted to it. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:The scale size is one reason I was attracted to it.
Thank you, glad to know that. I will probably end up picking one up then.
I love this little guy Dont know how many cars it can pull yet
Cool, glad I have a couple in the works.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:WOW, that's a bummer! Given the price, this is one I suspect I'll take apart and make sure nothing is going to short before I do any significant running.
Yeah, I thought better of opening it up as I was afraid of voiding a warranty. I work on all my other stuff doing smoke unit replacements ERR upgrades, etc. but its all used stuff. Oh well, hopefully the return/repair process isn't too painful.
Hopefully, being Lionel certified, I might get away with it. In any case, for a $200 engine, I'm willing to risk it.
@bluelinec4 posted:I love this little guy Dont know how many cars it can pull yet
Nice! That's the livery I have coming. It really looks great with the black and contrasting color trim.
@bluelinec4 posted:I love this little guy Dont know how many cars it can pull yet
Ben, before you start piling on the rolling stock, you might want to wait until you or someone else checks what motor is in there. I m betting its still the starter set motor used in the phase two Docksiders. These are not particularly robust.
Looks like a fun engine but I will stick with my phase 1 conventional one. It a nice runner and even has puffing smoke. The circuit card in there is actually fairly large, even bigger than a RCMC. I'll be interested to see what the new all in one circuits look like. Surprised Alex hasn't gotten one apart yet.
Pete
Pete, that's the first thing I'm going to do when I get mine, I wonder what they stuck in there. I hope it's not the little flat-sided set motor! 
John, Anxious to get a report from you!
Folks,
My new Lionel 0-6-0T Switcher arrived from Charles Ro today. I ordered the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal livery as I really like the look in the catalog pages. The black loco and red, yellow and white trim has great eye appeal.
This was packaged well and had nice heft for a small loco.
Put it on the track right away to test out connectivity and it paired with my Lion Chief App and the Universal Remote flawlessly. I am a conventional operator so no TMCC/Legacy so those will be my choices for running. Smoke unit off for now (will test soon) but good sounds from bell and whistle. Front and rear couplers fired as intended. Gave it a few quick laps and response seems fine, forward and reverse.
I will get a video with a more comprehensive review later but here are some shots of this long awaited Lion Chief Plus 2.0 loco. My first LC+ 2.0 loco.
So far, so good!
The anticipation is killing me haha I almost wish I had gone with the BEDT just because of that red.
This appears to be a scale model of an Alco 0-6-0T industrial switcher as shown on page 32 of Model Railroader Cyclopedia (c) - Volume 1 by Lynn H. Westcott, 1960. The engine shown is listed as having been built in 1910.
MELGAR
@MELGAR posted:This appears to be a scale model of an Alco 0-6-0T industrial switcher as shown on page 32 of Model Railroader Cyclopedia (c) - Volume 1 by Lynn H. Westcott, 1960.
Useful if we had that book... 
@NYC Z-MAN posted:John, Anxious to get a report from you!
It's a little slower as Henning's has to get them from the distributor, so I hope to have it soon.
Very nice!, I ordered the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal livery as well. I was hoping to do a shell swap with one of my older docksides. Seeing the finished locomotive, I will almost feel guilty not using the BEDT shell if the shell swap works!
Question, why would the smoke unit seem to run continuously? How would it be triggered?
I think at anything but dead slow, the chuffs would blend together as Lionel doesn't dynamically brake the smoke fan motor. However, I haven't seen it run really slow to see if it chuffs even at that speed, maybe someone can post a video of it running at it's slowest speed?
For those that want a glimpse inside I opened it up to ensure mine doesn't crap out after a half hour like reported above by another user. My best guess would be the wiring from the smoke unit which is routed directly underneath the flywheel. If that isn't perfect it will rub right through the wires. Mine just clears it. I can't tell what kind of can motor is in here but there was no room for anything bigger.
The smoke unit has a nice metal stack which seals against a gasket on the shell. That should help when filling it so fluid doesn't pour all over. Also the bowl on the smoke seems quite large considering. I am sticking to lionels recommendations to no more than 20 drops. Overall the insides seem well layed out.
Wow, nice packaging job. That is the starter set motor that has been around for decades. It should last, just don't overload it.
Pete
Bummer, it does have the small motor, that's a shame. Still a great deal, but I'm not as impressed, I was hoping for a better motor.
John, I agree a bigger motor would have been nice. From I saw, i know not to overload this loc. I can see it working well in a yard area where its moving cars around.
Quick update to my post above...
Turned on the smoke unit and added ~20 drops of Lionel Premium. Wow, great billowing smoke. However, as mentioned by another poster no chuff. Will try to get a video up sometime tomorrow.
Now...would love to hear suggestions on what to pull behind this.
@Joe Fermani posted:My best guess would be the wiring from the smoke unit which is routed directly underneath the flywheel. If that isn't perfect it will rub right through the wires. Mine just clears it. I can't tell what kind of can motor is in here but there was no room for anything bigger.
Sounds pretty logical to me. Is there room to put some kind of shield on the wire to stop the insulation from rubbing away? The pic looks like it's really tight in there.
I'm hoping there is enough clearance to move those wires more on the side of the motor. Moving them out about 1/2 inch should clear the flywheel. Just need to make sure the shell still goes on. There is no room to put anything on top of the wires and stay under the flywheel. There is no room.
The only way they could have improved the motor is with a high dollar instrument motor like a Maxon. No room for a larger motor thats for sure.
Pete
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Bummer, it does have the small motor, that's a shame. Still a great deal, but I'm not as impressed, I was hoping for a better motor.
The motor just fits between the front drivers. The next size up available probably wouldn't fit.
Rusty
@johnstrains posted:Quick update to my post above...
Turned on the smoke unit and added ~20 drops of Lionel Premium. Wow, great billowing smoke. However, as mentioned by another poster no chuff. Will try to get a video up sometime tomorrow.
Now...would love to hear suggestions on what to pull behind this.
This site has some great pictures of BEDT 0-6-0
@Rusty Traque posted:The motor just fits between the front drivers. The next size up available probably wouldn't fit.
That doesn't make me feel any better about that weak and failure prone motor.
No encoder, so it appears the LC+ 2.0 board uses back-EMF cruise. Makes sense, they have that in the can.
@wmcwood posted:This site has some great pictures of BEDT 0-6-0
Thanks for the link. Great site!
There's the BEDT switcher in the flesh!
I wonder if there's any chance that the chuff signal is on one of those unused connectors? I would consider reprogramming a Chuff-Generator to just do chuffing smoke if there was a way to sample the chuff signal.
Your biggest problem John would be where to put the board. The lc plus 2 board takes up a lot of space. After speed step 4 the chuffs come pretty quickly. The first 3 speed steps you would clearly see the chuff. I'll be interested to see if you upgrade this.
I actually have a little "extension" board that I built to just stick the encoder chip in the motor and remote the Chuff-Generator board. I'd take a picture of the real board, but I used them, have to get another few made. You just cut the end to make it fit and wire the four connections to the sensor connections of the Chuff-Generator.
It looks like the Chuff-Generator board could lay right here.
I would be very interested in that board. I thought it was bigger.
My wife preordered me one for Christmas at my local train store. I talked to him today, it is shipping on Monday.
As to the concerns about LC+ 2.0, I have a PRR RS3 that I bought a while ago. Haven't had much time with it all. When the addition was finished and the table set up and after the Christmas layout was done I started testing my engines. The RS3 developed a horrible noise which I posted about but no one replied. I dropped it at the train store for its out of warranty repair last week. It is due back this week. At the same time as I pickup the 0-6-0T. Worries me a bit.
We'll see.
Frank
@BillYo414 posted:I would be very interested in that board. I thought it was bigger.
The board is bigger, but I can put a very small board on the flywheel if I needed to. However, it would be even better if there was a way to capture the chuff signal from the board and drive the smoke fan using that.
My issue with the LionChief RS3's is that they have those EMD trucks on them, with steps that extend beyond the frames. It's a shame because I'd love to pull the trigger on the PRR and B&M versions!
Jon 
Folks,
Here's a quick and dirty cell phone video shot on my half dismantled Christmas layout so I could show the new 0-6-0T with smoke running. It smokes like a champ, albeit without any chuff.
Edit: I am not a Legacy user so this was all new to me. I control this via either the LC App or the Universal Remote. Both work well but I discovered expanded functionality with the App. Was able to adjust sound quality of the whistle and bell (pitch) and do a few other things not available with Universal Remote. Cool beans.
Will try to get a video with some sounds up soon.
Nice! Thanks for posting it. That is a tremendous amount of smoke.
Awesome reviews guys! Thanks so much for posting all of the pictures and videos and letting the rest of us see these in action. I just ordered the Pennsy 0-6-0T from Trainworld. I can't wait to try it out.
-Scott
Nice to see it has 4 audible chuffs per revolution, even if we have to wait for GRJ’s supa chuffa upgrade to get 4 smoke chuffs per revolution.
I asked this on another thread, but who built the prototype? We have one on island that is very close. Baldwin built. Don
Porter built the prototype
Well I ordered the Brooklyn version this morning because it has the best paint. This will be my second modern Lionel engine ever as my stable consists of MTH PS3 and a couple of conventional engines. Both Lionels will be bluetooth but the first one was a christmas set and the plastic gears fell apart after a couple of weeks of use, but this new one should work fine on my layout. I will use this switcher in the yard and for the mining operation that is in progress. I hope the chuffing smoke can be fixed so will watch for the fix.
Lionel might be accurate on the streaming smoke plume.
Keystone,
I'm not seeing what you posted but am interested. Is that a You Tube video?
Edit: Must be my computer. Can see it OK on my phone. Agree, that looks similar to the smoke output on the Lionel models.
Interesting, not much chuffing going on there.
Regarding these docksiders:
I really like the look of them, but my layout has a segment where there is a left hand 022 switch, whose turn out track is then connected to a diagonal crossing, with the end of the crossing then connected to a regular straight section of track. I also have a segment where two 022 switches are connected end to end.
Given the nature of these two segments, I wonder if a small 0-6-0 would be able to cross over these segments at low or medium speed without stalling out in a dead zone or "hanging up" in the middle of the segments. Or, whether in crossing them, the engine would sputter, lurch, hick-up to get across.
How do your dockside 0-6-0s handle in your layout on these types of segments?
Mannyrock
I'm not seeing what your problem is. Given the short gaps between center roller rails, I doubt this is an issue with the O22 switches. Do you have lots of issues with small motorized vehicles like track speeders?
My conventional docksider ran well over that switch. I didn't have any crossings to test it on though.
The little engine that could! Here’s the Granite Run Quarry LC 2.0 set. This engine is awesome! I ran it with legacy in tmcc mode. It actually has the water fill and steam blow down sound effects. Its hesitant at slow speeds but once it gets moving its more consistent. Smokes well, does not chuff. Cars do not have opening couplers but are nicely detailed with brake wheels and the side dumps work manually. Really glad I picked this one up! I’ll put up a video eventually. 
Got mine today. By itself it looks very good, on the layout next to other equipment it looks oddly small. Apparently that's prototypical though.
I had a consist of 8 freight cars plus caboose sitting on a siding so I hooked it up. Though its been reported here that the motor is small, but it pulled that consist. It was much lower than a freight car and looked odd to me, like an "S" gauge engine with O gauge cars.
Bill
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