Currently I have four (4) Lionchief Plus locomotives, a Pacific, a Hudson, a NW-2 and a GP-20 and most likely in the future, a LC+ Pere Marquette Berkshire when and if released.
I'll begin by stating that the Lionchief Plus line of locomotives has made my return to model trains, at 70 something, an enjoyable one, especially considering their price point. The appearance and detail, weight, smoke, sounds, electronics and ability to operate by remote control make it, well for me anyway, just plain fun!
Although any problems with my LC+ locomotives have been minimal...they have remained constant and that's the bad news.
My first purchase was the LC+ Hudson and almost immediately the rear coil coupler didn't work. Being new and under warranty, I sent it to Lionel for service and had to pay for the shipping. When I received it back, the coupler worked for a few minutes and then stopped working again. Not wanting to pay once more for more shipping and taking a chance on damage, I just went without the ability of being able to activate the rear coupler, thus taking away some of the fun.
Secondly, the LC+ Pacific once out of warranty, developed a problem with the sounds and would short out multiple times around the layout...made for a very distracting aspect for operating.
Now for the good news...I decided to take a chance when Lionel had their 50% off sale and ordered what I guessed might be necessary to do a fix...if not now, maybe for use in the future? Ordered one each (2) of the locomotive drawbar w/wiring harness for the LC+ Pacific and Hudson, one each (2) of the tender drawbar w/wiring harness and lastly, two (2) of the coil couplers, both of the latter two are useable on either tender.
Finally have gotten around to attempting to fix both issues. Thought I would tackle the Pacific sound issue first and most of all wanting to keep things simple. So I decided to try replacing the tender drawbar w/wiring harness first...hoping that there might be a contact problem with the pins where the locomotive and tender drawbars were connected and it would only require soldering two wires for the speaker...and low and behold, it worked!!! Really didn't want to get into the much more challenging electronics of the engine...by the way, soldering is not my strong suit, but after watching many UTube videos, I think I have now turned the corner with this one?
The second issue was trying to get the coil coupler issue resolved on the LC+ Hudson, since the trip to Lionel service never did provide a remedy. Once again the repair was made in the tender. Simply removed the body and truck assembly, disconnecting the wire harness...reinstalled the new replacement coil coupler and "voila", it now is operating perfectly...and train life is good once again!!! Just sayin...
