LionChief Plus Product Review, RS-3, Four Road Names.

My grandchildren, have been over for the past two nights and they are coming back for an over night again this week.  We have a lot of fun running the trains. Using the LionChief Plus Controller and conventional trains. The LionChief Plus, gives the operator two ways to run trains. See diagram below., from the Lionel Manual.

Cheers from The Detroit and Mackinac Railway

Opinions vary.

RS# with EMD tyle trucks?

I guess the EMD style trucks was a cost saving device.  I really like LC+, I don't own a diesel yet as Lionel has not offered a road I want.  The LCCA had a B&M GP9, but you couldn't buy just the powered unit so I passed on it. 

Gary,

    Is the Lion Chief Plus a stand alone Remote Control only Train, like the LC Hallmark/Lionel I got this Christmas, or is the LC Plus controllable with the Legacy/DCS Controls, as well as its own remote control unit.

PCRR/Dave a 

Hi Dave:

The LionChief Plus, only works with the LionChief Controller, that is assigned to that locomotive. Think of it as a garage door opener, you would not want to share that radio channel with your neighbor. I also belong to two Radio Controlled Airplane Clubs, we all now fly on one frequency. That is 2,4GHz. the Receiver & Transmitter will find each other and keep them together. Just like a garage door opener. 

Legacy, TMCC & DCS are not compatible, with LionChief or LionChief Plus. Lionel is going to be shipping a Universal Remote, this spring that with remember any 3 locomotives that are assigned to the universal remote and can be changed at any time. 

I just purchased today my 3rd LionChief Plus Locomotive, Rio Grande FT, A-B-A Units. I like this system because when I have visitors to the train room, they each get a locomotive and a controller. No sharing a Legacy Remote or a DCS Remote. One more thing, if my MTH / TIU / or DCS Controller does not work, I have 19, locomotive that are dead on the tracks. If a LionChief Plus loco goes down, only one engine is dead on the tracks.

Hope this helps, always enjoy talking with you about trains. Gary

If you switch it over to conventional transformer controlled do the engine sounds still work?

Can you activate the horn and bell with your transformer?

Gary,

Great job on the video!  Very enjoyable, and thanks for including the type of equipment you used in its production.  A very professional presentation. 

Garfield posted:

If you switch it over to conventional transformer controlled do the engine sounds still work?

Can you activate the horn and bell with your transformer?

 

For LionChief Plus only, you can switch it to conventional mode and run with a transformer.  Yes, you have the whistle and bell available with standard transformer controls.  For the plain LionChief, it ONLY runs with it's remote or the new 3-button LC remote.

Gary & Guns,

   Bummer I was hoping Lionel Engineered the Lion Chief Plus to run both ways, with it's own remote control, and with the Legacy Cab2.  I understand the stand alone LC package, but why not make the Plus a real big engineering Plus!

PCRR/Dave

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Gary & Guns,

   Bummer I was hoping Lionel Engineered the Lion Chief Plus to run both ways, with it's own remote control, and with the Legacy Cab2.  I understand the stand alone LC package, but why not make the Plus a real big engineering Plus!

PCRR/Dave

COST, Plain and Simple it comes down to the MONEY. LC electronics and an underpowered wall wart are cheaper to put in starter sets, LC+ would have been better produced as TMCC/Legacy compatible, but IMHO Lionel dropped the ball.

YMMV,

Doug

Dave, if it ran with the Legacy controller, it would be a Legacy locomotive!

I tend to agree somewhat with both Doug and John above; Cost, and not competing with higher end products.  The competing point has been discussed in length in other posts in this forum.  as for cost, it would take not only the cost of the Legacy R4LC( or whatever they are using) radio board, but also the design time to incorporate an entirely different protocol in the LC+ microprocessor.  I can't see it being cost effective to place both systems in an LC+ loco, when the electronics package chosen is insanely low cost to produce as is.  

On the other hand it would also be painfully simple for Lionel to release a product that connects to a TMCC/Legacy system that would allow control of LC/LC+ engines.  I used an arduino and a salvaged LC remote for a test and things worked fine, however having the actual wireless protocol in use would make things much simpler.  

JGL

I've thought about the possibility of building a product like the Legacy PowerMaster Bridge that would connect to LC/LC+ locomotives and use TMCC commands to drive them from TMCC/Legacy, that would be cool.  As you say, having the command protocol would be really useful if you wanted to do that.