does anyone know what year lionel started using infrared instead of a tether between engine and tender?
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I know an engine offered in 1999 had them. I suspect phase in happened over a few years though.
Pete
Sometime in the late 1990's, I never worried about the exact timeframe. 
The first engine was the 1601 Allegheny released in late 1999 - in my mind a true collectors piece. It had many first:
1) Lionel's first articulated engine
2) First fan driven smoke unit
3) light ash pans
4) One of Lionel's heaviest die cast engines weighing in at approx. 26 lbs.
5) A very robust can motor with a flywheel in a steam locomotive.
6) and the introduction of more stable electronics, with at the time, good sound.
I have the 900 Virginian Allegheny, it is a beast!
tangoman posted:does anyone know what year lionel started using infrared instead of a tether between engine and tender?
1997. The first two locomotives were the 18056 New York Central and 18062 Santa Fe Hudsons.
J Daddy posted:The first engine was the 1601 Allegheny released in late 1999 - in my mind a true collectors piece. It had many first:
1) Lionel's first articulated engine
2) First fan driven smoke unit
3) light ash pans
4) One of Lionel's heaviest die cast engines weighing in at approx. 26 lbs.
5) A very robust can motor with a flywheel in a steam locomotive.
6) and the introduction of more stable electronics, with at the time, good sound.
As noted above, the Allegheny was not the first locomotive with a wireless tether. It had been in use two years at that point. As for the other points you listed...
1) True.
2) False. The 6-18057 Century Club Turbine was the first with a fan-driven smoke unit. It was produced in 1998.
3) False. The Allegheny has a lighted firebox (there's nothing in the ashpan), and that feature goes all the way back to prewar.
4) You might be right, but 26 pounds seems a bit heavy to me.
5) False. There are other steam locomotives that had a robust can motor with flywheel prior to the Allegheny -- the 2-8-2 Mikados come to mind.
6) False. The modular electronics debuted the year before, in 1998, even though I'm not sure why you'd characterize the earlier electronics as "less stable."
TRW
I have the St Fe Hudson set, and , yes, it has the wireless infrared drawbar. However, I also have the CCI engines, and the first one, the 726 Berk, has a wire tether, and I received mine in 1998.
Jesse TCA
