What are these numbers?

I believe the 14516EL is either a mfg date code or lot code.  EL stands for Early Light Industrial Co, a supplier for Lionel. When Lionel were still made in the US they stamped a 5 digit code inside the box flaps, three of the digits for for the day of the year that the item was packaged.

I emailed Dave Olsen and he confirmed that the 14516EL was indeed the date code, in this case 5/14/2016.

He could not however, confirm the need to match the numbers on the receiver board and the remote board, or even explain what the numbers meant. He added that the design and management of all Bluetooth LionChief is handled by his team, but that the earlier non-Bluetooth (like my boards above) design and management was all done in China.

Anybody else?

George

George, you are interested in this information for what purpose(s)?

Pingman posted:

George, you are interested in this information for what purpose(s)?

Like a car collector, he probably wants a "numbers matching" locomotive!

Pingman posted:

George, you are interested in this information for what purpose(s)?

Well the number under the cab was pretty much "just wanna know", but the matching of the remote number to the receiver number was … well, it was complicated.

I recently purchased a Lion Chief engine and a dedicated Lion Chief remote separately, from two different folks. It was a gamble because I didn't know if any of the boards worked! As it turns out the engine's receiver board was partially functional, but I have since repaired it, and it's now fully functional, using a newly purchased Lionel Universal Remote.

The dedicated remote board is still an unknown quantity - it doesn't work with my now functional receiver board, but is the reason because it's broken, or because they simply don't match up? I don't know at this point.

Make sense? 

George