Comparison: Lionel Lionchief Plus 2.0 and Legacy Steam Locomotives

Direct comparison of two separate tiers of Lionel locomotives. Each has unique qualities, and although the Legacy is a higher, more expensive tier with greater options, the Lionchief Plus 2.0 can be a great, more cost-effective alternative.

[@alfonsolanzagorta5138]

Both great engines, but greater this content. New subscriber. This video is a must for newcomers in O gauge. Congrats and best regards from Mexico

[@ral47]

Thanks for showing the sequence control! This was a good little ad for the loco. I didn’t realize the 3rd drive wheel was attached. I feel like mine is different. Maybe the model from 2021 is 4-4-2 Atlantic. Anyway, thank you! Great value in this vid.

[@JohnJohnson-wt8zc]

I like the colors of the southern engine, pretty sweet

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Awesome locomotives!

[@Shipwright1918]

Always thought it was a bit...fishy...that Lionel had the sounds varied from Lionchief to Lionchief Plus and Legacy. One chuff per revolution on LC, 2 for LC+, and the prototypical 4 for Legacy. One thing I liked about MTH, even if you bought the budget line with Railking instead of Premier, the sound/control system was the same. Should be noted that the Berkshire has been around for quite a while now, as it started out as the Berkshire Jr., a conventional locomotive. Even so, you got 4 beats per revolution, crew talk, etc., only thing old fashioned was the puffer smoke unit. So where Lionel gets the notion that the present version should be $500, I have no idea.

[@PiedmontCentralRailroad]

MTH really has/had some great products, for sure. I have not dove into Protosound and therefore have none of their locomotives. I admit...once I heard the owner was retiring I decided to wait and see, but routinely drool over all the stuff I see from MTH for sale. I'm going to build a bigger table, and at that point may look at adding an MTH system.

[@Shipwright1918]

@@PiedmontCentralRailroad Definitely worth looking into getting one or two Railking engines, at least in my opinion. I operate conventionally with O27 curves, so going the command control route is a bit overkill in my circumstances, and most Railking locos work just fine on tight curves. The neat thing about Proto Sound is that you still get access to all the features as you would in DCS/Command Mode, you just use various sequences on the whistle and bell buttons to trigger them. You can even program the locomotives in conventional. Don't get me wrong, I still think Lionel's stuff can be neat too, I'm quite happy with the Lionchief engines I have, and I do like that they're starting to stick Bluetooth into most of the engines so you can use the app if nothing else is handy.

[@RobertGoodin]

They will charge what people will pay...it's a business. And of course the fact that the inflation is high also adds to the price. The legacy engines are lionels top of the line. I'm sure all would agree ,MTH has a few different features between there Premium and Railking trains.

[@Shipwright1918]

@@RobertGoodin It wouldn't be the first time Lionel priced themselves into receivership. To me what's happening now is a bit of replay of what happened with standard gauge in the prewar era. All went well until the bottom fell out of the market and nobody could afford the big expensive trains anymore.

[@RobsTrainHouse]

Great Video

[@justinvernal]

Nice.what size layout.just started a 6x12ft in o 3 rail 36 curves👌🇺🇸

[@PiedmontCentralRailroad]

That sounds wonderful. My advice would be to at least make an outer loop with 0-48 and/or 0-60. There are many amazing locomotives and passenger cars that can't handle 0-36. This is my biggest regret with this 5×8 table...so now I'm planning a bigger table.