Before a good old fashion flame war starts in the comments, yes guys, I know that Lionel isn't perfect, and depending on who you ask they've derailed completely off the tracks, but I wanna take some time in today's blog to talk about somethings that I feel Lionel is doing that I think is pretty good.
I'm right there with calling out Lionel or any model train company that screws up, but I'm also for shedding a light on the good things that a company has done. So what is modern day Lionel doing that I feel is worthy of a pat on the back?
Making Battery Operated Train sets
On one hand, I agree that Lionel's battery operated train sets shouldn't be as expensive as they are and can be a hit or miss. On the other, I do have a soft spot for the decision. Yes guys, I know battery operated trains can be rough around the edges, but I like the fact that Lionel is making them in general, because I do feel these types of trains are important.
It's a way to ease the kids into trains without dropping $300, and gives them a taste of what it's like to have their own model railroad via easy to set up battery operated trains. I'd also argue that these types of sets are perfect for people who want a train set for their Christmas village or around the tree, but don't want to spend that much money.
As for the battery operated train sets themselves, I do think their pretty good. Lionel's G scale trains may have started off rough with a remote that didn't have that far of a reach for the train, but it seems they've changed that up in later models, and I'm digging the battery operated O scale trains.
I also really like how Lionel has made these trains have the ability to smoke via water vapor. Again, if Lionel's goal is to give the kids a taste of what it's like to have a real working model train, having features like that works.
Fantasy Schemes
And here comes the tomatoes. Look guys, I can't help but have a soft spot for some of Lionel's fantasy paint schemes. Sure not all of them are winners, but some of them look really nice and are worth having a nice run on the layout.
This is especially the case for some of Lionel's Halloween and Christmas legacy trains. Yes guys I know how crazy I sound thinking it's not insane for a Halloween or Christmas train set to cost over $1,000, but for what it's worth Lionel does put a decent amount of effort and detail into most of these schemes, while giving them the Lionel Legacy treatment.
Sure, there are schemes that don't work or don't look that good, but Lionel has put out a decent amount of schemes that look really nice such as the Twilight Limited from their October 2025 catalog and the red and silver vision line Hudson from the 2025 Big Book.
Lionel Chief 2.0:
Originally I was going to make this about Lionel Legacy engines and system, but I wanna give some flowers to anther featured line/system Lionel offers that I feel deserves it, and that is Lionel Chief 2.0.
Lionel Chief 2.0 basically gives their O gauge trains a boost with more features such as crew talk, electro couplers, and the ability to be controlled by not just the Lionel Chief remote but also the Lionel Legacy Cab.
I know from the surface this doesn't seem like anything too special, but I wanted to highlight it because I do appreciate Lionel giving their O gauge trains some much needed attention and detail, especially because these are the trains that are made to run on tighter curves and are the ones that folks with not that much space (or money) go to.
While I don't expect Lionel to start featuring things like a swinging bell on Lionel Chief engines or any other major features that were on Legacy, I do hope they keep the Lionel Chief 2.0 line in mind. There's only so many smaller engines out there that Lionel can make for the Legacy line...
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