Lionel Burlington Northern LionChief™ Plus NW2 Diesel #546 SKU 6-82164
Product Review by Bill Arndt, President Silver State Division – TTOS
Our train club had a chance to review the Lionel Burlington Northern LionChief™ Plus NW2
Diesel Switcher provided by
The Train Engineer
, Las Vegas, Nevada a few weeks ago. We
had mentioned that the club had no first-hand knowledge of the new LionChief™ Plus products
in use on our TMCC layout. We wanted to find a new NW2 to test on our layout. Our wishes
were fulfilled when The Train Engineer offered to let us “test drive” a brand new Burlington
Northern LionChief™ Plus NW2 Diesel Switcher #546. We shot a YouTube video of the BN
#546 last week, and we posted it on our website.
Right out of the box, the engine is stunning. The colors are vibrant and the lettering is crisp
and clear. The engine has operating couplers on both the front (hood end) and back (cab end).
The engine has operating, directional headlights and operating front marker lights which
illuminate red in reverse. The engine cab has a light, frosted windows. The engine body has
many specular details. The front radiator sports a rolled up radiator cover. The engine weighs in
just over twelve pounds. The trucks, pilots and fuel tank are die-cast metal. The colors are spot
on. You can even read the Builder’s Plate on the side of the unit.
But, the real test is on the tracks pulling a long string of freight cars. Since this was our first
time running a Lionel LionChief™ Plus engine, we read the Owner’s Manual before engaging
power to the tracks. Good thing we did. The Lion Chief™ Plus system actually comes with its
own LionChief remote control. The “Plus” part of the name suggests something more. That
“plus” is the opportunity to use a regular transformer or power supply capable of supplying a
constant 18 volts of alternating current (18 VAC) or 18 volts of direct current (18 VDC) to the
track. However, you can use a conventional three-rail AC transformer with a throttle and whistle
and horn button, or you can elect to use the remote control. Before you do, there are a few things
you need to do.
If you elect to run the LionChief™ Plus engine “conventionally” you will need to turn the
engine over to view the bottom of the chassis. Near the rear of the chassis (cab end) you will find
three sets of switches. One switch located on the Fireman’s side of the engine is for the RPM
switch (RPM/SND) which turns the background sounds on and off. This only effects the sound
of the engine, not the horn, bell or announcement sounds.
On the Engineer’s side of the engine under the cab are two switches. The switch nearest the
rear of the engine is the Smoke switch (SMOKE). This turns ON and OFF the smoke unit in the
engine. A forward switch is labeled TRANSFORMER/REMOTE. This switch toggles between
REMOTE control using the hand-held remote control, or between the TRANSFORMER control
using a conventional transformer. For our demonstration, we elected to use the REMOTE setting.
Since our Model Railroader’s Club Car (MRCC) is equipped with Lionel’s TranMaster
Command Control (TMCC), we have separate TMCC PowerMaster running from a TMCC Cab1
Controller. For our demo, we set our “track” to 18 VAC with the TMCC Cab1. From then on, we
used the LionChief™ Plus Remote Control to run our SW2.
