Post by fabforrest on Nov 3, 2019 2:03:39 GMT
Got a shipping notice email from Ro this week.
What?
Took some thinking, always difficult, but i remembered that the 2018 vol 2 catalog (the one with the Challengers) had Legacy reissues of UP aux tenders. I have a grey aux tender to go with my FEF greyhound, but it is TMCC. I don't want to Lash it with the FEF, because then I would be in CAB1 mode and lose all the Legacy features (of which I am fond). This means if I want to uncouple the power from the consist, I have to address the aux tender separately, hit the rear coupler button, readdress the FEF and then move the engine away. With a Legacy aux tender, I could make a lash up and just hit the rear coupler button. For this reason alone, I ordered a grey one and eventually forgot about it.
When it arrived a few days later, I opened the shipping box and, expecting orange and blue, was surprised to see black and white.
A Vision Line tender??
What could make a tender a VL product? you might ask.
Sounds, I would reply.
It has freight sounds, rail clatter, grind (flange squeal), bumps and a flat wheel sequence. My favorite is when you apply the train brake, you get the sound of the brake shoes engaging. When you disengage the train brake, you get the sound of the brake shoes releasing. Is this typical for freight sounds cars?
Setting it up took me to areas of Legacy I had not experienced before. In Legacy, this tender is considered an Accessory - Freight.
I lashed it up with the FEF and hit the rear coupler button. The rear coupler on the aux tender opened promptly...as did the rear coupler on the regular tender. Another surprise.
Some research (reading the manual) revealed that to operate an aux tender lashed up with a locomotive, you have to hit the Train Link button on the CAB2. I didn't even know this button existed. Once that is done, a whole new menu screen is displayed that allows you to individually toggle the various sounds on and off. And operate the couplers. My perceived advantage had just been partially erased.
The next surprise came when I realized the aux tender did not match the engine. The colors (greys and yellow) were too light and the lettering was a different font and smaller. Geez, I thought, another Lionel color screw up. I stewed about this for a while and then decided to try to switch the shells between my TMCC aux tender and the new one. I would lose access to the volume POT, but that was not a problem. I could control volume with the Train Link screen.
I went back upstairs to do this and realized that the old aux tender didn't match the engine either. Its colors were darker and the lettering was also different.
The new one is in the middle of this picture. The old one on the right.
Curious, I looked at the catalog and had to admit that the catalog image was a fair and reasonable representation of the actual product and might actually be a good match for the Challenger greyhound in the same catalog. Another surprise?
I have left things as things as they are. You can check Buy/Sell for the old one.
What?
Took some thinking, always difficult, but i remembered that the 2018 vol 2 catalog (the one with the Challengers) had Legacy reissues of UP aux tenders. I have a grey aux tender to go with my FEF greyhound, but it is TMCC. I don't want to Lash it with the FEF, because then I would be in CAB1 mode and lose all the Legacy features (of which I am fond). This means if I want to uncouple the power from the consist, I have to address the aux tender separately, hit the rear coupler button, readdress the FEF and then move the engine away. With a Legacy aux tender, I could make a lash up and just hit the rear coupler button. For this reason alone, I ordered a grey one and eventually forgot about it.
When it arrived a few days later, I opened the shipping box and, expecting orange and blue, was surprised to see black and white.
A Vision Line tender??
What could make a tender a VL product? you might ask.
Sounds, I would reply.
It has freight sounds, rail clatter, grind (flange squeal), bumps and a flat wheel sequence. My favorite is when you apply the train brake, you get the sound of the brake shoes engaging. When you disengage the train brake, you get the sound of the brake shoes releasing. Is this typical for freight sounds cars?
Setting it up took me to areas of Legacy I had not experienced before. In Legacy, this tender is considered an Accessory - Freight.
I lashed it up with the FEF and hit the rear coupler button. The rear coupler on the aux tender opened promptly...as did the rear coupler on the regular tender. Another surprise.
Some research (reading the manual) revealed that to operate an aux tender lashed up with a locomotive, you have to hit the Train Link button on the CAB2. I didn't even know this button existed. Once that is done, a whole new menu screen is displayed that allows you to individually toggle the various sounds on and off. And operate the couplers. My perceived advantage had just been partially erased.
The next surprise came when I realized the aux tender did not match the engine. The colors (greys and yellow) were too light and the lettering was a different font and smaller. Geez, I thought, another Lionel color screw up. I stewed about this for a while and then decided to try to switch the shells between my TMCC aux tender and the new one. I would lose access to the volume POT, but that was not a problem. I could control volume with the Train Link screen.
I went back upstairs to do this and realized that the old aux tender didn't match the engine either. Its colors were darker and the lettering was also different.
The new one is in the middle of this picture. The old one on the right.
Curious, I looked at the catalog and had to admit that the catalog image was a fair and reasonable representation of the actual product and might actually be a good match for the Challenger greyhound in the same catalog. Another surprise?
I have left things as things as they are. You can check Buy/Sell for the old one.
