# Lionel vs mth product lines



## mroe21877 (Sep 10, 2015)

I recently got back into trains mainly to start a collection for my daughter so she can pull out the trains later in life like I pull out my grandfathers prewar trains. I was amazed at the tech 2 years ago ad at the time decided to jump into DCS. Now I'm looking at some Lionel trains and operating accessories but I am confused about which lines are comparable to each other. 

Also am I correct that in order to run the legacy locos I would have to go all in with the legacy command set?

I'm trying to decide if I just want to go mth all the way, but some of the Lionel items I'm seeing are really nice. I've already invested in DCS so having to get into another system would be both a learning and financial hit.

Thanks
Mike

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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

All my modern engines are MTH. Some of the Lionel engines do look nice, but in my opinion, MTH gives you more bang for the buck. To run TMCC or Legacy, you would need additional equipment. Recommend you get Barry Broskowitz's book (The DCS Companion). He covers that and a whole lot more in the book.


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## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

I have to agree with Lehigh. MTH produces much more bang for the buck (for me) especially at the railking/LC+ level. I don't have much of a budget right now so I try to find PS2 engines for cheap and for the price, they are so much nicer than what I could get from lionel around the same price. 

It all depends on what you are into though. I still love to run my dad's 1952 Lionel 726RR that I fixed up last year. It may not have all the bells and whistles but watching 60+ year old train go around the layout and pull all my cars is pretty fun too 

I may eventually pick up the TMCC command base but so far I've not found any tmcc engines that I've wanted that seemed nicer and better priced than the mth counter parts.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have both systems, and all things being equal, I tend to lean slightly to the Lionel Legacy product line. The sound is second to none, and I think Lionel has finally figured out how to make decent smoke.

Obviously, if you went Legacy you'd have an additional investment, but remember you picked a control system and invested, so it's not like there wasn't an expense there. 

Another thing I like about TMCC/Legacy is that there are many upgrade possibilities with TMCC for small things like speeders and the like, PS/3 doesn't have a small and inexpensive electronics package for command control.


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