The Cab3 APP can operate any Lionel Bluetooth-equipped locomotive without the need for a separate command base such as the Base3. This connection is a one-to-one pairing between the APP and the locomotive. This functionality can be found in the Bluetooth tab, which is the default landing page when you first open the Cab3 APP.
Those familiar with the Lionel LionChief APP will find a lot of similarities with the Cab3 Bluetooth tab. The homescreen shows engine image, road number, and many core controls such as throttle, horn, dialog, and more. The voice control button is also present at the bottom left corner.
Think of the Bluetooth tab as the LionChief control hub. This is because all Bluetooth engines controlled from this tab will operate with LionChief-level controls, regardless what product family the engine is from.
Bluetooth Tab Homescreen Controls #
The homescreen has many interactive features for connecting to and controlling your Bluetooth-equipped Lionel trains. The following image and descriptions explain the functions of the various buttons on the home screen.
- A – Engine image. The APP will import an image of the engine after you first connect as long as the device has an internet connection. Otherwise, a generic engine image will be displayed.
- B – Engine road number. If no engine is connected, “Tap Here” will be displayed. Tap to navigate to the engine selection menu.
- C – Bell. Tap to turn the bell on or off.
- D – Horn/whistle. Tapping plays a short horn/whistle blast. Hold the button to continually play the horn/whistle.
- E – Dialog. Tap to have the engine play a dialog.
- F – Direction. Tap to change the engine’s direction to forward or reverse.
- G – Couplers. If your engine is equipped with electrocouplers, use these to open the front or rear.
- H – Throttle slider. Tap and hold the handle and drag it to increase or decrease the engine’s speed.
- I – Voice Control. Tap to use the voice control feature.
- J – Engine Family icon. This will change depending on the type of engine you are connected to.
- K – System Halt. This stops all engines currently running on either the Base3 tab or the Bluetooth tab. Press and hold for 3 seconds.
Bluetooth Tab Layout #
Navigating the APP is made easy with directional swiping. Place your finger anywhere on the screen that isn’t a button and swipe in the direction as listed below. It is recommended on the homescreen to place your finger on the Engine Family icon (J in the image above) and then swipe.
Note – each sub-screen has a home button to return to the homescreen.
- Down Swipe – Engine Select Menu – view available engines and connect to them
- Up Swipe – Engine Settings Menu – Set smoke ON/OFF and speed momentum level
- Left Swipe – Sound Settings – Change volume levels, set horn/whistle and bell selection
- Right Swipe – Voice Streaming & Recording – stream sounds to the locomotive’s speaker. Available only with compatible VSR engines
