Customer Reviews

BRIO Autostop and Start Battery Engine

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We received this Autostop and Start Engine as a gift from Brio when I wrote them about the lack of power/functionality from the Mighty Red locomotive we purchased (which I've also reviewed here at Amazon.com). Brio's customer service is outstanding. (Only Playmobil's is better, in my opinion.)

First, this Autostop engine is a classic toy design--very cute and works reasonably well in chug-chugging cars around the track. It can pull a decent load if all on a flat track without too many curves. Add a curvy track or hills and this little engine doesn't have the power nor traction to pull more than 2 or 3 cars. And, surprisingly, this does a better job pulling cars than the more expenive Mighty Red Locomotive.

We love the Start 'n' Go track feature, and for that I am less critical of this little engine. This engine does lack the charming sounds and elegant forward/reverse/stop buttons that grace the Mighty Red. The green Autostop engine also will not freewheel, which means your child can ruin the gears pushing this engine around.

However, we have gained much more satisfaction from Learning Curve's battery-operated Thomas and Great Railway Adventures engines. First, even the smallest Great Railways Adventures or Thomas engine has four wheel drive, which adds much to the ability to pull cars around. They still struggle--mostly because of a lack of traction on the wooden tracks--to pull cars up the hills, but nothing like the Brio engines. Great Railways Adventures, in particular, do have engines patterned after famous engines of the past, and this more "mature" styling has allowed them to age better with our 6 year old than the Thomas engines. (Thomas engines do have a cuteness factor that Brio can't compete with either.).

Great Railways/Thomas battery-operated engines "free wheel," making them less prone to damage caused by young kids unfamiliar with using the switch. That said, these switches are as clumsy as the Brio green Autostop engine. Not even Brio has duplicated the elegant design of their Mighty Red on any of their other toys, and Learning Curve hasn't copied them. They should.

Even still my recommendation is Learning Curve's Great Railway Adventures collection. Very similar cost, but with free-wheeling gear protection; four-wheel drive; die cast metal construction (engines only); more realistic styling; and charming sounds and actions available through a variety of battery-operated (and non-battery-operated) stock cars.

We were one of the first to purchase this powerful little battery operated train. At first my two year old loved it and I was surprised how many trains it could pull behind it. The honeymoon soon ended, however, when two days later it needed a new battery. Eight batteries and fifteen days later, the train stopped working (except for the little light on the front) and my son was very sad. Great idea, but bad product. We also purchased the larger battery operated red locomotive train which still works great.

You know that is only a matter of time before your child will ask for a powered locomotive for his/her Brio train set. Brio offers a few powered options, this green engine being just one.

We were anticipating more fun out of this powered engine, but have been disappointed for a few reasons:

1. There is a cutoff switch on the bottom for use with the switch track (available separately or in combo with this engine), but it is placed in such a way that it comes perilously close to the ramp tracks when climbing hills, usually causing the engine to switch off whenever it climbs a hill. Moving that cutoff even a fraction of an inch closer to the rear of the engine would prevent this. Bad design.

2. Batteries are every parent's nightmare. We get around this by using NiMH rechargeable batteries in all our kid toys. This engine, though, does not work well with rechargeable batteries, insisting on alkalines - and the most expensive ones at that. Seeing how easy it is to leave it running, this can be an issue.

3. Read the instructions carefully before doing anything as it is possible that right out of the box this locomotive will not work unless you do. You have to be careful how you install the battery the first time or else the engine will not run, no matter what you do. And this is not simply a matter of getting the positive and negative ends swapped. It's possible to put the battery in the right orientation and still get no response. We futzed for a while before going back to the manual and "priming" the engine as directed.

4. If you do not have your track perfectly aligned, it will run off quite readily.

5. Almost requires the manually-operated switchable "Y" tracks in order to switch it onto a different track section. The fixed "Y" tracks will only work perfectly in one direction. If you let the engine decide which fork to take, it will usually run off the track. But if it comes down a fork into the merged section, it will work fine. Still, invest in the manually switched "Y" tracks.

Positives? It's durable. Has a little light up front that is fun. Adds another dimension to your train set. Kids enjoy it despite the deficiencies.

In short, though, it's not perfect and could be engineered in such a way to eliminate the problems noted, but hasn't been. Oh well.

This is a followup to my previous post for this item. This fabulous little engine just keeps chugging along and pulls a lot of cars. Our son loves it so much that he refuses to turn it off. As a result, we were going through a battery per day. We spent more on batteries in the first month than we did on the engine so we purchased a Ray-O-Vac battery charger and some rechargeable batteries (available here at Amazon). I would have to say that this is almost an essential accessory if you are going to own this little engine. The charger also comes in handy for other toys.

We received this engine in a starter set about a year ago. It worked fine for a while. Later it would only work in reverse, and then a few days ago in quit working all together. I think my 2-year-old daughter stood on it, and messed up the internal gears. Knowing it was probably my daughters fault I didn't think the warranty would cover it. I went to the toy store with a year old broken toy, no receipt, and no box. Needless to say I fully expected to buy a new engine. To my amazement the toy store didn't ask any questions or have me fill out any paperwork. They just handed me a new engine, and that was it. Brio may be expensive, but I think a no questions asked return policy is worth the money you spend on Brio Trains.

Our son is almost three and he loves his Brio train collection, which just keeps growing. This is a wonderful addition to the set as it makes the trains, which kids normally have to push around the track, go by themselves.

It can pull quite a few cars with easy and we were surprised to find that it managed to pull three cars up over the figure eight bridge, which is a fairly steep incline.

It is a battery hog, but it is worth it. It brings the little wooden train set to life.

We have tried many brands of wooden trains and tracks. For our various brands of wooden tracks (Brio and cheaper knock offs), ONLY BRIO ENGINES are able to stay on the tracks, without falling off tracks around the curves or get stuck up a hill;-)
We tried the Learning Curves and Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway battery-driven engines, and they are esthetically pleasing, but don't stay on the tracks we have.
Perhaps because Brio battery-driven engines' wheels have rubbergribs, some turn with the track in the instance of the bigger "Polar Express", wheels are thinner or closer together.

And no recalls yet! I love all our Brio and look forward to pass on to the future generations!

Adorable, easy-to-use. all that and a bag of chips. But as the first reveiewer notes, this is not a toy that can be rolled back and forth on the floor and then set loose on the tracks. Once your child has rolled it around manually by hand, the gears are ruined. You may get one or two weeks out of it, and then it is kaput.

Not only are the trains expensive, but batteries only last about an hour.

One day my four-year-old started screaming while I was in the kitchen. I ran to him to find the train running, and his hair twisting into its wheels. After frantically ripping his hair out of the wheels while simultanelously trying to turn the damn thing off, I turned the train car over to see a tiny sticker on the bottom. It read:

CAUTION: Hair entanglement may result if child's head is too close to wheels."

Now that my boy is 6 1/2, I am buying him his FOURTH of these battery-powered trains. I think he is finally mature enough. The other FOUR electric trains I got him were broken w/in one month, or ended up in his hair.

This toy requires a specialized triangular shaped screwdriver to access the battery compartment. We have yet to locate this type of tool, so we have yet to enjoy this toy.

The train does not autostop as advertised. My two year old forgets to turn it off (not that he could) and it just runs and runs until the battery dies.