Customer Reviews

Lionel Little Lines Polar Express Train Set

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We purchased this set for our 3.5 yo son as an earned reward. The set in exceptionally well made. The tracks snap together and STAY together. The bridge risers clamp securely onto the track. The train is just detailed enough to catch the interest without being too fiddly and breakable. The caribou add a fun touch to the play scene. The biggest downside this set has is that it is VERY VERY LOUD! You could be three rooms away in the house and hear this thing. We were on the verge of cutting the wires to the speaker but decided on a different tactic. We opened up the controller and covered the speaker with several layers of a cotton makeup remover circle. This muted it enough to make it tolerable to the adults in the house without completely taking away the sound affects for the kiddo. Overall a great little set.

We have purchased numerous Geotrax sets for our twin boys who LOVE trains - we thought this would be a great train since it is a Lionel product and looks like the same concept as Geotrax. I guess our expectations were too high. Our boys love the headlight, whistle, and realistic sounds. However, this train cannot pull the cars up inclines and derails when turning corners and going downhill. Within 5 minutes of setting the train set up I knew I would be calling customer service or returning the set. Unfortunately, after reading the reviews for other Lionel Little Lines products I am not confident that Lionel customer service will be helpful. My best advice would be to skip this product and buy Geotrax.

Of note - this Lionel train does work on the Geotrax tracks and vice versa. The different tracks will not snap together but the trains are interchangeable. Unfortunately, this does not fix the problem since the engine seems to be the issue.

At the last minute, I found this on Amazon after resigning myself to going to hobby shops hoping to find it in time for my son's 2nd birthday. Thank goodness! It arrived as ordered and I couldn't wait to put it together-VERY simple to do. Once I had it up & running, my son took over the controller and can't seem to put it down! He asked what the different cars were and names them every time the train rounds the track! Since we see Amtrak trains as we are traveling to and fro, I used the 'all aboard' call to help him identify trains. This set makes the sound as well as train sounds and whistle. He absolutely loves it! Lionel-thanks! Amazon, you came through again!!

my son is 3 and i struggled decided whether to buy this set or a more expensive one. he loves trains and we have many thomas sets (all great) and the dinosaur train set (horrible) so i wondered if this one was good. the set is great - you can make this elaborate set or change it to a flat circle track. he loves the controller and all the sounds it makes. the track is very durable and sticks together good. although the mountain is just cardboard - my son loves it. he got it for christmas 2010 and played with it nonstop for days. he still gets it out once a week and plays with it. i have to put it together for him, but after the first few times i can do it quickly.

I had trains when I was a kid, and so did my dad. I still have my trains and will give them to my son when he's old enough, but not yet. For now, there's Lionel Little Lines. The box says ages 2 1/2 and up, and it's true. This is a real train set, but made of plastic and way more durable than the big boy trains.

Our house is completely tile, and I fully expected the Little Lines engine to be smashed in days or weeks. In fact, I watched my son bounce the engine off the tile many, many times. It just keeps on working. Easy on batteries, simple remote control, and the track snaps together extremely securely. While certainly not the kind of toy that becomes a classic, it is indeed a toy that will last.

Like another reviewer said, it is quite loud and there is no means to adjust the volume. I'm thinking the speaker covering technique is a simple and effective idea- if that doesn't work, I'll solder a 100 ohm resistor in series with the speaker. That will definitely reduce the volume.

I'd rate this toy a best buy, if your kid is interested in trains. It is tough, simple, fun, and cheap.

I have a 6 year old boy who received the "real" Lionel polar express and my 3 year old received this Lionel polar express for Christmas. They were both in love with their trains. The little Lionel lines train set is just like the big Lionel trains but more durable for a smaller child. My boys were able to play side by side without fights because they each had their own special train from Santa. I was very happy with this product!

pros: train and tracks are build of good quality plastic and fit together tightly and do not come apart easily during use. small kids probably won't be able to assemble track by themselves. detail on train is good without having any parts that can break off. son seems to like it.

cons: sounds come from the controller not the train itself. the controller isn't really accurate - train does not always respond to controllers signals - you must really point the controller directly at the train and not too far away for it to respond. the "stop" setting on the controller doesn't actually stop the train, you have to press the funnel button on the train itself to really get it to stop, that gets a little frustrating for a young child. also the sounds DO NOT turn off when the train turns off and there is NO off switch on the controller so it will continue to make the sounds for hours after the train itself turns off - VERY ANNOYING!!! and the sounds are VERY VERY loud. I will be adding some cotton or something to the speaker to soften the sounds. there is an off switch for the sounds in the battery compartment but my son knows there are supposed to be sounds and he wants them on.

train's motor seems to not be too powerful - it can just BARELY pull the cars up the inclines, and that's even with new batteries. the train and cars seems to derail often on the curves, that also gets frustrating for small kids.

bottom line; train and tracks are well made but flaky controller, weak engine motor, and lack of an OFF switch are annoying.

We LOVE this train in our home. My son got it from Santa 2 years ago and he spent 8 hours watching it go around and around until the batteries died. The train and track are very durable and kid friendly for interactive play. When he made it derail no harm came to any of the parts. The train also runs without the track which is a plus. The down side is how difficult is it to set up and take apart. My husband and I dread putting it together. Each time we do get it down, getting the tracks to snap together is painful.(No it really hurts my hands and my kids comment how strong Santa must have been to put it together) Kids CANNOT put the track together on their own. However if you are looking for a durable train that you want to stay up for long periods of time, this is a great product.

Set this up Christmas eve around the tree. It was easy to set up and very cute. My 2 year old loved it when he got up Christmas morning. I did find out that you have to have fresh batteries to get it to blow the horn and say all aboard, etc. Other than that, after reading the manual I found that it does have a switch to turn off the sound completely so that it runs silently. This is a very cute train for a young child. Since we will only set it up at Christmas time, I am sure it will last for years.

this toy was easy to set up , approx 15mins on xmas morning before church. got it for my 4 year old cos that was what he requested for xmas and he is a huge chu chu train fan (thomas tank engine). the parts looked strong, sturdy and are durable, amazon had the cheapest price (cheaper than walmart,target,toysrus). packaging was secured ,no damage and arrived on time with prime shipping. we all had fun with it all through the holiday season. it was a nice change from thomas.

the trains and remote control worked really well, the reverse and break system also very good, the train would stop on a slope if u break with out sliding or rolling off.

i seriously have no negative thing to write about this train set....except maybe the scene screen/paper thing which would obstruct the train passage cos the cutout was not big enough, but once it was removed...no problem. we didnt miss it.