Customer Reviews

Lionel Trains Polar Express Train Set - O Gauge

5 star:		(106)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

Wow this was worth the hassle to find. We lucked out and got it at retail price and delivered before Christmas. This was my 6 yr old son's first "real" electric train. What a special train it is. The details are fantastic. Lionel out did themselves! The engine is sooo heavy and very well built. The passenger/observational cars were suprisingly light, but incredibly detailed, quite beautiful! Transformer is powerful, track easy to put together. The characters are to scale and he has placed in the train and they ride around sticking out the end of the cars and in the engine. Smoke stack works perfect. Everything is just great. I guess we have a train enthusiast now. He runs it every day... and is soooo proud of it. He is so careful with it and teaches all his friends all about it. Worth every penny.

My son is 4 years old. He is really into Thomas and was just amazed the first time we started reading Polar Express and played the video. I was playing with the idea of getting this set for him for Christmas and opted to get the Bachmann Thomas sets since I had not seen one of these in person and he is "really" into Thomas the Tank engine.

After Christmas, a major department store had these for 50% off the suggested retail price. I could not pass this up. The department store also had one of these on display.

All I have to say is "wow". The locomotive is actually metal. It smokes; it has a whistle; it lights up; and it's a train. The power pack is nice and stout also. For anyone who had train sets as a kid, this is a blast from the past. It reminds me more of my father's Lionel set from 40-50s than the plastic one I got one Christmas as a kid. It is very well detailed. I would probably have paid full price and felt ok about it since it is good quality.

The bell is a nice touch.
The figures are neither here nor there. Maybe if kids are a little older they might be better. Just a note: The fireman does not have the same long hair as the video.
The track is a lot easier to work with than the old Lionel with the pins from back in the day. You do not need to tack the pieces down to keep the track together either.
The locomotive moves smoothly. It is heavy and stays on the track well.
The cars light up brightly.

At 4 years old, my son primarily watches and hits the whistle button. He has operated the speed a little. The track would be tough for him to work with. Stick with Geo Trax or wooden Thomas if you are not going to work with/supervise your kids on this. But then, the set is also recommended for ages 8 and above.

Minor downsides.
When we tested the unit, the tender's mid rail pickup was not fully inserted and shorted with the wheels next to it. We fixed this and all was well. This item may have been a packaging issue but appears to be ok now.
I have not run the set up to full throttle, but it looks like it might derail at full speed. (We had this on a table and derailing it would have meant doing a "drop" test.) This just means someone needs good judgement and experience in setting the speed. The train also is slow to start after you set the speed. (I am not sure if this intended to simulate inertia or not.) Again this probably means you want a patient person on the throttle.

Other thoughts.
It is O scale...so it is takes up space. You can rerail these easier than HO and N.
With the radius curves included in the set, the coaches seem a little long.

We also picked up the Hot Chocolate car at a local retailer that had it on sale. The coaches are plastic but look good.

Summary:
I would definitely buy this set again. The locomotive looks awesome Accessories are a bit expensive (in my opinion at least). The Bachmanns Thomas sets are a good year round thing, but this one seems like it will be something special for around Christmas time.

I bought this set with the hopes that it would become something that would stay in the family for generations - like my father's Lionel set. For those of you who don't know, Lionel Corporation is long gone, and Lionel LLC (the makers of this set) acquired what was left of the company a while back. It's not the same. Here are my two cents:

Pros:

The locomotive is a die-cast 2-8-4 junior Berkshire, and although the pilot (cowcatcher) is exaggerated, it's a nice looking locomotive. The wheels and trucks are metal, too, although the product specs don't say so.

The passenger cars are nicely lit.

The set comes with Lionel Fastrack, which is nice-looking, durable, and reliable track.

Cons:

The set comes with a CW-80 transformer, which reportedly fails 50% of the time.

The locomotive has a lousy smoke unit; some work okay, others don't work at all. You can find ways to repack the unit with pink insulation on the Internet, but why would you want to take a new train apart?

The decorative bell and whistle on the locomotive are plastic and flimsy.

The metal handrails on the locomotive that I received were unevenly applied.

The plastic rail on the observation car is a joke. It is flimsy and falls off easily.

The couplers on the passenger cars are plastic.

I've heard a lot of complaints that the passenger car shells are plastic. Well, that's true, but it's really hard to find metal passenger cars these days, made by anyone. It's also hard to find trains made in America. In fact, there's only one company that still makes them here, and they are priced for the serious hobbyist.

I returned my set and went with another brand.

This is a solid first-quality train set that would be well worth the asking price even if it wasn't affiliated with a popular book and movie. In fact, the locomotive is a scaled-down model of a real locomotive, a Berkshire that was used by the Pere Marquette railroad that ran near the author's home when he was growing up. It is a lucky coincidence that the locomotive the author painted in the book is one that Lionel has been modeling since the 1950s, and all they had to do is change the "paint job" to create this fine model. In case you wondered, this is the best steam locomotive that Lionel includes in any of its train sets. The passenger cars are also based on the same class of real-world cars that the author painted for the book.

A number of comments here had to do with the fact that the first "run" of the train sold out before it even hit the warehouses in 2004. Nowadays, the rush isn't so great, but that doesn't mean there won't be a last-minute "run" on the set if a network station shows the movie in December. Unlike most "Christmas Trains," though, this set is tasteful enough to be used on any O gauge railroad all year round. And it's built like the Lionel trains your grandfather grew up with, solid enough to last for generations.

Happy Holidays - Paul Race, editor, Big Christmas Trains

I can't put it any better than the others before me have. I did a lot of research before purchasing this train and am so glad I decided to spend a little bit more money for a TON more quality. This is truly an heirloom train set that will be around longer than I will be (and I'm only 35).

The other reviewers are also correct in advising that you shop around before purchasing this train set. The prices vary wildly.

Yes, it hurts a little to spend this kind of money on a train set when you know there are others out there. However, the others are cheaper for a reason... they're junk. You simply can't do better than this set.

A great set to buy! It is truly worth the price of $250.00.
The only thing I wish is that it would come with more track. Because it only comes with a small oval of track. But it's still a great set. I highly recommend it!The set very much resembles the Berksire and the cars in the movie. But good luck finding one until February!

The train is very nice. We spent an hour assembling it. After that, we plugged in the transformer and it doesn't work. We have to disassemble and re-pack and send back. Hopefully, we will get a replacement before Christmas. Poor quality control that of all things the transformer is broken.

After seeing this train set at our local train store, I knew that this would be a great addition for our Xmas season. I was apprehensive about buying this though after reading many bad reviews. Like most of you, I cringe at the thought of anything made in China. What may have been, or still can be, against my better judgement, I went ahead and bought this set. As noted in previous posts, it is low priced. I'm not a train hobbyist and really didn't want to drop a lot of coin on something I'd use a month or two of the year. Just wanted something for my boys to enjoy. I just received it this week and so far so good!

No problems yet with the transformer. Train changes direction without fault. The whistle works fine. The locomotive also steams as it should. Of note, I ran it at 60% throttle and after 5 minutes of running, I had plenty of steam. Make sure that you have the steam switch set to the "on" position on the locomotive. It is in the manual but easy to overlook when you are excited to get the set together.

I'll add another post to this review after Xmas updating on its long term reliability. Also of note, this set was manufactured in April 2011. I suspect Lionel has worked out the faults over the years.

Had been looking for a train to put under our family Christmas tree. A couple of years ago I came across the Polar Express version when scoping the net for trains. Set was getting good reviews as seen on other sites. Amazon had the best price and no shipping cost... has been a great choice. The train set was a snap to put together. Great memories of the train under the tree in the 60's... but with NONE of the maintence problems of old time train and the track alignment problems!! Engine whistles and puffs smokes. Has been a hit with family and friends. Box the train came in is very well made and easy to repack for storage and protected from damage for next year. And of course as in movie, comes with the famous Gold Bell that rings when a child believes... to put on your own tree.

Purchased 2 weeks ago. Train locomotive is very heavy and feels solid. The train has a whistle that is incredible and puffs of smoke that fill living room. The track took 15 minutes to place on tile floor and train placed on quite easily. My 3 year old daughter gazed with awe for a few hours. This is a high quality Lionel train set with a fine build quality. No regrets. I have been using it nightly on timers with christmas tree without any problems. Paid $236 with shipping-money well spent. The train comes with 4 figurines that you can place on train, locomotive and coal car with 3 cars, brass bell(nice touch) and track. 5 stars-Wife Very Happy