We’d like to get a holiday train set for around the tree for our son, who is currently an advid train fan. Neither of us know much about trains however. He’ll be 2 in October so we want something that will last a long time and be durable. The tree we get each year is about 7 feet tall and so we are thinking that an O gauge set would be best (we were told by a local hobby shop that the HO gauge is too small and fragile). We will always be supervising our son with the set.
We’re considering the Lionel Polar Express Train Set or the Lionel North Pole Central Set. Price is not really an issue and we don’t plan on having the train run all year and so the holiday theme doesn’t really bother us. However, the engines on each of the above two sets look quite different and we’re not sure which is “better”. The Polar Express set comes with a 4-8-4 Berkshire engine and the North Pole set comes with a 4-4-2 steam locomotive. The North Pole Set comes with a boxcar that plays Christmas carols, which may be fun (or annoying over time) and both have steam/smoke capability and run with the same transformer. Any thoughts on which is the “better” set to get? Thanks in advance from this train newbie.
First of all vicster------ [#welcome] [#welcome] [#welcome] to the forums! Come introduce yourself on my thread “Grayson’s Caboose” its were you call lay back and talk about trains or off subject things.
So, price is not a issue, thats a sure important for a O guager. Anyway, the polar express is a popular set, it has a nice berk, a very reliable locomotive, as well as being powerful. However, a typical 4-4-2 is known as the reliable locomotive. It can pull up to 10 cars with ease, and is rather cheap to do so. I would recommend the the polar express though, as its a larger locomotive, as well as being a good start in the hobby for future expansion.
My son is 2 and loves the Thomas the Tank Engine set. He recognizes the train from the TV show. There are add-on cars and engines available. Great for kids.
I too would go with a “Polar Express” set for different reasons. It is quite popular and for the forseable future, will remain in the Lionel lineup. They are continuing to add cars and accessories each year. Also, you can add some special “Christmas Cars” that have music and other features and have the same engine pull either freight cars or passenger cars. These features will allow you to expand the train set each year at Christmas or for birthdays. I would suggest two things though, one, build a strong, small box in which to place the tree stand on top of. This would elevate the tree so the lower branches don’t hang in the path of the trains. Second, I would get a few extra lengths of straight track (Fastrack is what comes with the set). This would allow you to make a “Square” layout under the tree as it better for allowing adequate space for the train to run.
A few things to consider also, since you get a real tree, make sure you clean up the needles prior to running the train each time. Second, get some cleaner to clean the sap and debris that will inevitably end up on/in the train.
Welcome to the hobby. This is a good site and the folks here are very nice about answering questions. To save some time, you may want to check the top of the list which has links to threads which may get you a good sampling of answers to questions that have already been discussed. Regardless, don’t be afraid to ask the questions, that is how we all learned.
Welcome,
Dennis
PS: I got back into the hobby after buying a Lionel “Hobo” set for my 18month old son. That was nearly 4 years ago and now I have a larger layout and plenty more trains. The kid does still help with my (I mean his) trains.
My son is about to turn three and is fanatical about trains. Though we don’t own the Polar Express set, he is very intrigued by the whole mystique of the thing. If your son watches the movie when he’s a little older, he may appreciate having the “tie-in” model.
The 4-4-2 in the North Pole Central set is a good basic engine. I really like the Berkshire in the Polar Express set a lot. For a young child, the 4-4-2 probably more durable over the long haul. The Berkshire has finer detail. The most notorious example is the whistle on top, which easily breaks off. I think they changed the design. But there’s a lot less likelihood of small pieces breaking off the 4-4-2.
It’s hard to go wrong with either one. I’m a fan of the Polar Express (the book, the movie, and the set). But my gut feeling for a young child would be to go with the North Pole Central because of the more basic engine.
One more corner - I’m sure you and your son will enjoy either one. Now based upon MY experience I would probably go with Thomas. At this age, the Thomas set is particularly designed for. Large, colorful, minimimal detail. In addition that Thomas Theme can go the year around, and even spill over to bedding, room decorations, the storys on dvd or tape are great! Books an entire Thomas world exists. The Polar Express and Christmas train are “both” holiday trains, and I wouldn’t want to “burn him out” on those items being left out all year. But it would be extremely frustrating to take them away after the holidays too. Thomas was alive and well in our house for a good 4 to 5 years. My vote ---- Thomas (its expandable too)
Oh yeah, you could even have auxillary Thomas trains that do not require electricty and need minimial supervision. (Don’t let him eat the cars though, some of the paint isn’t good for the small ones).
Now, to answer your question, if you’re going with O-gauge then go with the Polar Express set, you can use it all year long and it doesn’t have that Christmas Red and Green look to it. I hear what some are saying about the Thomas stuff, but you want the set to be able to grow with your son, the Polar Express set will do this nicely, and is exactly what I’m doing with my son.
Thanks all. This is great information. I should clarify that he already has a train table (that we use as our coffee table) in the family room where he has a wooden Thomas set and trains and so those will be out all year round. We just thought it would be fun to have a train that goes around the tree that is more life-like. Any recommendations on a good set that is not holiday themed, if we were to decide to skip the holiday them altogether and just go with a good, generic year-round appropriate type of set? The choices make my head spin! Thanks again for the welcomes and the good advice.
If you go to this link and use the 15% code you might still be able to get the Penn Flyer set for less than half price. With the code about $94 shipped.
vicster, I’m going to stray from the pack here and recommend that you get neither the holiday set nor the Thomas set for your child. I’m in total agreement that you should go with an ‘O’ gauge. However, getting a holiday or Thomas set will limit the usability for your child as he grows. A holiday set is specialized for just, well, the holidays (DUH - just call me “Obvious Man”), and the Thomas set he will outgrow. I would suggest that you go with a starter set plus an expansion pack - that should give you enough of a base (50" by 70") to run a track around the tree. Take a look at the Lionel 2007 Train Catalog Vloume 1 for ideas about what’s available.
This is an ealier thread that might interest you which touches on a few things that are discussed here:
I have a 4 year old and a 23 month old who are very into playing with my trains. Even though I don’t have a permanent layout, I put some FasTrack out on the living room floor and we have a grand old time playing with the trains.
I vote with njalb1. I got my 4 year old granddaughter the Rudolph set for Christmas and it has handled her use just fine (she is not a dainty little thing). It is set up in their play room and gets almost daily use. If you have a shop that handles both Lionel and MTH, just pick up the 4-4-2 in the Lionel set and compart it with the MTH 2-8-0 and you will immediately see the difference. I am not anti Lionel, I own quite a few, but they have cheapened the starter set engine to the point that it does not last. Yes the MTH will cost more.
Many if not all new Lionel sets come with the CW80 transformer or its amusingly named smaller cousin, the Powermax, both remarkable examples of modern toy-train transformer engineering and design. Judging by their reputation, I cannot praise the reliability of these transformers too highly. You can read for yourself the numerous testimonials to them that have been posted on the forum. It would be a formality even to test the transformer before you buy the set.
That’s what I like about the Polar Express, because you can use the engine for anything, all you need to do is replace the tender and add frieght, viola! A whole new train.
Here is my Polar Express pulling a frieght consist. I bought a duplicate Polar Express tender and with a little work I relettered it so that it resembles a frieght train, trust me it wasn’t much work, plus it gave me somthing to do while I was waiting for my “train allowance”. You could just as easily pick up a different tender off ebay and swap out. Doing this allows me to have a holiday train and an everyday train without having to purchase a new locomotive. For me its a simple issue of expandability, while maintaining my son’s initial interest in train; i.e. the movie Polar Express; IMO this does both.
Lionelsoni (Bob Nelson) is one of the most esteemed members of this forum, especially in technical matters. Unless I am completely mistaken, however, his post above is totally, but totally, tongue-in-cheek.
Based on a plethora of his posts over the years, the only thing you should take seriously in the one above is to research the forum archives prior to purchasing any of the Lionel starter sets due to the POOR reputations of the transformers that come with them. (Many of the problems have recently been fixed, but dealers may be dumping old stock and an apparent bargain may not actually be one.)
If I misconstrue Bob’s humorous intent I apologize, but the only way I can read his post seriously is to assume he has been out in the Texas sun 'way too long this summer.
Welcome to the forum. I would have to agree with those speaking of the MTH 2-8-0 starter sets. I own the Polar Express and an MTH starter set. My 2 yrs old loves both of them but he tends to lean towards the MTH more because of the sound and smoke that MTH produces. I also own a PA Flyer set and my son does not have much interest in it I think because of lack of detail and sound. A neighbor of mine purchased the Rudolph MTH set for their tree and his 3 and 4 yr old absolutely love it to the point where it has been up all year and still gets daily use. That’s my 2 cents worth but whatever you chose you will enjoy regardless.
Thanks. I was wondering about that because I did do some reading on the forum about the transformers and it looked like folks weren’t so fond of the Lionel transformers. So is that why there are so many sets on sale on ebay for about $100 off the typical retail price? With the transformer problems, does it make sense to invest in the MTH Rudolph set that some of the folks seem to like better? Thanks again for the advice.
This was my first MTH set and I must say that the quality of the smoke, sound, engine and trucks (wheels) on cars is great. Much better than my other Lionel Starter sets.
I like the Polar Express engine however the cars don’t compare IMO to the quality of the MTH ones. The MTH transformer model 1000 is very reliable. One thing that I do like better with the starter sets of Lionel is thier Fast track which I use. You can get an oval set of fast track for under $40 on ebay. All I know is that my grandaughter loves this set ALL year long and it has lots of extra cars for expansin …
