Lionel North Pole Central Ready-to-Play Freight Set, Battery-powered Model Train Set with Remote

My son(6) absolutely LOVES his gift from Santa! He LOVES trains and wrote a letter to Santa he wanted a train set.I got the blue tooth train which took a bit to connect but got it working just fine. I have a samsung galaxy. Probably going to order the remote so I can have my phone back lol.The voice command does work (I see some people couldn't get it to work) just click it and say "All aboard" and the train starts moving. You can tell it to stop, reverse, increase speed.Train stays on the track just fine so far. He's been playing with it for hours. I ordered extra tracks and a few Y tracks and they just came today so super excited to make a very large track!I wish I could turn down the volume on the train tho, as much as he's been playing with it, the noise is a bit annoying after a while lol.Quality is great. I had one very similar when I was his age and still have it and it still works, we usually use it under the Christmas tree.Anyway, the steam is a little meh but my son still loves it. Just a few drops of water and it makes a tiny vapor cloud. It's cute. I read the vapor is created by the vibration of the train so if you put the water in and it doesn't vapor, run the train a bit and it will eventually.Great buy! He's happy so I'm happy.I got the protection plan just incase.

The media could not be loaded. The size is perfect, just big enough to make it a standout under the tree. Solid track connections. Remote control works very well, with options to have the engineer speak, ring the bell and blow the whistle. The whistle sound is particularly well done. It has a bit of echo that seems to do an ever so slight doppler shift. The tone is one people seem to want to mimic. When it is stopped, the sound is that of the old steam engines puffing. A really nice detail, classic and perfect. Also when stopped and the remote is turned off, the train beeps to remind you to turn it off too. Details of the train are also well done. Not only is there a headlamp, but also a lamp shining on the tinder car in back. It helps display the wood details. Both are LED, which helps with battery life. The cargo crates can either be displayed as closed and full, or you can flip them and fill them with something to display. The engine has working pistons, the Christmas decals on the other pieces, especially the caboose, are very nice. Finally, the train On/Off switch, barely noticeable right on top of the train for extremely easy access. You can tell some thought went into this set. Well done to Lionel and the team.

The media could not be loaded. This train is excellent which is evidenced by all the positive reviews. The locomotive is very good quality- not cheap or lightweight. The front and back wheels on the various cars are independent of each other which allows them to follow the track better and not fall off. The detail on the train is also very good. The track is very easy to assemble and it holds together very well. We bought extra track to give it an additional curve. Also I like the features of the remote. It has a bell sound, a whistle sound and two conductor calls. One call is used when the train is stopped and another when it's running. The train goes forward and reverse smoothly. The train engine has a nice engine sound when standing still and another sound resembling a steam engine puffing when it moves. It also has a nice headlight and a smaller light in the engine compartment to the rear. We've had it running for about a week and run it for a few minutes each night. Not sure how long the batteries last but I already bought extra. This is a wonderful toy for a child to have running under the Christmas tree. My daughter puts mini dolls of Elmo and Big Bird in the cargo car and they go for a ride. It even makes me feel like a kid again. This is a great product that I expect will last a long time. I will give a follow up review after I've had it longer.

Lasted only 2 seasons and then the engine stopped working. Only moves a few inches and then quits. Tried new batteries, no luck. Of course it’s out of warranty now, so I disassembled it to see if I could fix it myself.Unfortunately, the digital controller in the engine failed and was not repairable. I ended up bypassing the board and hot wiring the engine; however, doing so rendered the lights, remote, and variable speed control inoperable.Bottom line: I wouldn’t recommend this train set. Frankly, it’s a disgrace to the Lionel name and a shame that such a renown company would sell such a garbage product. Very disappointed and I urge those that read this review to steer clear!

The set arrived about four days ago and I set it up very quickly following the instructions that came with it. It runs and performs as advertised and is beautifully detailed in plastic. Two problems; (1) on the fourth day, I was demonstrating it to a visitor and the train ran, whistle and bell worked along with the announcement, then suddenly it stopped, went silent, except for the flashing light on the engine and sound indicating that it had lost connection with the remote controller. The pilot light was out on the controller and when I felt the controller case, it was very warm to the touch. I opened the battery compartment and the batteries were too hot to touch. Something obviously shorted out in the controller. I replaced the batteries with new ones and they too began to get very hot. So I stopped everything removed the batteries from both the controller and engine. The engine batteries were fine. I believe the controller developed a short and was burning up. I report it to Amazon and they are replacing the entire train set with a new one. Hopefully this one will be trouble free. I checked other reports on this set and could not find any similar problem. It is a nice addition to the Christmas tree.