Those who know me, know I don't understand the American model railroaders love, nay obsession, for Lionel and their products.
I know that many American model railroaders started with Lionel. As kids that's fine. But you've grown up now. Real trains run on two rails, not three. (Except on the "El" in Chicago and a few other notable systems around the world.) I can't understand why people can't let go of it. I can't for the life of me why Lionel doesn't have a two-rail system in their range of products.
BUT.
I love Christmas, and nothing speaks to me more at Christmas than a train running under the tree. In fact, for the Christmas edition of the Micro Model Railroad Cartel podcast, I did some research on the subject. From the Moravian Putzen, all the way through to the modern train sets. It's a fascinating subject. One that needs even more research.
This year, quite out of the blue, my wife suggested that we got a Polar Express set for under our tree, and strangely, despite my lack of understanding of three rail trains. I agreed. Watching the film is a part of our Christmas celebrations, notwithstanding the film is some 15 years old, and the animation of the people hasn't dated well and is often quite scary. So when an email dropped into my inbox, telling me of a special offer on Lionel Polar Express sets, we decided to get one.
Much Lionel equipment seems to be out of stock this year. Everything is probably still on a boat from China waiting off the port of San Francisco. But a couple of weeks after ordering, a FedEx delivery truck stopped by our house, on a Sunday no less, and left a huge box on our doorstep.
So lets talk about my first impressions of a Lionel Train set...
It's a big box. very deep, with a striking image from the film on it, and a cutaway revealing the... controller? This is the Lionchief controller, and a pretty important part of the set. Though I would have loved to have seen the locomotive itself in a window on the box.
Open the box, and this is what you see, and to be honest. I'm very disappointed with the presentation. Disclaimer here. I trained as a graphic designer, and I know a bit about good product presentation, and this is not it. The star of the film, the 2-8-4 Berkshire steam loco, sits in a grey plastic tray, its lines obfuscated by a clear plastic shell. Just like the tender, remote control, and the coaches in the layer underneath. I know why this is done. It offers protection to the items during transit with all this crush space around the items. It's just not attractive. All you have to do is compare it to a Hornby train set from the UK. Even the cheapest trains sit in a pristine, white, expanded polystyrene tray. They look beautiful. Almost takes your breath away, to be honest. An expanded polystyrene tray offers great protection too. The corrugated cardboard box everything comes in isn't too sturdy either. This is a product that in some cases will spend 10 months of the year in storage, so the packaging could be much better.
As I have already stated, I have no experience of Lionel, So I was in no way prepared for the incredible weight of the loco, as it is a metal casting. Wow. It is heavy. These days, we are used to separately applied hand rails and pipes on our models. Here, everything is cast on the body shell. So the model is a real step back in time. I do wish that the gap between the locomotive and the tender was somewhat smaller. It is a huge cavernous space, and as far as I can see it could be closer. Then there's the track.
The three rail track. The one thing I don't understand, and the thing that puts me off Lionel. But, this is a good quality track, It's well made and goes together firmly, and stays together. This is a solid arrangement. As it should be, given the weight of the locomotive that runs on it. You can colour me impressed on the track quality.
So, let's run the train.
The key to the set, is the Lionchief controller. The set comes with a small transformer that you plug into the wall, and thence the track, and this controller connects by Bluetooth to the locomotive. This is cool. It's my first experience of wireless control and I'm generally impressed. You can also download an app to your Apple or Android phone that works the same way offering the same features. Pairing the loco to the controller is simplicity itself. The controller has a large control knob in the style of a locomotive wheel for forward and reverse. A big fail here though. This controller needs a firm center "off" position. The control wheel easily passes from forward to reverse. Too easily. I don't like that at all. The app version, being a different layout doesn't have that problem. The buttons below the wheel are for sound files from the film. A bell, a whistle and Tom Hanks voicing some of the movie’s characters.
"All Aboard!" "This is the Polar Express!" and a few others. Though sadly, my favourite line from the movie, “Why to the North Pole of course!” isn’t one of them. Though I could try to do a Tom Hanks impression and do that as one of the custom announcements the app will let you do. I'll be honest. It's fun to start the train up with a few rings of the bell, a hearty "all aboard!" and whistle the train around under the tree, and that's what it's all about.
Fun.
The set also includes some figures that are characters from the film, sand thanks to strategically placed pins on the stock and holes in the feet of the figures, you can place on them locomotive and coach roofs (don't tell health and safety). Personally, I would have liked to put the driver and fireman in the cab, like a driver and fireman should be. But they are too big. The "hero boy" character does just about fit on the platform of the observation car which looks nice to me. But if kids want to re-enact scenes from the film, then the figures have to go on the roof. In another nice nod to the film, the set also contains a sleigh bell. Which, if you've seen the film you'll understand the importance of. (Confession time: The bell still rings for me)
I'll be honest with you, I still don't get the American fascination with three rail trains, but my wife and I do like to see our Lionel train passing by the presents under the tree. It helps to make our Christmas bright.
Comments
Post a Comment