LionelThe Polar Express FlyerChief Bluetooth 5.0 Electric S Gauge Train Set with Remote

runs well and looks great, much better than the o-gauge.

Okay, so first of all I'm an experienced train enthusiast, with large custom layouts in O gauge, and N gauge. I had quality issues last year with the O gauge Polar Express, and returned them both (erratic running and no sound on one, with running parts falling off another one). So this year I decided to try the American Flyer version of this train. It looks great, however, my set right out of the box did not have functioning directional lighting. Contacting Amazon for an exchange, I was told that was not possible, so they offered a $25 credit to keep it, or I could return the train and reorder it. Since I used gift cards to purchase this, I really didn't want to wait 30 days to reorder based on the new return process, not to mention it's more expensive now. Certainly not exactly what I was looking for, but I decided just to live with the defect until the next day. I was running the train slowly, when all of a sudden sparks came out of the front, train derailed and the front wheels came off. There is a screw holding this front assembly on that apparently was not tightened at the factory. Lionel needs to step up their quality game, as these sets are pretty expensive, and I would expect to get more than 3 hours of runtime! I am returning this set now, and might reorder once the credit posts to my account, but I'm not 100% sure based on this experience. I've had no issues with the many O gauge MTD trains I have, and the smaller Kato N gauge trains. Still not sure why Amazon would not just exchange this set for me... as this was purely a defective product and failed right out of the box. Very disappointed in this transaction, as are my grandchildren. :(

Unless a person wants to spend at least $2000 on the Lionel legacy version of the O gauge this S gauge is the better way to go for realism . Ive ended up with 2 of these S gauge sets, I accidentally hooked the first one to the wrong tender and fried the sound so I bought a second one and still ended up fixing the first one. One thing to note, the description both times I bought it said directional light on rear of tender and electric coupler on tender, even though both sets are the same part number my first set had a blue box, the electric coupler on the tender but no light on the rear of the tender, the second set came in a more purple box and has the light on the tender but no electric coupler, the boxes are identical except the color and in the fine print description on the side, the blue box says electric coupler the purple box does not. I saw a review where a guy said his was defective because the tender light didn’t work but it’s just a case that the lense is there but there’s no bulb or wires inside the tender, it’s just two slightly different variations made by Lionel. Other than that they’re identical and both have fan driven smoke and the same rail sounds and announcements. The description should be changed some way to say you’ll get either or but not both.

This is a well-made train set. This would be perfect for a Christmas gift. The quality is top-notch and the workmanship is stellar. Just a heads up, this is an S track and not the O track system. Some people prefer the O track system, and this set is not that. That being said, this is still a wonderful train set and I would highly recommend it!

Great train how ever today the was some type of electric short and some connections over heater to the point of melting. I going to return the train and get another train.

The train looks good and runs reliably. The effects are great. I also like the Bluetooth control. Unfortunately, the app doesn't work on my smartphone because it's too old. What I didn't like was that the remote control that came with the set didn't work. No one felt responsible for replacing the remote control under warranty. Neither Amazon nor Lionel, which was very disappointing.

Received this set as a gift and it's my first truly modern Flyer. It's equipped with Lionel's Bluetooth control system. I've used both the included remote and the iPadOS version. The app version gives you more options for controlling volume, smoke on/off, momentum, etc. It can also be controlled with a traditional AC power supply but I've enjoyed the wireless so much I haven't tried it yet. The fan-driven smoke effect is very impressive especially at low speed with synchronized chuffs. I usually turn the smoke off once it's at speed lest I set off the house smoke detectors.The included passenger cars are nicely detailed with 3-axle trucks, LED lights, and images of the movie characters in the windows. Given what they sell for individually, Getting three in the set is a bargain.I think my only criticism is actually the locomotive headlight and randomness of the voice effects. The forward and reverse lights on the loco are a blinding-white LED as opposed to a more prototypical warm white. There are 4 or 5 different sound clips from the movie. Some play when the train is stationary and some when it's moving but are otherwise random.All in all I'd say it's a great start or addition to an S scale collection.

I have always associated Lionel trains with the holiday's. When I was a kid, we would always have Lionel trains going around the Christmas tree and trains was just something that stuck with me throughout my life. So when I saw this pop up in my feed, I knew this would make a perfect way to keep that tradition going with my son who is now three.The train set itself, is amazing. What a long way toy trains have come over the years. It comes with a steam locomotive and coal car along with three passenger cars. What's really cool about this set is that you can run it from the Lionel app which most of my house has a lot of smart features so to have one more just makes it that much more unique.