O-27 4-6-0 Santa Flyer II Review

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(More customer reviews)IMPORTANT NOTE - the "O-27" description shown above is incorrect. This is a fairly large O-gauge locomotive that won't track O-27 curves. Per Lionel's information, the 6-38691 Santa Flyer II requires a minimum O-36 curve. (I've included the Lionel info below)
With that out if the way, this is a great locomotive! I love the look and the detail. The online pics don't really do justice to the look of this set. It's heavy and well made, and just has a great color and design scheme. The body is die cast metal with metal railings. It has plenty of weight and power to pull effortlessly...I've pulled upwards of 12 cars so far with no sign of strain. The lights, whistle, forward & reverse all work great.
On the downside, the smoke unit on this particular engine is a bit stingy with smoke output. With the appropriate amount of Lionel smoke fluid added, it requires a hefty load and a lot of voltage to get any smoke at all. (We're using an older Lionel "RW" 110 watt transformer) I'm currently working with Lionel to see if I can improve it. Another complaint is that the included coal tender is plastic and has some tiny plastic details that are certain to break early on...not a major problem, as they'll likely not even be missed, but their inclusion of those pieces makes me wonder what they were thinking. I'm also not overly pleased that the coupling between the loco and the coal tender is proprietary and can only be used as a set (not to be confused with th knuckle coupler for pulling cars, which is standard). It would have made more sense to me if they'd used the standard linkage that most prewar and postwar engines have used for decades so they'd be interchangeable. It would have also been nice if they'd put a Santa figure in the cabin to run the train. I wanted to give it 5-stars, but the shortcomings prevent that at current retail pricing. Those minor complaints aside, I think this is just an awesome addition to any O-gauge setup, and is an especially nice addition to a Christmas theme (like the North Pole Central collection). Lovin' it!Features
Transformer controlled forward, neutral, and reverse operation
Two operating headlamps
One operating red headlight
Operating coupler on rear of tender
Electronic steam whistle
Powerful maintenance-free motor
Two traction tires
Puffing smoke
Cab window "glass"
Separately applied metal handrails
Die-cast metal locomotive body
Metal frame on tender
Locomotive Road Number: 2
Gauge: Traditional O Gauge
Dimensions: Length: 18"
RailLine: North Pole Central
Minimum Curve: O-36



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Lionel Thunder Valley Quarry Mine O-Gauge Train Set Review

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(More customer reviews)We bought just the dockside locomotive (available as Lionel 6-30124-e), not the whole Thunder Valley set. This is one cool little steam locomotive, and it works exceptionally well! The fact that it doesn't have a separate coal tender makes very nimble, and with front and rear operating couplers, it can pull or push in either direction. It's a great looking little steam engine that has lots of great details...brass bell, brass whistle, lighted cabin with engineer & fireman figures, operating smoke stack, operating horn, forward/neutral/reverse, front and rear directional lights, and metal hand rail. It's loaded for such an inexpensive engine. It's also solidly built with die cast metal body, and is powerful enough to pull the loads of a full size locomotive. This is a very capable, very neat little dockside steamer that has a great sounding horn, and is a lot of fun. It's a great way to get started or expand an existing setup with. Highly recommended!

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Hidden dangers lurk at every turn on the Thunder Valley Railroad as a work train snakes its way to the heart of quarry mine operations. Explosives and work equipment must be shipped in by train, and falling rocks, quarry blasts, and pit-falls are never far away. Make way for the rugged Thunder Valley 0-6-0 Docksider as it pulls its work load to the quarries. A jet-black gondola is packed with mined rocks, and a special boxcar carries dangerous explosives to the site. Stop the train to unload the Thunder Valley steam shovel off the flatcar deck, and survey the evening terrain with the mighty searchlight on the work caboose. This ready-to-run train set comes complete with FasTrack and 80-watt transformer, and also includes an ?explosive? quarry mine diorama.

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Continental Express 0n30 Scale Steam Christmas Passenger Train Set Review

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(More customer reviews)Should have known better. Other trains of this variety cost 2 or 3 times as much for a reason. They were worth it. My advice, spend more for a better train set. It tells you something when trim pieces break off while you are unwrapping it. The motor gears were mis-alinged. It wasn't a cheap train set. It was expensive junk.

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Continental Express 0n30 Scale Steam Train Set With Transformer Review

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(More customer reviews)This product is obviously made by the same company that was producing the Bachmann line of 0n30 trains for hobbyists and christmas villages. It is not designed young kids, but is a fine model for the adult model railroader. I have owned several items of the Bachmann line of 0n30, and this engine stands right along side them in detail and operation. An affordable option in 0n30.

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Lionel G-Gauge A Christmas Story Train Set Review

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(More customer reviews)Even going in with low expectations for this train, it still disappointed. I knew I was getting a cheap, overpriced plastic train, but I was hoping the Lionel name would make it better than the $50 hardware store variety of trains. I was wrong. The one I got was very loud running on the tracks (not a tolerable/natural sound either) so you could barely even hear the cheesy recorded sounds that you are supposed to be listening to. My wife and I thought about returning it and getting another in hopes that it was a product defect, but decided that even if the loud track noise was remedied it was still too low of quality for the price. Bottom line. If you want a cheap plastic train there are cheaper options out there. If you want a quality train, this isn't it. Just for the record we did end up buying a regular O scale Lionel train and it is fantastic. More expensive and smaller than we were hoping, but much better quality. Not sure why Lionel allows their name to be placed on this product.

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