Top 5 best Gauge trains

Saturday, November 20, 2010 No Comments by admin

#1. Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer O Gauge


clip image0012 Top 5 best Gauge trains

Lionel’s Pennsylvania Flyer Ready-to-Run Starter Set features a die-cast metal 0-8-0 locomotive. With a boxcar, illuminated searchlight car, and caboose in tow, the train travels around a generous 40” x 60” oval of Lionel’s patented FasTrack track system, and passes a billboard and telephone poles, which are all included.

With everything you need to get started in this great hobby – trains, track, and a safe, powerful transformer – this set is guaranteed to provide you and your family with hours of fun. The set includes: 0-8-0 steam locomotive and tender; boxcar with opening doors; illuminated searchlight car; caboose; three straight FasTrack track sections; eight curved FasTrack track sections; a FasTrack terminal section; PowerMax Transformer; smoke fluid; billboard; ten telephone poles.

Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer O Gauge pros:

  • Very good quality
  • Kids and adults adore it
  • Transformer controlled forward, neutral, and reverse operation
  • Locomotive has operating headlight and puffing smoke unit
  • Operating couplers on rolling stock and on rear of tender
  • Illuminated searchlight with adjustable position

The Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer O Gauge train is loved by kids and adults also. It is a quality toy which will bring your or your children fun for a long period.

#2. Lionel G-Gauge Polar Express Train Set with Rechargeable Battery Technology, Special Features, Exckusive Diorama and Santa’s Bell

This is the large size; G-gauge Polar Express. The train itself is plastic, but very well constructed.. This is the beloved holiday favorite train set, which includes a bonus diorama with a scene from the movie.

clip image0022 Top 5 best Gauge trains

Lionel G-Gauge Polar Express Train Set pros:

  • The remote control is very easy to use and the sound is pleasant
  • The kids love to play with the train set that in in the movie Polar Express
  • G-Gauge steam locomotive that features a working headlight and authentic train sounds
  • Buttons allow train to go forward and backwards, sound the whistle and ring the bell
  • 3 included Polar Express figures add to the fun

One of the best Christmas gifts. Having the train from the movie Polar Express is an amazing experience for the little ones.

#3. Lionel Trains Polar Express Train Set – O Gauge

clip image0032 Top 5 best Gauge trains

With beautiful craftsmanship and styling that evokes a bygone era, the Polar Express Train Set will appeal to everyone in your family. Designed for children ages eight and older, this train set is based on the Caldecott Award-winning book “Polar Express,” and the movie that followed in 2004. The gorgeous train set is relatively easy to put together, although parents will probably need to supervise. Even kids younger than eight can enjoy the Polar Express, if parents help them with it.

Lionel Trains Polar Express Train Set – O Gauge pros:

  • The details are fantastic. The train is surprisingly light, but incredibly detailed
  • The characters are to scale and he has placed in the train and they ride around sticking out the end of the cars and in the engine.
  • Smoke stack works perfect
  • The locomotive is actually metal. It smokes; it has a whistle; it lights up
  • Great memories of the train under the tree in the 60′s… but with NONE of the maintenance problems of old time train and the track alignment problems.

The kids are delighted to play with this Lionel Trains Polar Express Train Set. The level of details is outstanding and metal locomotive which smokes is the main attraction point.

#4. Lionel Harry Potter –G

clip image0042 Top 5 best Gauge trains

Lionel’s G-Gauge battery powered sets are ready-to-run right out of the box. Track and batteries are included. You can run these trains using conventional C batteries (included) or a 9.6 volt rechargeable battery (not included). It’s your choice. And for ease of use, these “larger scale” trains are powered by an easy-to-operate RC controller

Highly detailed with authentic train sounds (including bell and whistle), these “larger scale”, battery operated train sets are designed perfectly for children ages four and up. Easy-to-assemble G-Gauge track creates a 55″ x 72″ oval.

Now your family can bring the magical world of Harry Potter to life with the new Hogwarts Express G-Gauge battery-operated train set by Lionel.

Set includes: Highly-detailed 4-6-0 steam locomotive and; passenger coach; combination car; 12 curved and 4 straight track pieces; RC remote controller; 6 C batteries; 2 AA batteries.

Lionel G-Gauge  pros:

  • It looks really sturdy
  • The track is easy to assemble, and the train itself simply requires you to place it on the track and link the cars
  • The bell and whistle are authentic sounding but not at all loud
  • The train has an auto shutoff–if you leave the train idling for 10 minutes, it shuts off.

Lionel G-Gauge train set is recommended to be your kid’s first electric train. It is easy to ensemble and the remote control is intuitive so even kids know how to operate it.

#5. Lionel Holiday Central G-Gauge, Battery Powered Ready to Run Train Set

clip image0052 Top 5 best Gauge trains

Train set includes locomotive, wood-burning tender, gondola with presents, and caboose. The 12 pieces of curved G-Gauge track, creates a 55″ circle.

Lionel Holiday Central G-Gauge pros:

  • a top quality toy
  • very fun to play with
  • the detail level is amazing

Lionel Holiday Central G-Gauge is a fun train to play with. It comes with a simple remote control which can be use by children without a problem.

Tagged ,

Top 5 worst trains

Monday, November 15, 2010 No Comments by admin

#1. Life-Like Trains HO Scale Rail Runner Electric Train Set

clip image0011 Top 5 worst trains

Set includes GP38-2 ATSF low nose diesel locomotive with working headlight, 5 railroad cars including matching eight-wheel caboose, 65 x 38″ track oval with Power-Loc track system and terminal rerailer, UL-listed power pack with forward and reverse, operating dual crossing gate, three trackside shanty kits, seven vehicles, 10-piece bridge and pier set, 91 realistic railroad, street and road signs, 12 utility poles, plug-in terminal wired, extra couplers and illustrated instructions.

Cons:

  • very poor quality products
  • plastic pieces broke easily
  • Lisa L. Urso form said that track broke before putting it together

The Life-Like Trains HO Scale Rail Runner Electric Train Set is a low quality train set. And it is difficult to install even for adults.

#2. Life-Like Rolling Rails Train Set HO Scale

clip image0021 Top 5 worst trains

Includes F7 diesel locomotive with working headlight, five rolling stock cars, 56 x 38″ track oval, UL-approved power pack, passenger station, two cars, one truck, three trees, 86 signs, 12 utility poles, log dump station, plug-in terminal wires, extra couplers and illustrated instructions.

Cons:

  • the train is falling apart  and won’t stay on tracks wheels
  • does not work

The Life-Like Rolling Rails Train Set HO Scale simply doesn’t seem to work.

#3. Life-Like Trains HO Scale Santa Fe Flyer Electric Train Set

clip image0031 Top 5 worst trains

This HO-scale Santa Fe Flyer provides hours of fun for engineers ages 8 to 108! Everything you need to get started is here, from the F7-style “diesel” engine with working headlamp, to five additional cars, to specialty track sections like a log dump and passenger station. Even decorative touches like scale-model trees come standard! Setup is fast and simple, too, thanks to the easy Power-Loc track system.

Cons:

  • after operating for 2 weeks the engine’s rear wheels came off and we cant get them reattached
  • the plastic is a low quality one
  • the quality is poor where it really counts, like the wheels and couplers
  • the engine coupler proceeded to fall off with regularity
  • it is difficult to set the train on the track

The Life-Like Trains HO Scale Santa Fe Flyer Electric Train Set offers poor quality for the wheels and couplers.  It is difficult to install and play with.

#4. Bachmann Trains McKinley Explorer Ready-to-Run HO Scale Train Set

clip image0041 Top 5 worst trains

Treating passengers to breathtaking views of the Alaskan wilderness in special vista-dome cars is the McKinley Explorer. Operating today from Anchorage to Fairbanks and running through Denali National Park, this train’s lucky riders might thrill to the sight of bear, moose, sheep, and bald eagles.

Cons:

  • the engine could not pull the cars
  • the manufacturer offers poor customer support form
  • it does not work as it should

It seems like the “powerful” engine of Bachmann Trains McKinley Explorer Ready-to-Run HO Scale Train Set just can’t move the cars. And the manufacturer delivers poor quality support.

#5. Bachmann Trains Overland Limited Ready – To – Run Ho Scale Train Set

clip image0051 Top 5 worst trains

The biggest and the best for serious railroad enthusiasts. From a powerful 4-8-4 steam locomotive, to an impressive consist of nine cars, this set has it all! The Overland Limited comes complete with Bachmann’s exclusive E-Z Track snap-fit track and roadbed system.

Cons:

  • the wheels fall off and will not stay on as the train navigates the snap-fit tracks built for it.
  • the Train does not get around the entire loop of tracks without losing nearly all its wheels on the main car as well as the accompanying nine cars.
  • flipping the switch on the terminal rerailer amounts to a derailment because the wheels can’t handle turns
  • the front wheels fell off after one use

I don’t know what is worst the fact that this train cost over $100 or that the the front wheels fell off after one use.

Tagged , , ,

Gauge Train Sets on Wikipedia

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 No Comments by admin

Standard Gauge, also known as Wide Gauge, was an early model railway and toy train rail gauge, introduced in the United States in 1906 by Lionel Corporation. As it was a toy standard, rather than a scale modeling standard, the actual scale of Standard Gauge locomotives and rolling stock varied. It ran on three-rail track whose running rails were 2 1⁄8 in (53.975 mm) apart.

gauge train set Gauge Train Sets on Wikipedia

Lionel’s competitors

Whatever the reason for its initial creation, Lionel’s Standard Gauge caught on at the expense of Gauges 1 and 2. No fewer than four American competitors adopted Lionel’s gauge: Ives in 1921, Boucher in 1922, Dorfan in 1924, and American Flyer in 1925. While all the manufacturers’ track was the same size and the trains and buildings approximately the same scale, the couplers for the most part remained incompatible, making it impossible to mix train cars from different manufacturers without modification.

The increased number of manufacturers seemed to give legitimacy to Lionel’s gauge, and because the boom of the 1920s made large toy trains affordable, Standard Gauge had its heyday in the mid-1920s only to virtually disappear during the Great Depression. Ives filed for bankruptcy in 1928 and its offerings were off the market by 1932. American Flyer discontinued its Standard Gauge trains in 1932. Dorfan went out of business in 1934. Lionel discontinued Standard Gauge trains in 1940. Boucher, the last of the Standard/Wide Gauge manufacturers, folded in 1943.

O gauge, was smaller, less expensive to manufacture and it required less space to operate a layout. Thus became the most popular scale in the United States almost by default.

After Lionel

However, Standard Gauge managed to survive in South America. Doggenweiler, a firm in Chile, produced a small quantity of trains in Standard Gauge and Gauge 2 from 1933 until about 1960. Standard Gauge also was revived in the United States in the 1950s by the small firm of McCoy Manufacturing, who produced trains of original design well into the 1990s. In the 1970s, Williams Electric Trains began producing and marketing reproductions of Lionel trains of the 1920s and 1930s. This line was later marketed by Lionel itself, and is now produced and marketed by MTH Electric Trains.

A number of smaller manufacturers, mostly one- and two-person operations, hand-build and market reproductions of very early Standard Gauge trains.

Blog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster.