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Lionel’s Polar Express and Add On Cars - A Review by Erol Gurcan

For Christmas 2005, Santa Claus brought my two daughters, Kristine and Danielle, a Lionel® Polar Express™ train set (6-31960). My wife Laura’s position is — I used this train as a pretext to buy myself a Christmas gift. On the day after Christmas, I also purchased the baggage (625135) and diner (6-25134), the add-on cars for the set; for them, of course. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

Holiday History
Lionel’s Polar Express train set first graced the cover of its 2004 Volume 1 Catalog and listed for $250. It also appeared in the 2004 volume 2 Catalog. The train continued in both 2005 Catalogs, but the price jumped to $280. The two add-on cars also appeared for the first time in 2005, listing at $55 each. Still popular two years later, this set and the add-on cars remain in both 2006 Catalogs, as well as being featured in a separate Christmas Catalog released by Lionel in April, 2006. However, the price of the set has increased to $290, and the add-on cars are now sold at $60 each. The good news is the set can be purchased for about $220 if you shop around or check the ads in the model train magazines.

Click on the link below to read on

Contents of this Set
The set comes with a 2-8-4 mini-Berkshire steam locomotive capable of negotiating O27 curves, a plastic tender with air whistle, three passenger cars (one of which is an observation car with rounded rear-end platform), a 40×60-inch oval of FasTrack™, CW-80 transformer, four pose-able action figures as featured in the film, and a sleigh bell that sounds when shaken.

The die-cast locomotive in this set is based on the separately sold mini-Berkshire that previously came with Railsounds™ in the tender (but now comes with Trainsounds, beginning in the 2006 volume I Catalog) and a momentum flywheel. However, the Polar Express locomotive and tender does not have either Railsounds or Trainsounds; rather, an air whistle in the tender; but no bell and no momentum flywheel.

The loco has a good level of detail, and a nice flat black finish. Most noticeably, it comes with a headlight lens shield and a much bigger front end pilot which is nicer looking than the small one that comes on the separately sold Berkshire; see photo 1, where the Polar Express loco is placed on the left. Adding the larger front pilot to the PE Berkshire makes it look like the one in the movie and shows that Lionel sweated the details in this regard. Kudos to them for doing it! The passenger cars are made of plastic; all have passenger silhouettes in the windows.

The number under the locomotive cab window is 1225; surely intended as December 25. Ironically, the locomotive in the Warner Brothers movie does not have a number under the cab window.

PE in Review on the Test Track
I tested the locomotive and tender, three passenger cars, and the two add-on cars on both a 40×60-inch loop of Lionel FasTrack (included with all starter train sets), and a larger oval of Lionel tubular track with O31 curves. I used the Lionel CW-80™ watt transformer (packed with this train set) and a MTH® Z-4000™ transformer. The locomotive, tender, and five passenger cars ran smoothly on both types of track and with both transformers. No abnormalities were noted. The engine had more than enough power to pull the tender and all five passenger cars. However, since this locomotive does not have a momentum flywheel, some short-distance stops (especially in reverse), were abrupt and caused the passenger cars to shake but not derail.

First, Lionel should have included a momentum flywheel in the locomotive, especially since add-on cars have been made for the set. Second, since it also currently sells for $290, I do not see why it could not have been included. Price does not seem to be a major consideration since Lionel’s inexpensive 0-6-0 docksiders which currently list for $110 ($100 when introduced two years ago) have a momentum flywheel. Third, since the separately sold Berkshire has a momentum flywheel as standard equipment, adopting it to the Polar Express engine would have required no changes at presumably little or no additional cost.

The Whistle
The plastic, brass-colored whistle is located about an inch behind the loco’s smoke stack. It is extremely fragile, and it broke off when I dusted the locomotive. Lionel could have decided not to include it on the Berkshire or to make it from a stronger material. It was disappointing that it broke off so easily. However, the good news is that in July, I discussed the broken whistle with Lionel’s Mike Braga. He said more recent versions of the whistle are made from rubber and will not break off. Since I had the opportunity to speak with him in person and he had a Polar Express Loco handy, he showed me the improvement by repeatedly bending the whistle back and forth. It did not break.
I would like to thank Mike here for taking the time to discuss this and showing me that an improvement had been made. He also told me to call Lionel and order a new whistle for the train, which I did. I was told one would be sent in 30 to 60 days. As of this writing 60 days hasn’t passed, so I’m looking forward to a delivery soon.

If you have a PE locomotive with a broken whistle, call Lionel for a replacement even if the one-year warranty has already expired. When I called, I was not asked, “When did you purchase the set?”

The Smoking Zone
The loco’s smoke unit produced an adequate amount of smoke when pulling the three passenger cars and two addons at a moderate pace with the Z-4000 set at 12-14 volts. The speed at a constant voltage was influenced by whether or not any power-eating accessories were attached to the track. The instruction manual accompanying the set stated the locomotive was designed to run between 7-15 volts, so the power supplied to it was in the middle to top end of its range. If Lionel had designed the smoke unit to produce another 30% under the same test conditions, output would have been just about perfect. In other words, the smoke output at 12-14 volts should have been the output at 10-11 volts.

On a positive note, the PE smoke output was much better when compared to my 2003 Chesapeake and Ohio mini-Berkshire (also shown in photo 1). The smoke stream from it is barely noticeable even at higher voltages and when pulling several cars.

Over the last few years, it would appear Lionel has improved, but not yet perfected, the smoke output in its mini-Berks. The on-off switches for the smoke unit (also the reverse unit) are located inside the cab. They are easy to find and use; no need to remove the engine from the track.

The PE tender has an air whistle. When the train was in neutral, the air whistle made a whining noise when activated. The whine was barely noticeable when the locomotive was moving.

Other Observations
One of my favorite things about the Polar Express set is the four action figures included with it. The characters from the movie add play value to the set: the engineer, fireman, train conductor (Tom Hanks), and the boy.

They can be made to sit or stand on the front pilot, the top of the cab of the locomotive, and even on the roofs of passenger cars, including the add-on cars. The locomotive and passenger cars each come with small metal pegs to which the “bottoms” or left foot of the figures can be attached (see photos 2 and 3). The figures stood or sat firmly on the pegs and never fell off even when the loco and passenger cars were moving fast. Their heads, arms, and legs can be moved.

Each of the passenger cars carries the words “Polar Express” on the sides above the windows (see photo 2). In the movie, the words “Polar Express” are located on the cars below the windows. I wondered why Lionel chose to make the cars appear different than those in the film.

The observation car comes with a separate plastic rounded black platform that is not pre-attached; it must be attached to the car after it is removed from its box (see photo 4). The platform “notches” did not fit firmly into the two slots molded into the rear of the observation car. I feared the notches might break after a few attempts to get the platform to fit firmly to the observation car. I taped the underside of the platform at the location where it meets the observation car to give it more strength and to prevent it from moving. Interestingly, when I put the observation car with its rounded platform attached back into the plastic sleeve, it fit and went into the box without a problem. This begged the question in my mind, “Why not make the observation car with the rounded platform permanently attached to it in the first place?”

The PE Name and the Price
Lastly, I believe the two add-on cars are overpriced. Each car listed for $55 when I purchased them, but the price has increased to $60 each in both 2006 Catalogs. The add-on cars are similar to the ones currently offered as passenger set expansion packs for lower-priced Lionel starter sets such as the Pennsylvania Flyer set (6-30018, $200), and the New York Central Flyer set (6-30016, $275). The expansion packs for those trains currently sell for $110; which includes three PE cars instead of two, four pieces of straight FasTrack, and other extras.

Lionel is paying a royalty fee to Warner Brothers for the right to make these PE cars based on a copyrighted work, and that fee may be reflected in the price. Although I consider the list price as overpriced, I did purchase them, but at a discount retailer. Ultimately, Lionel fans will decide if the play value is worth the price.

New PE Items Available
In April 2006 in a separate Christmas Catalog and again in the 2006 volume two Catalog released in July, Lionel announced several new PE items — a hot chocolate car (625186, $60) and the elf hand car (6-28425, $75). Four additional pose-able figures are now available as a set (614273, $25) including: the African-American girl, Billy — the lonely kid from the poor side of the tracks, the hobo “ghost,” and Santa Claus. These items were released in August or September, 2006, in plenty of time for Christmas. The hot chocolate car seems redundant since Lionel has already offered a diner car as an add-on item with persons holding raised cups in the air as the window silhouettes. The four new pose-able action figures and elf hand car are interesting, welcome, and logical additions to the Polar Express set.

Suggestions for Additional Accessories
I would like Railsounds with TMCC added to the mini-Berk PE locomotive, or a Trainsounds tender that would playback lines from the movie, such as the Tom Hanks train conductor character saying, “All aboard!” or “This is the Polar Express.” If some of the buildings from the North Pole village were available, set owners would likely place them under the Christmas tree along with the set. One last poseable figure set could include the “know it all” kid, an elf figure, and the mother, father and sister of the boy who is the main character in the movie.

Overall, this is a nice set that kids of all ages will enjoy. If Lionel had included a momentum flywheel, a slightly stronger smoke unit, a built-in rounded platform for the observation car instead of providing it as a separate piece, and a non-breakable whistle (a matter now corrected by Lionel), this set would be almost perfect in the near-$300 price range. Families will enjoy this sojourner to the North Pole for many merry Christmases to come.

Photos by Erol Gurcan.

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