Features:

• 4-4-2 Steam Locomotive & Tender
• Air Whistle in tender; operating headlights
• Puffing smoke;large oval of FasTrack
• 10 telephone poles & extension bridge
• Recommended Age Range 8 and Up

Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
With smoke pouring from the stack and the headlight ablaze, this die-cast metal steam locomotive races to the big port cities of the Eastern Seaboard with a boxcar, gondola, and caboose in tow. Featuring the CW-80 Transformer and a huge oval of FasTrack t

Rating : - Durable, Easy, Fun
I grew up with Lionel, always had great experiences, and wanted to buy my son his first set. I know Lionel has gone through a seven year bankruptcy restructuring; so I don't doubt that people have had problems with customer service. But I see no difference between the quality of this set I bought for my son and the great quality I experienced in my own childhood. Sure, the engine is heavy. It's a Lionel! Go to WalMart and buy some plastic train if you want a light engine. Lionel makes durable and authentic metal engines. It can take a novice a few minutes to get used to attaching the tracks; but they are not difficult to attach. They are very precise, which is part of Lionel's excellent quality. They form a tightly fitted layout. Similarly, one needs to be careful when placing the cars on the tracks to make sure they are fitted properly; but they are not difficult. One just needs to pay attention to what one is doing, because the cars are designed to allow the wheels to turn around corners, so one needs to align the wheels when placing the cars on the tracks. Some young children are likely to get frustrated; but most children enjoy having to pay attention to this detail; and any adult who would complain about this simply is impatient. If you are looking for additional products to buy with this basic set I recommend the following. A cheap way to add to your child's experience is to buy Lionel's barrel pack, which runs about $6. This allows them to load this set's flat car. In addition, the track is a basic oval; so older children often get bored with it quickly. If your child is likely to want more than this, I recommend getting the figure 8 extension set. I bought both at the same time, gave my son this set, then brought out the figure 8 extension after a couple weeks. A natural next addition will be to buy a trestle set to allow part of the figure 8 to be an elevated track. But I recommend waiting a while before buying extra engines. Once you "open this door," additions get very expensive and add relatively little to your child's Lionel experience. So if you find yourself adding on to this set, I recommend adding track and trestles until your track layout easily accommodates two engines running at the same time, or at least has a siding track where your additional engine can park. Then the additional engine adds to your child's experience with his or her layout. I hope this has helped you decide for yourself whether or not this Lionel set is for you. While their trains are a bit expensive, I think Lionel trains remain the type of toys upon which fond memories are built.