J. Don Reese Demostrates new Lionel Thomas the Tank Train set

I have one of the new Thomas sets sitting in my office, and will be testing and writing about the "Useful Little Engine" for the magazine.  Here at home, Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel will also share the track with my Alaska RR Legacy and DCS trains and I'll see how he does riding the rails with some of his scale brethren.

It really looks interesting!  I've always got a soft spot for Thomas and his friends.  The controller actually looks similar to what's been included with Lionel's G Gauge battery sets.

Hi Allan, I'm happy to read that you will be doing a review of the Thomas set. That little guy holds a special place in my heart because of all the shows I watched with my son when he was little.

I bet this set will be a real winner for Lionel. Thomas and Friends are still big with the little kids of today, though the old LGB layout looked far better on film then the newer computer art.

 

 

As I posted elsewhere I have two of the remote Thomi and they are fun to use and, appropriately, so simple a child can operate them, which I have no doubt my grandkids will want to do when I next see them!  I think Lionel has a super product in this remote system/train.

 

Thanks for posted the video.  I liked watching.  I was intrigued to know there were going to be three frequencies for three different locos.  Very nice, Lionel!

I have taken mine to a couple of events and let the kids run it. Very well received. The only issue is getting the remote back to pass along to the next kid.

 

Steve

I have the new Thomas set and it runs well and is just plain fun to use! Something tells me I'll be getting the other engines and remotes when they become available. I think Lionel is going to do well with these.

This is indeed an interesting development. Looks like it's direct radio control. I like it.

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive.  It's current going through customs processing, so hopefully it may arrive at the end of the week. 

Then I'll be able to report on how well it runs in a 50hz environment.