Lionel's Miniature John Deere Battery Set

Just got mine for $34! :-)

These battery sets are a HOOT! I have two of the 2" gauge sets and now the larger than HO gauge set.

@Tinplate Art posted:

Lionel has issued a smaller gauge version of their 2" gauge battery sets labeled HO gauge, but whose plastic sectional track is more akin to S gauge! The set has an F7 style A unit in a John Deere livery accompanied by three freight cars also in matching livery: a tank, box and container car. The engine is powered by two AA batteries and a topside two position power switch (NO remote). The first position runs the engine with engine sound only, while the second position runs the engine with a 40 second sound loop which includes bell, horn and crew talk. This set is NOT a scale train in HO gauge, but rather a delightful toy train at the most reasonable price of $40!

It's actually more or less an FM Erie Built.

Rusty

Got it, correction made, and thanks! :-)

I was not able to measure the track gauge but it is very close to S. The loco and cars are larger than HO but less than S. Interesting gauge/scale combination!

It should be noted the supplied plastic track sections snap securely together similar to the larger 2" gauge track in the larger sets.

The most unusual piece is the tank car with a low profile dome and a sort of catwalk! The elongated box car has double doors on one side and a full John Deere graphic on the opposite side which has no doors. The third car is a basic container flat car.

Literally, something different!

They look like cheap, plastic train sets that you might find at a discount toy store. I wonder why Lionel is going in this direction.

@BenLMaggi posted:

They look like cheap, plastic train sets that you might find at a discount toy store. I wonder why Lionel is going in this direction.

Maybe because that stuff sells?

My daughter works in a very nice old toy store here in Nashville which has been a Lionel dealer since 1947. Here, the larger gauge battery sets are solid sellers as this new set will likely be. They also sell the higher end Lionel BTO's as well as the newer starter sets with remotes, along with track and accessories. Something for everyone, including  John Deere collectors!

Lionel management is wise to offer trains at multiple pricepoints to accomodate all socio-economic levels, while always maintaining the quality for which the iconic brand is justly famous.

@Tinplate Art posted:

Lionel management is wise to offer trains at multiple pricepoints to accomodate all socio-economic levels, while always maintaining the quality for which the iconic brand is justly famous.

Except things like the John Deere set are made by a Chinese company that cranks out cheap trainsets that usually appear in various stores around Christmastime.

Rusty

Steve Eastman and I have several of these sets and they run well and are great fun. The John Deere set is quite a good product for what it is.

@Tinplate Art posted:

Steve Eastman and I have several of these sets and they run well and are great fun. The John Deere set is quite a good product for what it is.

I have to agree!  I have a few of these (Hogwarts Express, Polar Express, Disney Parks, Disney Christmas, John Deere and a Pennsy passenger set that was offered at Ollie's this past Christmas) and love running all of them!

The Hogwarts and Polar Express sets were offered at the Aldi shops near me the past 2 Christmases, and they sold out quickly!  Those share the sounds of the Ready to Play counterparts, and are great fun!

The one from Ollie's last Christmas was the best one I found: it had a shrunken version of the Ready to Play Pennsy engine (the "Berkshire") with tender, 2 tuscan passenger cars that had PRR style names, a flatcar with trees and a PRR Cabin Car!  Plus it had switches and a 90 degree crossover.  That one was only $35.00, the lowest price I've paid for that much in it!  That was the one I ended up running under the Christmas tree!

What's funny is that given they're close to S Gauge, the Lionel online catalog had them once listed as "All Aboard Series", once a moniker given to the American Flyer trains in the 1960's!

Low price, yes, cheap compared to most Lionel offerings, of course!  But I can run these, have a lot of fun just watching them go around, and should anything crack or break, it will be easy to fix and not a heartache that something that cost hundreds or thousands just broke!