My look at the Lionel Polar Express BiPolar (TriPolar) 1933620

Looks nice Marty! Some of these fantasy schemes, like this model, really come out attractive. While others not so well. (Surprisingly the SP Daylight AC-12 Cab Forward seems to flow better with the paint job than the Daylight AC-9) Is the "Polar Express" gold a different color on the engine versus the cars? The cars with the snow on the roof and lowered lettering really look good too.

The gold maybe slight brighter on the cars. Not 100% sure but I can see it ok in person. 

Very nice Marty. I really like the PE colors on that engine!  

MartyE posted:

THE POLAR EXPRESS LEGACY BIPOLAR #E-25

I Pre-ordered this when it was announced.  While I had no reason, I just thought it was a unique piece and would go well with the Polar Express freight cars I have been buying. I initially posted a video on another thread but thought this deserved a thread of its own.  

The engine came in last week and after an initial test at the LHS, The Imperial Train Company, I took it home. I have been looking forward to this and I happily to say it didn't disappoint. 

On the layout one of the first and only thing so far that bothered me was the side loading foam for an engine this size and mass.  It's difficult to remove and return to the foam.  I had the same complaint for the VL GG1. That being said let's get on with the pros...

The paint is a good if not close to perfect match to the Polar Express cars offered previously.  I was a bit concerned after the RPO car came in but was very happy to see a fantastic paint job.  The colors are great and paint seems be well applied.  The "Polar Express" on the side of the engine can be difficult to see on the blue but it's definitely there and looks good.  It might be a slightly different shade or content that causes it not to stand out as well.  For some reason the passenger cars Polar Express sticks out a little better.  The front end(s) of the engine have the PE crest and it has the E25 number lights.  The separately applied railings look great as do the other add on details.

The volume pot and all switches, PGM/RUN, Bluetooth ON/OFF, and smoke, are on top under a magnetic hatch which is nice especially for an engine this size and weight.  The manual operated pantagraphs are magnetically held on as is the smoke unit cap.  The smoke unit works great on my model and at first thought was noisy but it appears to be the "sound of steam" when it's on.  I can see the top getting oily from the smoke being forced downward onto the cab roof but I will run the unit in a limited mode. 

I oiled and greased where recommended and took some extra time to open the gearbox, accessible from underneath,  by removing 2 screws.  There was a decent amount of lube but I added a little more.

On the track it runs great.  It has minimal engine sounds but does pretty much have all of the same Berkshire Polar Callouts.  I haven't heard any new ones.  Tower Comm as with the Berk is reserved more of the Railroad chatter.  I am amazed how quiet it is which makes it easier than the Berk to hear the Polar callouts.  When going over the sensor track to load into the Cab2, it comes up as the Polar Railroad BiPolar, not sure why but it does load all the needed info for an electric. 

The engine runs smooth and seems to have some good pulling power and tracks well on my simple FasTrack layout.  I run command and only tested in that mode.  It has 2 pickups that are spaced fairly far apart so I would think it will be ok on most switches.  Your mileage may vary.

In my opinion Lionel has hit a homerun with this one based on the time I've had it.  I have been critical of Lionel in the past few months but this is the second Lionel engine I've brought home in the last month that has been a winner!  I'll post my thoughts on the other engine later but until then a video and a few more pictures.

Beautiful engine.  You referenced the color matching.  While at York last October, Ryan told me that they received their 1st batch and Ryan thought the color off.  The comment to him was, "its the same color we shipped out last week with the RPO's".  Ryan acknowledged that it was the bi-polar color that alerted them to the mis-match for the RPOs ,  The RPO's will be dealt with in the near future according to Lionel.

 “...When going over the sensor track to load into the Cab2, it comes up as the Polar Railroad BiPolar, not sure why but it does load all the needed info for an electric.”

Isn’t loading all the info for an electric a positive thing?

MrMoe50 posted:

 “...When going over the sensor track to load into the Cab2, it comes up as the Polar Railroad BiPolar, not sure why but it does load all the needed info for an electric.”

Isn’t loading all the info for an electric a positive thing?

Maybe I need to add another apostrophe.  Loading the electric info is good but it is the Polar Express BiPolar not the Polar Railroad BiPolar.

Ahhh, completely missed Railroad vs. Express part.  I obviously read that you didn’t know why it loaded the correct info.....lol!

Great looking engine btw.

MartyE posted:

The gold maybe slight brighter on the cars. Not 100% sure but I can see it ok in person. 

Hope you enjoy running it, looks cool in the video.

My New Haven version runs fine in conventional mode, even on 36 inch diameter Fastrack.  The sounds seem especially crisp and clear, even by Lionel standards, and the horn will fill a large room with sound.  One of the most impressive three rail locomotives I've ever seen or heard.  Then again, I've mostly been running LC+ lately, not Legacy.

Its a beautiful model.

Am curious about the photo showing the drive gear: is that with factory added grease or after you added it? I would think that is more than adequate.

Landsteiner posted:

My New Haven version runs fine in conventional mode, even on 36 inch diameter Fastrack.  The sounds seem especially crisp and clear, even by Lionel standards, and the horn will fill a large room with sound.  One of the most impressive three rail locomotives I've ever seen or heard.  Then again, I've mostly been running LC+ lately, not Legacy.

This engine exceeded my expectations.  I was worried after the RPO car came in but I'm glad my worries were unfounded.  It is really a unique engine.  Again a very nice job on this one.

Paul Kallus posted:

Its a beautiful model.

Am curious about the photo showing the drive gear: is that with factory added grease or after you added it? I would think that is more than adequate.

That was factory.  The other box had a little less that I added to.  This one I left alone but distributed it a little better.

That is good to know.

With these nice electric models by Lionel perhaps we could see a RTR catenary system by Lionel in the near future.

Marty,

    Your new engine looks and sounds great. Good luck with it. How about a video of it pulling PE freight cars? I know what you mean about the lay down packaging In fact I would like to see all engines packaged in the stand up format. Although I do not have any electric engines but I do hate putting diesels back in their lay down cradles. 

JohnB

JohnB posted:

Marty,

    Your new engine looks and sounds great. Good luck with it. How about a video of it pulling PE freight cars? I know what you mean about the lay down packaging In fact I would like to see all engines packaged in the stand up format. Although I do not have any electric engines but I do hate putting diesels back in their lay down cradles. 

JohnB

John,

That would look good. Marty should get two so he can run a freight train at the same time!

Haven't followed the Polar Express cars. Other than cabooses are there scale freight cars lettered with "Polar Express?" IIRC all ours say "Polar Railroad" on them.

BOBBYD,

     You are correct the freight cars as well as other engines such as the K4, B6 and GP9 (or 7) were Polar RR. Only the train that was in the movie was called Polar Express. Like the name Broadway Limited.

JohnB

BobbyD posted:

JohnB posted:

Marty,

    Your new engine looks and sounds great. Good luck with it. How about a video of it pulling PE freight cars? I know what you mean about the lay down packaging In fact I would like to see all engines packaged in the stand up format. Although I do not have any electric engines but I do hate putting diesels back in their lay down cradles. 

JohnB

John,

That would look good. Marty should get two so he can run a freight train at the same time!

Haven't followed the Polar Express cars. Other than cabooses are there freight cars lettered with "Polar Express?" IIRC all ours are say "Polar Railroad" on them.

There are a lot of cars now labeled Polar Express including gondolas, hopper, box cars, and as you mention cabooses.  I have been watching for the first Polar Express Caboose but without much success.  There is an I12 prevued in the last catalog but I like the N5B.

JohnB posted:

BOBBYD,

     You are correct the freight cars as well as other engines such as the K4, B6 and GP9 (or 7) were Polar RR. Only the train that was in the movie was called Polar Express. Like the name Broadway Limited.

JohnB

Have the fantasy K4, love the color Lionel used on it. Didn't have funds for the Wagon Top caboose by the time we could get an engine so have the N5b and it's our only "Express" car John! I think they did a great job on that GP as well, always expected them to re-run it.

Here is a sample of some of the Polar Express Cars.  Just go to Lionel's search page and type in Polar Express.  They've created quite a few.

Wow Marty I just noticed the TriPolar has " Polar Express" on it. Better have another cup of coffee.

OK Guys.  I will set up the Berk to pull the passenger cars and pull out the PE freight cars for the BiPolar (TriPolar) and make a video.  Probably be tomorrow evening.

Marty, BOBBYD,

    My PRR K4 the second one in the lash up was a Polar RR K4 but I had the engine painted by a forum sponsor over to Pennsy RR. At the time I could not find a Legacy K4 anywhere. The only difference was the Polar K4 did not come with a whistle shield which I found and bought from Percision Scale. Also the painter did not paint the cab roof or the tender deck so it looked "Pink". My friend AlexM took care of that and repainted it to a darker color. Here is a video of it coming out of the yard. It's the second K4 the first one 1330 I bought from a forum member.

MartyE posted:

Here is a sample of some of the Polar Express Cars.  Just go to Lionel's search page and type in Polar Express.  They've created quite a few.

Umm Marty E. The second car pictured in your thread is S scale wood reefer express car.... Just sayin...

MartyE posted:

OK Guys.  I will set up the Berk to pull the passenger cars and pull out the PE freight cars for the BiPolar (TriPolar) and make a video.  Probably be tomorrow evening.

Looking forward to it Marty. After you said Lionel had made "Polar Express" freight cars I searched. Does anyone know if the big gondola came with wrapped gifts as shown or if it actually came with coils as the description states? Thanks. 

JohnB posted:

Marty, BOBBYD,

    My PRR K4 the second one in the lash up was a Polar RR K4 but I had the engine painted by a forum sponsor over to Pennsy RR. At the time I could not find a Legacy K4 anywhere. The only difference was the Polar K4 did not come with a whistle shield which I found and bought from Percision Scale. Also the painter did not paint the cab roof or the tender deck so it looked "Pink". My friend AlexM took care of that and repainted it to a darker color. Here is a video of it coming out of the yard. It's the second K4 the first one 1330 I bought from a forum member.

Very nice John! Looks like you can double head these without needing 6 feet of room, is that an MTH RPO?

BobbyD posted:

MartyE posted:

OK Guys.  I will set up the Berk to pull the passenger cars and pull out the PE freight cars for the BiPolar (TriPolar) and make a video.  Probably be tomorrow evening.

Looking forward to it Marty. After you said Lionel had made "Polar Express" freight cars I searched.

Does anyone know if the big gondola came with wrapped gifts as shown or if it actually came with coils as the description states? Thanks. 

 

It comes with wrapped gifts.  I have it and it will be in the video.

Enjoy that Polar Express loco and all of those cars, Marty.  They do look great!   (I am among those of us living vicariously through you!  Ha-ha!)   Happy New Year!

BOBBYD,

   Here is a video of the K4s pulling out a different train. This is after AlexM repainted the 3330 cab roof and tender.

Marty,

Sorry did not mean to hijack this thread. I am a fan of the Polar Express but not a student of it. I thought Polar RR was used for everything other than the 1225 Berk and the passenger cars.  Thanks for the clarification 

JohnB

BOBBYD,

  Only the R50B cars are MTH. The RPO is a Weaver. Two of the merchandise boxcars are Atlas, one is a Lionel PS-1 Boxcar. All the other cars are Lionel.

Marty,

  Beg your pardon again

JohnB

Although, not scale but a starter set, my wife picked up the Polar Express Steam Freight Set when it came out 5-6 years ago.

http://www.lionel.com/products...0-steam-loco-6-30184

MrMoe50 posted:

Although, not scale but a starter set, my wife picked up the Polar Express Steam Freight Set when it came out 5-6 years ago.

http://www.lionel.com/products...0-steam-loco-6-30184

 

That looks like a nice set! I bet it would pair nicely with the LionChief Polar Express set.

MartyE posted:

It comes with wrapped gifts.  I have it and it will be in the video.

Looking forward to the video Marty.

BobbyD posted:

MartyE posted:

It comes with wrapped gifts.  I have it and it will be in the video.

Looking forward to the video Marty.

Things got a bit busy around here.  I'll do the set up tonight.

Got home late so no video but here is the picture of the gondola. I promise a video by weeks end. Just a lot happening. 

Marty, that’s a beautiful engine, thanks for posting and I will watch the video soon. I’m glad it came in and worked right out of the box. We’re starting 2020 on a great note. Simply awesome.

leapinlarry posted:

Marty, that’s a beautiful engine, thanks for posting and I will watch the video soon. I’m glad it came in and worked right out of the box. We’re starting 2020 on a great note. Simply awesome.

Larry

The BiPolar and the Santa Sleigh Shay both are awesome engines so far.  The Shay is especially a big hit with the kids.  The BiPolar will definitely be moved to freight so the Berk can get the kids to the North Pole!

MartyE posted:

here is the picture of the gondola.

Great, thank you Marty!

MartyE posted:

leapinlarry posted:

Marty, that’s a beautiful engine, thanks for posting and I will watch the video soon. I’m glad it came in and worked right out of the box. We’re starting 2020 on a great note. Simply awesome.

Larry

The BiPolar and the Santa Sleigh Shay both are awesome engines so far.  The Shay is especially a big hit with the kids.  The BiPolar will definitely be moved to freight so the Berk can get the kids to the North Pole!

@MartyE - What is this Shay of which you speak?  I haven't heard of this one.

Thanks for the real nice review btw.  The only thing that would have been better to my eyes would have been a a nice PE logo on the sides of the cab section.  The Polar Express lettering gets a little lost in the size of the loco unless you are looking at front the right angle.

Here ya go...

jhz563 posted:

@MartyE - What is this Shay of which you speak?  I haven't heard of this one.

 

Check out:

http://www.lionel.com/products...ruck-shay-25-1931550

Stu