New Lionel Polar Express Passenger Cars

Well, I ordered the black roof version so am I going to be upset when the lettering is down low and also doesn't match the picture?

Or do I take it as a bonus it matches the other cars? Or maybe trade lowers with white roof VS black roof?

I ordered the black roof cars.  Wonder what we'll get...

The letters will be right and the color will be wrong. Or the color will be right and the letters will be wrong. Or they will both be right. Or both be wrong. The scale Polar Express has become a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ve got until you open the box.

My tongue-in-cheek previous response aside, to the OP’s original concern, I would be highly surprised if Lionel doesn’t make replacement shells for you. You need to get a complaint lodged with customer service and hope others do the same. They produced replacement shells for the PolEx  RPOs and reindeer (horse) cars to fix paint mistakes.  Be forewarned: you’ll need to be patient, the RPOs took a longtime (2 years maybe?).  Again, I suspect they’ll make this right by you and everyone else who ordered them.

Well, my white roofed car is due to arrive today. So, I’ll find out if this issue is a one off of another Lionel screw up!

I received my PE Passenger cars today and same thing, all the cars have the wording below the windows except the Observation car, which has it above the window.  So disappointing, I hope Lionel offers replacement shells, I'll be reaching out to them to find out.

@ArtsModelTrains posted:

I received my PE Passenger cars today and same thing, all the cars have the wording below the windows except the Observation car, which has it above the window.  So disappointing, I hope Lionel offers replacement shells, I'll be reaching out to them to find out.

If this is truly the case, I feel they will have no choice but to offer new shells as these do not match the previous run cars or the new cars.  As always I would suggest a respectful email to TalktoUs@lionel.com and let them know.  I have one of these on order as well and if mine is incorrect I will be doing the same.

@MartyE posted:

If this is truly the case, I feel they will have no choice but to offer new shells as these do not match the previous run cars or the new cars.  As always I would suggest a respectful email to TalktoUs@lionel.com and let them know.  I have one of these on order as well and if mine is incorrect I will be doing the same.

100% agree, a simple request to the talktoUs email is all that is needed.  I have sent mine asking if they were aware of the issue and if there was a plan to replace the shells or other fix.

Forgetting the lettering issue - How do you like the cars ??? - Lighting / color / overall quality etc

Thank you

Joe S

Well, my white roofed car arrived, and the lettering is above the window. Other than that, I like the look of the car. The updated rear came out great. However, I noticed the blue paint on the new car is a slightly lighter shade of blue than that of the other cars in my 2018 set. Also, the rear PE drumhead is not lighted.

I am curious to hear if people getting the black roof car have the lettering under the window.  Anyway sent lionel an e-mail to open a ticket and will wait to see how Lionel handles this issue.

Mine arrived today with the writing above the windows. Letter sent.

Too bad that we have to go through this again!

I went back and forth with Lionel support today via email (talktous@lionel.com), they asked me to send them some pictures. They replied that they are aware of the issue and are working on a resolution.

That works for me, I've been running the train for a while and it is noticeable but actually not as awful as I would have thought. So I can live with it until Lionel comes back with a fix.

@ArtsModelTrains posted:

I went back and forth with Lionel support today via email (talktous@lionel.com), they asked me to send them some pictures. They replied that they are aware of the issue and are working on a resolution.

That works for me, I've been running the train for a while and it is noticeable but actually not as awful as I would have thought. So I can live with it until Lionel comes back with a fix.

Thanks Art.

I've yet to buy the new observation cars; the pictures of them above look nice but I agree with consistency with the lettering. If I understand correctly, there's still a question on the black-roofed version where the lettering is or should be above the windows. As age is creeping up on me, I have to admit I had to study the pictures before I understood what was going on.

Does anyone have the 20th Anniversary scale set? From the catalog description, that came with 3 snow-capped cars, a one of a kind combine, 20th anniversary coach car, and the new observation car.

Edited: I re-read jimcap's post: has anyone else noticed the blue hue difference in the new cars from the 2018 versions? From my experience with the color variations as Rider noted on the various PE cars, it helps to have them side by side with very good lighting in order for the camera to pick up the variation. I want to make sure if we're going to request resolution from Lionel on this let's be sure to capture everything.

I have a scale set on the way should be here on the 24th I’ll be interested to check what is in it. I just got some other cars yesterday and everything with them looked good

I compared the new OB car to the 2018 hot chocolate car. I pulled the color out to better illustrate the difference in the shading. The new car’s blue is a lighter shade. Not a deal breaker but definitely a difference.  Anyway, that being said, the lettering above the windows is the main issue I have with the car.

Anybody get a black roof version yet?  How does it match the original set?

Thanks jimcap for the comparison. From grade school physics/optics, or from layperson's common sense, the lighter the hue = less pigment = the more reflective of ambient light an object is because less wavelengths are being absorbed. The question is does or will it make an "annoying" difference between 2024 and earlier production runs, assuming all the 2024 production runs are of the lighter hue.

My older but recent PE scale coaches and the hobo car (from the 2024 Vol 1 still available section) with black roofs, all have the lettering above the windows, so I'm hoping that the new observation car matches what is shown in the catalog and is above the windows like others above have indicated.  The catalog of the white roof showed below, a definite difference.  Good luck to us all.

I did get a reply from Lionel yesterday that said that they were aware of the problem and were looking into it. More info next week...it said.

It’s official the set didn’t fair any better. Also anyone notice the difference in interior colors?

Well, the interior color is more movie accurate for the OB car. It was green and chrome in the film.. so at least they were trying.

My observation car circa 2018 has green tinted windows and a darker look.  You can see it here in this video around the 9:24 time frame.  Compared to the other cars it's the darkest.  I feel it was done on purpose to resemble the look in the film.

@jimcap posted:

Well, the interior color is more movie accurate for the OB car. It was green and chrome in the film.. so at least they were trying.

I thought of that afterwards so it definitely looks like they were trying.

Any report yet on whether the black top observation cars came with the under windows lettering?  If so, sounds like a QA or manufacturing mix-up as compared to what they showed in the catalog.  In that case, a complete black roof set would also have the obs with inconsistent lettering.

I just received the full 7-car set from TW, where I also picked up the black scale PE Berk.  All cars but the Obs have lettering under the windows.  Also two of the cars came with the sprung vestibule doors broken or off their post.  Will try to open a car and see if I can fix that myself.

That's a bummer about the white-roofed obs. car included in that otherwise exciting set; I suppose they were made at the same time as the individually sold obs. cars.

My PE obs. cars arrived from Charles Ro. I bought one of each as I collect the scale cars both in black and white roofed. The black roofed obs. car is correct with the "Polar Express" above the windows.

Pictures of both new Obs. cars (white and black roofed) with an older (not that old) Hobo car, the latter I am trying to modify with O-scale Arttista hobo, fire irons, coffee pot, etc. I also noticed a slight less blue hue in the new cars, though I don't think this is a deal breaker.

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The lights sure look nice!!

I was hoping that the bodies were just switched on the black and white roofed cars at the factory. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. It looks like it’s going to take Lionel a bit longer to correct the issue. If they correct it at all, that is. It’s a shame. because the car looks beautiful.

As I was holding and comparing the cars I showed above, I recollected the long (ancient ) history of how O-gauge Polar Express enthusiasts wrote letters, talked to Lionel reps at train shows, etc. requesting that they delve into the O-scale aspect of the Polar Express. As some may recall, I wrote a fairly comprehensive article on this topic, and to this day I still find the history fascinating. Part of that history is how Lionel began making other holiday and fantasy trains in O-scale in addition to their regular O-gauge = traditional scale shortly thereafter the PE upgrades. And as we endeavor to get these fantasy trains as close to how they're depicted in the movie, I for one will nevertheless be appreciative that Lionel is in this market. I don't think other companies have ever transitioned their scale line to fantasy themes, at least not anywhere close to the degree Lionel has achieved.

In a retrospective kind of manner, when I think about the development and proliferation of "hi-rail" trains and layouts in the 1990s, i.e., Baby Boomers retiring and having more income, wanting to play with trains again - albeit "scale" trains, etc., the development of O-scale fantasy trains and layouts is a continuing and logical chapter or sequel to that ginormous change. Good and neat stuff, all around.

@jimcap posted:

I was hoping that the bodies were just switched on the black and white roofed cars at the factory. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. It looks like it’s going to take Lionel a bit longer to correct the issue. If they correct it at all, that is. It’s a shame. because the car looks beautiful.

IMO they have no choice but to fix the issue.  They released new coaches with white roofs and lettering below in the same catalog.  Now they have no matching observation car for either the previous released white roofs or newly cataloged.

I called Lionel on Friday and the lady I spoke to said the same as mentioned above… “they were area of the issue and are speaking to the factory about a resolution”. She wasn’t sure how they would communicate…. Possibly a post on the forum.

I wish they had made the scale white roof hobo car during this release as well.

I received my black roof observation car.  Here it is next to the original.

The new ones are wayy better. The lights take it next level.

The new cars look pretty good.  Once they fix the lettering issue it will be spectacular!

@MartyE posted:

The new cars look pretty good.  Once they fix the lettering issue it will be spectacular!

The round end does make a big difference!
It would be nice if they would include the lit Drumhead and markers.

@Big Jim posted:

The round end does make a big difference!
It would be nice if they would include the lit Drumhead and markers.

Per the movie there were no markers and the drumhead was not lit.

I pre-ordered these white roof coaches. Combine, 20th Anniversary, Diner, and the Observation.

I received these from Train World: Combine, 20th Anniversary. The combine had one journal cover broken off, and an internal bulkhead wall on one end was loose and had fallen in. The 20th anni coach has two journal covers broken off. I was able to "repair" the Combine, added some CA glue to the bulkhead, and loose journal cap. It was quite a bear to fix as I couldn't get the molex wire clip loose from the LED light board. I then ran out of CA glue and couldn't fix the 20th anniversary coach journal covers.

Still waiting for Muffin to ship out(if they have enough to cover my preorder) : Diner and Observation

The internal lighting is markedly improved. Did they include that new lighting (LEDs?) in all the current production cars or just the new observation cars?