I have kind of had an interest in these. Does the power car have one or two motors and how do they run for a less expensive set?
Original Post
Chris,
I bought my son the LIRR version with the 2 car add-on set and it is a nice, affordable set but with some issues. I had to bring it back to my LHS to have the wires extended on the power trucks as they were too short and causing derailments (there is a thread on this in the Subway forum). I was lucky as my LHS fixed it free of charge even though the set is over three years old.
Once I added the extra two cars I found that I had a power issue. There is another thread about that on this forum and the issue was due to oily track. But the powered car only has one motor so with a CW80 on full power it goes at a reasonable speed. This works well for me as this train runs on an elevated line which is controlled by my eight year old son so it works like a built in governor. If I have the even slightly dirty wheels or track I do get spinning wheels when starting or stopping. I would love to add a second power truck which would make the set great.
Despite any issues above we still really enjoy the set...the kids love that the doors open and they can put people inside. I find that the M7s are really nice models and though not extremely detailed are a good representation of the real cars. In NYC this summmer my son and I got to ride the real thing and the set at home is a great reminder of the trip.
So from my perspective, for the price and for a starter set it is still a nice train to own.
Jay in Ottawa
