The downside of the Polar Express

You didn't mention video games, but sounds like a real win diverting their attention from the TV!

Gilly

They have not yet been given the joys of video games by design.  Maybe when they are older, MAYBE

I have the original PE set from 2004.  My 3 year old has played with it non stop all day long since we set it up around the tree this morning.  He recites lines from the movie as he runs the train.  It is cute when he stops the train and says "Well are you coming?  To the North Pole of course. This is the Polar Express!"

I wonder if my 23, 27 and 30 years olds will react the same way when I set mine up!   I sure hope so.    I haven't opened up my LC PE set yet. I'm waiting for the tree to go up but I may not be able to wait any longer. 

I can't wait for grandkids so I can see this kind of reaction.

Thanks for sharing this.

I can't confirm this, but I've heard that on the Lionchief PE set they removed the separately applied wire handrails on the engine & tender that came on the original conventional sets and went with molded-in handrails.  Heard it was done as a cost-cutting measure.  Any truth to this?

 No TV!!!  Sounds like you're on the right track!! 

Good problem to have!

Great thread, kids having fun running trains!  Thanks for sharing their excitement with us.

I can't confirm this, but I've heard that on the Lionchief PE set they removed the separately applied wire handrails on the engine & tender that came on the original conventional sets and went with molded-in handrails.  Heard it was done as a cost-cutting measure.  Any truth to this?

I don't know about the Lionchief PE set. But I do know I have quite easily broken the handrail stantions off a couple of starter set engines that came with add-on handrails. And I'm pretty careful in handling my locos and I still broke them. So I suspect if Lionel did do this (they've done it on a couple other sets) it might be for this reason. Of course, it is a cost cutting measure, but maybe their service department had lots of calls on this one.

I replaced the handrail stantions that came on these starter set locos with the formed wire cotter pin type that Lionel used for many many years, and now no problem.

The way my dad solved this problem was to invest in more sets...

By the time he stopped, we had 4 loops around our tree (even though only two kids were involved, if you don't count my dad ). 

Andy

Happy children --- made my morning

I like the 4 loops idea and may go with something like that.  Did you have 4 loops inside each other on ground level? 

Yes.

Time to put in a separate trolley loop!

One train?  One train is never enough.

Yes.  But keep in mind that this was old-style tubular track.  The innermost loop was O-27 and the outer 3 loops were all O-31.  With FasTrack, a little more real estate would be required.

Andy

I have two of my Grandkids running Lionel Polar Express trains.  Both were thrilled when I showed them that the real #1225 has just been restored and is back under steam.  We watched the video clip on it together.

These are good times for RR fans, and, as it turns out, for prospective RR fans!

Paul Fischer

how does the trolley loop work?  never owned one. 

There are several options.

One is a loop (oval) where a trolley runs continuously, like a train.

Another is a loop with a bumper at each end, like a horizontal "U".

Still another is a reverse loop with a switch that changes a trolley's direction. A bumper at the end of the track reverses a trolley again. A switch can cause problems if a trolley derails or its center rail contact rollers are too close together for reliable operation through a switch.

Some operators use relays or timers to reverse a trolley's direction.