The Polar Express Train Set-2004 and Forward

We got the PE set in early December 2004 from the late, great Kirke Mitchell when he ran Justrains.  My son, who is 12 now, still likes it and we ran it for the kids at his sister's school yesterday.  We have added a few cars and stuff over the years.  It's on its second motor but it is still a great set and a beauty of a loco.

Got lucky in 04 when I bought one for my son. There was a long waiting list. I've added a few coaches to it(I think I have 7 total). Engine works hard to pull these coaches. I heard the newer engines come with a bigger motor but it has been a work horse. I haven't picked up the rest of the coaches due to cost, but I think the engine would not be capable of pulling all of them. On my 4x8, it would be nose to tail. If I had to buy it at todays prices, I probaly wouldn't own it.

Yes, I bought one of the sets in 2004 (can it have been that long ago?) Don't remember the dealer, but am thinking it was Charles Ro. And you're right. The hype was huge that year.

 

The kids loved it that first season. Have set it up most Christmases since then, but have missed a few years. Hope to get it out this year, maybe for the second, smaller tree we set up in the front hall.

 

Fun thread. Looking forward to hearing more.

I pre-ordered the scale Pere Marquette 1225.  At first I wasn't interested in the Polar Express tender...until I finally saw the movie.  A month after the initial order, I called back to JustTrains and asked to have the Polar Ex tender added to my pre-order.  Shawn laughed and said everyone that orders the PM 1225 ends up adding the PE tender to their order.  This locomotive and passenger set have become a huge part of my collection, along with the similar scheme of the scale Polar RR offerings.

I first thought it was silly to buy the PE and did not like the sounds it made.  I ran MTH at the time around the tree and was happy.  Now a few kids later I get it, therefore I got it this year.  It is fun watching them all get excited about it. 

Brian, you are sooo right on the prices back in 2004. For fun, I would check the going prices at lunchtime everyday on ebay. The closer it was to the Christmas shipping deadline the higher the prices climbed, I think some passed $500. It was pretty nice to see a Lionel Train as the number one toy for that Christmas season.  We found ours at or a little below MSRP through the Herrington Catalog if I remember correctly.

As of right now, I only have the PE baggage car from 2005.  The set is a natural for Christmas, and I would like to have one some day, but it's not as high of a priority as some other items I want.  I would prefer conventional over LionChief, though.

Aaron

When I lived in an apartment in the early 2000s, I would buy a train set and put it aside, since I didn't think I had the room for a layout.  In 2006, I moved twice.  Once to stay with a friend and once to my own home.  Each time I moved, I could not figure out where my Polar Express set went.  Then it dawned on me.  I had not yet bought one.  By the winter of 2006 I owned one, and I actually lent it out to a friend for her Christmas party one year.  It also was used to keep her cat away from the tree. 

To this day, I have not yet set it under my own Christmas tree.  I have too many trains to make this a "go-to" decision.

In 2009, I did stage a Christmas in July scene for the Weekend Photo Fun.  Here are two photos from that time.

 

In addition to the three cars that came with the set, I bought the hot chocolate coach and the disappearing hobo coach.  

My question is for anyone with the new lionchief polar set. How well does the engine run at slow speeds and how is the throtle response on the remote.
All the youtube videos I have seen show the engine going fast and all the operators starting the engine fast also.
I am trying to decide if I should by this set next week or not. I realy want it but dont want to be disapointed operationaly. I am not expecting legacy creep or oddesy two cruise control. But do not want to be fussing with the remote trying to ajust the speed all the time. Going around my chrismas layout.

Did the Polar Express make the hobby better off???

 

That Lionel set, the movie, and my children at just the right age thrust me back into the hobby after being gone for 30 years.  I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff.  I have yet to install the ERR Cruise Commander that I bought a while back but it's time.  I would like to be able operate the train around the tree from the couch or standing up. 

Various posts on the LionChief Polar Express- here's a short answer.. Excellent slow speed control with the included 18VDC wallwart, good with 14~18VAC. No fussing needed.

I'm another P.E fan. I bought the original set in 2010 and since bought all add on cars and accessories. Its a wonderful Christmas movie and Lionel's model of the set is great. This year I bought the new Lionchief set with the remote control. It was worth it the announcements from the movie and improved smoke and sounds are awesome. I think Lionel has done a great job with their Polar Express collection  

 

In October 2004 my LHS had one PE on their shelf. Every day coming from work, i would

stop and go in and "l-o-o-k" and think "Hmmmm, should I or not".

One day the LHS owner, Joe came over to me with this comment:

"Bernard, you can't take it($) with you, you know.!"

That did it and was I glad I did get that original set. Have added nothing to it and it is still

a "crowd pleaser".

 

Hats off to Lionel for such a superb well running toy.

If there ever was a movie that MADE a kid want to play with electric trains it was, and still is, the Polar Express. I saw the movie in 2004 in IMAX 3-D, and came away with a strong sense of the Christmas spirit and a motivation to set up trains around the holidays. I don't think that it can be overstated that the PE movie had a LOT to do with the resurgence of kids of all ages coming into electric trains.

 

Bought the PE set the first year available and have added every Lionel PE accessory and add-on made since then (including the Toy Fair boxcar and even the PE freight set boxcar) but with the exception of the wolves/rabbits figure set and the PE scale loco, scale tender and scale cars. (Have the PE loco with the steam whistle effect and metal tender, too.)

 

BTW, a few years ago when the engine and its's first generation small motor exhibited trouble pulling all the cars available at that time, Lionel's repair department (despite the engine being years out of warranty) most generously agreed to exchange that original loco at no cost for a new one with the larger motor. A great gesture on their behalf.

 

At the recent Allentown show I picked up a new, sealed with shipping carton LionChief set for $195 and look forward to seeing it run this holiday season.

 

Am also seriously considering swapping the original conventional engine shell with the LionChief's shell so that that LionChief loco has add-on railing detailing since the railing on the LionChief is molded detail, rather than the add-on found of the convention sets -- supposedly because it makes it easier for children's hands to handle it. Am wondering though if instead of swapping shells on those two engines, would it be better to have the conventional set loco fitted with tmcc, cruise control and railsounds? What would you folks suggest or recommend I do?

 

 

The Polar Express was the first train I bought for my twins back in 2010 over Thanksgiving weekend. It actually was the catalyst for us getting into the hobby and going with O gauge. Didn't know about the advances made over the past 20 years. But even after becoming aware, I actually loved the PE set as-is, maybe out of nostalgia or it's simplicity: the big brick of steel engine, the whistle and the smoke effect. My children love it too. Even now, with all the command stuff and more realistic sounds and smoke we've acquired, they prefer turning the transformer handle and making the PE blast off. In terms of pulling power, I'm a little embarrassed to say that the loco has been my test engine as we build our layout, to ensure our grades aren't too steep. I've had as many as 12 cars, mostly scale heavyweight passenger cars, attached to it. This thing doesn't even work up a sweat pulling them up a 2.4% grade. My only criticism of the set is that the passenger cars are freakishly light and flimsy. Wish they were more substantial.

There's no bigger testimonial than me.  It not only brought me into the hobby, it brought me into the hobby for the first time.  I grew up in the 80s in the midwest where trains and toy trains just were not big at that time.  I knew no other kid who had them and had not even seen ANY O-gauge train growing up.  Plenty of HO layouts, but no O-gauge. 

 

So I had zero interest in trains until seeing the Polar Express movie in the theater.  There is something about that movie that struck a chord in me.  Front the first frame showing the WB logo iced over with the theme song lightly playing all the way to the end of the movie, I was hooked like few other movies.  The steam and noise of the huge locomotive as he stood next to it evoked so much power and potential.  The way that steam billowed out in the frigid night.  The contrast of the blue night and the warm lights from the train.  The regal colors of the passenger train.  The scene with the ticket going out of the window!  And as someone so in love with Christmas, the way the story ended really stuck with me.

 

So I got the set a few years later as my first set.  This was the first set I've ever seen or held and the first thing that struck me was how heavy the locomotive was.  I instantly knew the heirloom quality of these sets and what the difference between these sets and the plastic $69 sets on the shelves next to it. 

 

I've added the Trainsounds tender and the conductor car.  A friend wants to get a set for his daughter and I'm having trouble deciding on whether to recommend either the conventional or the LionChief.

 

Anyway, the movie remains one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.  And got me into the hobby for the first time.

Does anyone have a list of all the Polar Express sets and locomotive with their Lionel numbers?  I've always been confused about the different versions of the locomotive in particular.

Lionel put an ad in the coupon section of the Philadelphia Inquirer offering the set along with a signed copy of the book.

Sean007:

 

Just loved your PE story. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

 

towdog:

 

What you have posted sums up the favorable impact the book and the movie has had on our hobby.

 

And to all of you who have shared your stories, It is heart warming to learn just how this trian has touched your lives.

I think for many of us who did not grow up on the east coast, the Polar Express might have been the first train that really captured our attention.  While I grew up seeing and hearing freight trains every day, I don't think it's the same experience as many of you had living amongst the train corridor of the east coast.  And I am too young to have witnessed passenger trains and steam power.  And I was born after the time when every boy had a toy train, they were in all the hardware stores, etc. 

 

What I experienced growing up is even more pronounced now with the younger generation.  Their connection to trains is likely even less.  Yes, there is Thomas, but I wonder if that translates into appreciation for trains once they grow out of that phase.

 

So I think what I'm trying to say is that the Polar Express book, movie, and train set filled a big hole for many people of all ages.  It gave them a train to idolize and identify with in an age when most people are disconnected with trains in their daily lives. 

 

My only complaint is that I fear the G-gauge version steals sales away from the O-gauge for uninformed parents.  When the two sets are sitting side-by-side in the store or online, I have to believe that price wins out and people grab the cheaper set.  Which is fine for young kids but then they are stuck with a cheap kid's toy and it never opens them up to the larger O-gauge hobby.

We run the polar express every year. I didnt start with trains until 2007, but we've had them set since 09 or 10. My wife loves the movie, so it enhanced her layout enjoyment. I can't/ won't make the decision to afford the "adult set", but I do wish I could do things like upgrade the wheels so it would run smoother and such. So in addition to being fun, I consider upgrading it a long term part of the hobby. One day I may even try to put PS2 in it.

Following an examination of both the conventional and LionChief PE shells I offer this edit to my original November 23rd post to this thread:

 

Edited 11/28/13 - Besides the omission of separately applied handrails on the LionChief loco and tender, another difference is that the LC loco shell has two notched slots on cab interior located on the floorplate below firebox (for smoke and sound switches) which the conventional PE loco shell doesn't have. So any proposed switching of the locos' shells which I contemplated doing is not a simple swap easily done without cutting those notched slots to the conventional PE shell.

 

ogaugeguy,

The 6-31960 set that I had (mfg date 2011) had the shell with the switches for smoke and sound. The manual is dated '05 and shows the switches. The location of the LionChief set appears to be the same, but I don't have the conventional set anymore to compare.

Great set that my son and I love.  I have the original set and all the add on cars and the elf handcar.  That elf handcar makes for good conversation when people see the layout.  This runs on our regular layout all year round and then it moves under the tree for Christmas.  

 

BTW - What got me back into trains when my son was born in 2006 was not this set but the Thomas set.  Another great set to get kids started.   

I remember it quite well I pre-ordered one set from Charles Ro when it was announced at the beginning of 2004. And when the Christmas catalog came out I pre-ordered 2 more sets. I wanted a set for each of my 2 daughters and the other set for a public Christmas train display at the fire company.

 

Then in the beginning of September I was contacted by a area strip mall about putting a Christmas train display in the windows of a vacant store they had. They asked me to put in a bid to build 1 or 2 displays (in the store front windows & this store also had a large area on the one side since this was a corner store). 

 

They did go with having one display in the front window. One of my selling points for the display was that I was going to use the Polar Express in the display. Not too far across the street they had a movie theater complex and in one of them they were going to be showing The Polar Express.

 

And at this time I still did not have a Polar Express set and I was getting a little worried about not having one. I too wound buying 5 more sets from Herrington Catalog. I wanted to make sure that I always had a PE running on the display and I did not know how long of a life one of the engines would give me. The trains would be running on a timer from 9 am to 1100 pm each day for about a month and half. I only had to use a 2nd PE engine, the first one lasted a little month.

 

When the movie came out we wanted to take our young daughters at that time to see the PE in 3-D. Which we did go and see it after traveling about 100 miles one way. We loved watching the movie, this was after we lucked out because when we first arrived at the theater they had a problem with PE movie and it was shut down. So we decided to watch a different movie and before we saw that movie they had the PE back in operation so we did get tickets for the next showing of the PE.

 

One question that I asked at York was that since they are were bringing another scale PE Berkshire (black one) if they are going to bring back out another scale PE Black Observation. One my answer was no since since they are bringing out the gold. So I imagine the price for the previous scale PE observation is going to go through the roof.

 

So here is some photos of that store front from The Avenue at White Marsh in Baltimore County, Maryland.

 

Paul:

 

Thanks for your story and for posting your photos. I found it very interesting.

 

The scale Observation Car is also an interesting story. As most of you know, the rear end was made with a roof line that is not in keeping with the presentation in the movie. At the time the PE cars were first introduced, I was happy enough that Lionel made a two-pack (included the Observation Car) and a Coach. I had previously asked Matt A. of Lionel at the York Meet to make them. Our Forum Member Keith was not happy with the look of the roof on the Observation Car and he undertook a project to reconfigure his car to give the correct look as seen in the movie and the book titled The Art of the Polar Express. This project had a phenomenal result and Keith's transformation was sensational. So to me, the Observation Car makes this scale version of the PE train very important, especially Keith's version.

 

Those who visit out layout during the Christmas season are absolutely drawn to our scale PE train. Most of these visitors have seen the movie multiple times and are very surprised that a beautiful model version of this train exists and "talks" with Tom Hank's voice.

I'm thinking of getting the new black scale polar express Berkshire. I saw a picture of it somewhere but not sure where. Will it have the PE cow catcher? 

 

thanks for your help,

 

dave

Hello Polar Express fans!

Brian asked me to post some pictures of the observation cars I modified for he and I.

 

Our cars have a larger curved rear deck and railing, Three down lights(with on/off switch), rear door handle, larger drumhead with PE logo, larger taillight.  Mine has the edition of a hobo with burning campfire on the roof...

 

 

On the left is a stock Lionel Scale Polar Express obs car.  On the right is my modified and Winter weathered car.  Brian's is similar to mine, but without the weathering...

 

After the mod, each car gained a full inch in length over the coupler.  Stock car in foreground...

 

Here is Brian's car, made to look factory fresh...

 

 

 

 

A couple construction photos.

The observation deck and down lights were very important to me...

Dave,

The PE cow catcher that they showed in the catalog is very attractive.  It makes me want another 1225.  I guess we'll have to wait for further info from Lionel.

Thanks Keith, I finally did find the pictures. It looks like it to me. 

 

Btw, I'm still looking for that dummy for you but that is one tuff unit to find. Did you find one yet? 

 

Thanks,

 

dave

 

 

 

I bought the set last year and am not all that thrilled.  The whistle tender was so anemic, I had to remove the shell and remove the resistor to get it loud enough to hear and it is still not very loud.  My smoke unit sucks.  Sucks so bad, it does not work anymore and there is no motivation to work on it, because you can barely see the smoke when it's working.  Now the Lion Chief is out I am really bummed as that would have given us the option to have a train around the tree.  

 

I want to be a PE fan, but the set I got last year was not that impressive.

Thanks Keith for posting the before and after photos. Your transformation is nothing short of spectacular.

Is there any changes on the gold set that is coming out in 2014?

You can order the set now from your Lionel store, although I have not seen the pricing yet. In terms of changes, my guess is everything you will need to know will be in the 2014 Signature catalog due out next February.

 

Should be a wonderful addition to the Polar Express series.

It's really great to see what folks have done with their Polar sets.  For me, I've built a portable Polar themed layout (two 36" wide doors as the base) which I've taken to our local train show, but now it in the window of the local power company in Williams, AZ for the season.  Williams is the home base of the Grand Canyon Railway who also runs a delightful Polar train.

I have had the set for about 6 years and do enjoy it this time of year. I also purchased the trainsounds tender for about 100.00 It didn't work as well as I hoped it would, sound was still very poor IMO.

 

 

I am also a fan of the set, having picked one up three or four years ago. I added more of the add on cars than I can comfortably run on my layout or under the tree, so the whole train only gets run once or twice a year on our modular club's layouts. It's always a hit, sometimes literally:

 

Last year we were doing our show at the local Boys and Girls Club, and I had the Polar Express running on the outer loop. It got the our "drawbridge", and suddenly stopped, as it had derailed. It's pretty odd for a train to derail on straight track, but maybe the bridge was out of alignment. As I walked over to put the train back on track, a boy, about 8 or nine said that he had touched the train and caused it to come off the track, and that he was sorry. To which I replied that it was brave of him to own up to that to a complete stranger, but not to touch the trains because the they're more fun to watch when they're moving.

 

J White

 

Something that would be nice is if Lionel made the PE available without track and power.