Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My son is a train crazy 5 year old with autism. Potty training has been a big struggle for us and I wanted to get him something big for mastering it. I knew he would love this train (even though it's the middle of summer) and I was right! This is an EXCELLENT RC starter train for young kids! The quality and detail are very good for the price. The remote is VERY intuitive and easy to use which is great because my son gets easily frustrated. Unlike many similar G scale trains, the cars are easy to couple and stay coupled and also easy to put on the track and don't derail on their own! At full speed this train is surprisingly fast. The variety of sounds and voices are nice and clear and pretty high quality for the price. It comes with plenty of track to make a nice big setup. It can go forward or reverse at the speed of your choosing and has whistle, bell and conductor voice buttons. The battery life is also surprisingly good. After he got this, his grandparents bought him another similar Lionel train with the exact same remote. The nice thing is, any remote can be used for any train without pairing problems and they can be used at the same time without interfering with each other which is awesome. This set also comes with a big shiny metal Santa bell which is a nice touch. My only complaints would be that you have to switch both the train and remote on and off after use and it doesn't turn off automatically after a long period of inactivity. It's really easy for my son to forget to turn off the remote after playing with it and if you don't turn it off, a red light will continue to blink and the batteries will run down quickly. Also, when you turn the train on before turning the remote on it makes a really annoying beeping sound while it's looking for a remote to pair to. My son actually enjoys that beeping sound and will often do it on purpose. It drives me nuts, haha. Anyway, this is a great set for a reasonable price and would make a wonderful addition to a Christmas tree or just plain train fun anytime of year! It doesn't play any annoying music/Christmas songs. In short it has been a HUGE hit at our house and I can highly recommend. I did NOT receive this for free or at a discount. Hope this helps!