BRIO World Mighty Red Action Locomotive Battery Powered Train & 33683 Double Suspension Train Bridge for Kids Age 3 Years Up - Compatible with all Railway Sets & Accessories, Multicoloured

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!I thought I'd write an extensive review because like many parents who are probably a bit more interested in trains than their kids... I have bought a few different ones, looking for the BEST!I have three battery operated trains and here is their score out of 40;1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive 30! WINNER2 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard 26 TWO BONUS POINTS FOR BEING FASTER!3 - Hape Number One - 25The mighty red is easily the best all rounder, however it is not anywhere as near as fast as the Bigjigs AND the worst thing is the screw that needs to be opened to change the battery is very hard to get to.Bigjigs derails and has many problems getting round our complex track - Too fast down hills so derails, too wide to enter tunnels after a bend, not good enough grip to get up hills from certain make of tracks... generally less stable mostly because of speed.Hape is SLOW and steady, has never derailed or got stuck and can pull a couple of carriages. It is SILENT so that good if like quiet but bad for kids who like sound.All three seemed to have around the same battery usage. I use rechargeable batteries as you will be changing them every few days and it's a waste to throw batteries away and buy new ones. None of them are perfect by any means.Here's how they performed in different categories out of 5;SPEED1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 32 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 5 + 2 points! = 73 - Hape Number One - 1I just timed a lap of all three - slightly inaccurate because they didn't all start with brand new fully charged batteries but the order is undoubtedly correct. 1 min 10 sec for our fast and furious Bigjig, 1 min 42 for our medium paced but steady Brio and an incredibly slow but steady 2 mins 34 for Hape!However... because of Bigjigs extra speed, it is faster downhill and has less control. I've had to change the layout so that there is a long straight after the hill so it doesn't derail on the bend. However because I think it's important for a train to be fast I've added two bonus points for this category.CONTROLS (movement switch)1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 52 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 13 - Hape Number One - 2The Brio comes with a very kid friendly 3 individual, easy to see, well spaced out buttons that go forwards, stop and backwards. Bigjigs has just one button... forwards and kids keep half pressing it so it roars forwards but doesn't stay on. Hape has a slightly awkward switch, that my 2 year old doesn't understand and it's difficult to stop the train without putting it into reverse. The good thing is, it has a reverse!SOUND and LIGHTS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 2I've given Hape a 1 for sound because it doesn't have any! But to be honest not having a sound is good sometimes so depends if you want sound or not. Hape has a good light.Bigjigs has several sounds but unfortunately the loudest and most obvious sound is AWFUL and sounds like a pterodactyl or an attacking hawk... but it does have some other sound that fade in and out that are quite good. It has NO LIGHTS though, which is a real shame as they are fun to see as they go through tunnels or you turn the house lights off.Brio wins this easily. It has two headlights and very nice sounds, which also turn off and on after a while, meaning it doesn't become annoying. It also has a different sound for revers, which is cool.STABILITY1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 5Probably because it's so slow, Hape never derails. Brio is very stable but can come unstuck and Bigjigs is all over the place, because of it's speed it can derail at the bottom of hills and is generally less forgiving on an imperfect track.PULLING CARRIAGES1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 43 - Hape Number One - 1Brio and Bigjigs can both pull four carriages happily on a VERY hilly course but after that, with five carriages there are issues. Brio simply isn't strong enough and Bigjigs' magnet fails so the carriages decouple and roll back down the hill! Hape can only pull two carriages up a decent hill, at least when the batteries aren't 100% BUT the magnet is round the wrong way... at least compared to all other products from several different companies.HILLS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 52 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 33 - Hape Number One - 4Bizarrely, Bigjigs doesn't go up certain types of track - to the eye they look the same but the grain of the wood must be slightly different and it doesn't go up them at all.Brio is brilliant.Hape is slow but rarely if ever fails up hill with full batteries.TUNNELS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 5Bigjigs is much wider than the other two trains so when it tries to enter a tunnel after a curve and hasn't had time to fully straighten it gets stuck every time. This means I had to change the track so that there are long straights before tunnels - an unnecessary restriction!Brio can sometimes get stuck because of its height if the track is not laid PERFECTLY. But mostly it's great.Hape is definitely the smallest, therefore best in tunnels.BATTERY CHANGE1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 12 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 53 - Hape Number One - 5Brio, why make it so hard to reach the screw? The screw is a phillips/straight hybrid so I bought a set of tiny Phillips screwdrivers to fit. But the Philips screw has already worn out after three battery changes so I've had to buy another screwdriver, a flat head with a very thin, long neck or you can't reach the screw.To avoid the battery change experience I may well get a rechargeable train... it's expensive but maybe worthwhile. But how it will take corners I don't know!The other two trains have perfectly sensible, easily accessible screws.CONCLUSIONBrio Mighty Red is the most expensive but best all rounder. If you have a flat track and don't mind a noisy train then the Bigjigs is fastest and if you just want a nice, calm, nice looking locomotive then Hape is your best bet.I didn't add a category for looks/style because they are all very different and look good but it's down to taste.

Bought as a gift for a (nearly) two year old. He absolutely loves it and got told that it is a powerful battery operated train and even goes on a rug!

The train pulls well, and the sounds are authentic. Children are absorbed by it.

Small for the money. Sent back

Brio is a bit pricey but their products are very well made, my son gave this a lot of abuse and its still going. Very strong for its size!

My 2 year old grandson was delighted with his Brio train.So excited when it started to travel round the track.Good addition to his train set.

It will withstand a lot of bashing in the hands of little ones. Boys will be boys. So far unbreakable. (I did say, "so far"!!):-0

This train was bought as a gift for my grandson who absolutely loves trains so it had a lot to live up to. Compared to other trains he has, it actually has much more power to pull the large amount of carriages which he likes to join on to the engine. It manages the twists, turns and inclines which he likes to create for the train...it really is a great little train.