Lionel Disney Mickey & Friends Express LionChief 2-4-2 Set with Bluetooth Capability, Electric O Gauge Model Train Set with Remote

I’ve been putting O gauge Lionel trains out at Christmas with my dad for 35 years and bought this train to carry on the tradition with my kids. Lionel has changed things with this train. There is no longer a transformer controller that controls when electricity is sent to the tracks. Instead the tracks are always energized. This means when the kids play with the cars or mess with the tracks while trying to put the cars on there are sparks. We have a fake tree so we’re not as concerned about the sparks, but it’s something families should be aware of.The new remote and app don’t work that well. It can take 10+ seconds for the train to respond. The most important thing to note is that even though the controller is “off” the tracks still have electrical current running in them. We’ve solved this by unplugging it from the wall whenever we’re not actively using it with the kids.The train and cars are gorgeous. The sounds from the remote sound just like the train at Disneyland. My kids love playing with it so we won’t be returning it. We’ll just be putting a lot of safety precautions in place and in the mean time I’ll be trying to fix an old transformer I have so we can make this train run like the old Lionel sets.

When comparing this starter set to other Lionel starter sets (Lionel Polar Express Lionchief Train Set  Lionel The Polar Express LionChief Train Set with Bluetooth Train Set ), it comes up short.My main complaint is how basic the locomotive is. The smoke unit does not have a puffing unit with it. The smoke just floats up over time. I ended up turning the unit off. The locomotive also doesn't really have a low speed. You turn the dial on the LionChief remote and it just takes off. The locomotive in the Polar Express set has both of these features.On a positive note, all of the freight cars are different and detailed. The caboose has lights on the inside. The Polar Express set has three lighted passenger cars. Two of them are almost identical. If you are picking up this set up for the Disney themed train cars then it definitely delivers.I gave this set 3 out of 5 mainly for the very basic features on the locomotive. The rest of the set lived up to my expectations.

Great product made for kids and/or grown up kids. Easy to set up and track is long enough to circle a 7.5-ft tree. Lights, sound effects, remote control unit, and engine movements are all working great out of box except the smoke function. I added 4 drops of the provided fluid into the stake (highlighted with an extra tag) and turned on the switch on the bottom then run the engine for two rounds but there was NO SMOKE at all!Called Lionel customer support 1-800 # and was prompted that they only work from Mon ~ Fri 9AM ~ 5PM EST. If you want to contact them, you need to make the call while you are at work.If you don't care about the puffing smoke function, this set works great with great details. However, there are other battery powered Lionel train sets ~$100 less for similar functions w/o smoke function.==============UPDATE================AMAZON customer service is GREAT.I failed to contact Lionel so I contacted Amazon and they sent me a brand new replacement right away. Received the new unit in two days and guess what happened? It doesn't work out of box! See attached photo with old non-smoke unit lining up with new replacement unit. The new engine doesn't even light up so it of coz doesn't smoke either. Have to return them both. What a headache.

Opened & setup the train within an hr of taking delivery. Train did NOT smoke (as-advertised). Decided to let train rest overnite & give the wick a chance to absorb the Lionel Smoke Fluid. Next day train did NOT smoke. Packaged it up & returned it to my UPS store for return delivery & refund. Everything else about the train seemed to work just fine. You could see smoke if you stood over the smokestack as the train went by. Previous Lionel trains that smoked left a nice trail of puffy smoke clouds - not this one........

Got this for Christmas for the family, as a longtime lover of Lionel trainsets (especially around the tree). The cars have great detail and are completely "Mickey'd" out. I could do without the external add-ons (ears for the engine, Goofy hat/ Pluto tail/ Donald hat for the cars), as the locomotive and cars look great without them. Old school Lionel was just stop/go with maybe a light for the engine, but this Mickey engine is truly next level. It has a remote control, with whistle and sound features, and a variety of other gadgets as well. Made in China of course, but well executed and with high detail. Again - paint job and Mickey theme are first rate. Track is also a newer design (nuts, not compatible with my older track) but it ringed the tree nicely. Set is complete to run out of the box, with (even) some batteries for the remote control. Biggest complaints: some technical glitches (pairing the remote control with the train was iffy at times, and the Mickey engine zapped power drawn from the metal rails, causing other cars such as my previously-bought lighted pullmans to dim). As a starter set or an add-on to what you already have, I'd buy it again.

1st time train owner. I love the train and all it’s comparmemts! The details are great. Assembly was very easy just a bit hard to snap some pieces together. Had it up within 15 mins. Ran it slow first then faster. I was surprised at how fast it went. I am a Disney fan so I love it.However currently not happy with the smoke feature. I tried to do what others said they did to get some smoke and that didn’t work. I did get a very tiny strand of smoke but barely noticeable. Very disappointed with that but if you don’t care about smoke then the train is pretty cool.

Great starter Lionel train set with track powered train (no batteries!), puffing smoke, whistle, bell, Mickey Mouse announcements, engine sounds, comes with remote and now has Blue Tooth so you can use your phone instead of the remote. Fully compatible with all Lionel products (must add a conventional transformer to run conventional engines). A super starter set or additional set for the Disney Fan!!