Hape Remote Control Engine Train | Kids Railway Toy, App or Button RC Vehicle with 5 Playable Sounds, Rechargeable Battery Feature, Blue

The media could not be loaded. We have a lot of wooden Ikea train tracks that our 5 year old daughter really enjoys, but she wanted an engine. I did some research and decided to try this one. I'm really glad I did. It works great and is very powerful. The thing my daughter immediately loved (and still does) is the easy to press control buttons on top. She has used the app on my phone to control it, too, but uses the buttons on top most.As you can see in my video, it can easily pull at least 10 cars around tight turns. Of course going up hills is another issue... wooden track is smooth and doesn't offer much traction. The powered real wheels of this engine have rubber wheels with knobs allowing it to pull a couple cars up most bridges, but more than that and the wheels will spin and it will need help. Since this is a problem all the electric engines for wooden tracks seem to have, I decided to make our tracks less smooth. We glued strips of 80 grit sand paper into the ramp and bridge sections of track and it works great!! It was also a fun project for my daughter and I... I cut the strips of sand paper and she glued them into the grooves and then used a train car to press them down firmly.The app works very well and connects with the engine seamlessly and quickly. It is a really cool display that my daughter loves playing with... it can cause the engine to make many different sounds. (But, as I said, she mostly uses the buttons on top.)The engine charges quickly via micro usb. I charge it every night after we've used it, so it has never run out of power... even after a long day of play.

I was a Brio fanatic as a child, so when my children became interested in wooden train play sets I was elated. While scouring Amazon for track and trains, I found the Hape engines and it was an instant order. When my son un-boxed this product for Christmas, it immediately became his favorite engine. He will set up his train and use the controls built into the train body, or beg for my phone to use the expanded features in the app. It really is a wonderful concept and offers whole new ways to play with any wooden train system.Great features:-Works with any wooden track system-USB recharge is wonderful. No messing with swapping batteries. Reasonably quick recharge rate.-Slick design, sturdy, and rugged. Feels like a quality product and puts up with 2 & 4 year old play styles.-App was easy to find, pairs reliably, and is easy for kids and adults to use.Room for Improvement:-When motor or power is off, drive wheels do no turn, meaning it cannot act as an unpowered engine like regular trains. A neutral setting where axle can spin would really help.-Because drive wheels are rear most set, engine can have some difficulty going up inclines/bridges. Specifically the three piece bridge/tunnel track seen in figure-8 track sets. Requires an extra tap to get it up and over.-I would love to see different engine styles. Perhaps a cargo diesel body?Even with the few areas that need improvement, this engine brings lots of joy to my kids, and I find myself taking over the controls to let my inner child out. A great buy!

Hape knocked it out of the park with this train. I own every major brand for wooden tracks both motorized and not. This is a must buy in my opinion. The price might seem high but totally worth it for the rechargeable feature alone, not to mention an app that has worked flawlessly and allows full control over train. I have a 1.5 and 3 year old.1) RECHARGEABLE!!! I can’t emphasize this enough. NO BATTERIES to replace as you recharge this train with the usb charging cable provided (cord comes tucked within instructions packet, which I overlooked until I went to read instructions). If you have no way to charge a usb device, I recommend buying an ac adapter- it’s totally worth it, to not have to replace batteries, which has been a weekly task pending on how often they play with the trains and how many extra train cars they attach. Recharge overnight for fun play in the morning and can pull multiple cars and go uphill with no issues (again too many and it does slow it down as it goes with adding more weight)2) Controls: both manual on train & through the Hape Engine App.3) This free Hape Engine app (mine on iphone - see attached pic) works seamlessly with the train. Love the big buttons and the boys are able to hit the ones they want. They can control forward and backwards (handle on right), speed level, lights, horns. The train track “out the window” on the screen even moves as the train goes forwards or backwards. So cool! Great for imaginative play & lots of fun.Con/room for improvement:1) A mute button on train or app, so when the kiddos lose interest in train and it is left running, I can quietly/discretely turn it off without interrupting their next playtime adventure. It has one volume level, which is somewhat loud (like a 7 out of 10), and can interrupt them and redraw their attention to it.2) Not sure how this works with running 2 or more of these trains at the same time with the app. There was no special code to connect to the train, so I am not sure how that would work. People with siblings may want to purchase 2 and I know I will need to shortly to avoid disagreements (but hey we’re actively practicing sharing so while frustrating still good learning experience for them).