Bachmann Trains Spirit of Christmas Ready to Run Electric Train Set N Scale

I have put this little train up at work on a much expanded figure 8 track, as seen in the picture every year between Halloween and Thanksgiving 4 years in a row. It runs 9 hours every day, at a slow prototypical speed (faster would run better) 5 days a week for at least 5 weeks. That's over 1000 hours of smooth running. Putting up the track, I run the train at various speeds for testing puposes, and invariably I find some uncupling or derailing problems. Every time it is because when connecting a section of track, I've not set the track correctly into the little crimp connector on one rail or the other. Usually, i've slipped the rail on top of the connector, and that leaves a little bump, or heigth difference that causes the derailment. It's so slight that casual observance doesn't show it, but running my finger over the joint, lets me feel the problem. I make the correct connection and look for the next problem area. Once it runs smoothly for 15 minutes at speed, we're good for the rest of the season. The students (High School) love it, as most haven't seen a "toy" train set, especially not one so small. The only problems I've had, is sometimes the kids bump it, or because I've got it running so slowly, it may stop at the track cross over, as there are some unpowered parts of the track there, necessary to keep the track from shorting out. A small bump with my finger to get it going, and adjusting the speed a little higher (so that it will coast through the crossing) and we're good for the reat of the day. I feel this is not the fault of the set, but rather design constraints for running the system. At night we "park" it near the back and turn it off. Our running speed is with the dail at about the 11:00 position. There is only one connection to the track from the power pack, even with all that extra track. I've ordered an extra set, in case this one goes out and I think I will use it this year so I can take the "old" engine apart to clean and lube it for another 1000 hours of use. Again, I can't emphasize enough, with cars so small and light, you need a well laid out and maintained roadbed, with out any bumps and good electrical connection. Also, yes the cars don't auto couple when they come together, but they do look and hold together better than the older "Rapido" style couplers. As I just leave it running all day, I appreciate the look and reliability of the newer "knuckle" connetors, even though they are harder to connect and rerail. As for engines that don't work, it gets it's power from the tender, which doesn't weigh much; mayby adding a little weight would help. I know I clean our track every year, and that seems to help with the power issues that might arise. We also live in Colorado, so the dry air may be a factor.

Quite a nice train set. operated all holiday season with zero concerns . my only caution for anyone is that the parts are small.

Track went together OK. Like trying to build a Swiss watch, especially me coming from Lionel O gauge. (Really big trains.) Rest of setup went well. Engine started right up. Went fine from to slow to fast. However... the couplers are total JUNK!!! None of them will work, in ANY combination. I did get one car to attach to the engine for a bit, but nothing after that. Makes me wonder WHY they included a bag of replacement couplers. Am I supposed to replace bad couplers for THEM??? These trains are SO tiny that no standard screwdriver, even jeweler's ones that I have would fit the screws. I can't even see the screws without a magnifying glass... Manual said go to the website for help. Website said call... They said don't take their defective stuff back to dealer. I'd send it back to Amazon. But the likelihood of them sending me a replacement that would work is negligible. I guess I'll wait till the day after New Year's and call Bachman to see if they have a fix. Pity... The engine is really cute... UPDATE: Train had had complaints for coupling problems since at least 2019! Why are they STILL shipping defective units and spoiling Christmas for so many people???

Overall, this is a great little set for the price. I've always been fascinated by electric model trains but didn't realize they came in the smaller scales until I started doing research recently. The size is perfect underneath of my four-foot Christmas tree and I think it would be fun to use this small scale to build a mini train table. Everything is very well decorated but the car couplers don't hook together very well and I've yet to get them to connect just by backing the engine up to the car. I have to connect them manually. The engine is solid but mine has been a bit temperamental in how it runs and often doesn't fire up when I turn it off and then fire it up again hours or days later. I have to remove the wheels from the track and re-seat them, sometimes once and sometimes multiple times before the engine starts running again. It also sometimes runs at inconsistent speeds. As soon as I go talking badly about it, it's now running perfectly smoothly in the background so the issues aren't consistent. It's been running for only a few days off and on but I did follow all break-in recommendations. I will update this review if it starts behaving more consistently as the engine continues to break in. I guess the main thing that occurs to me is that this might be more than the average Christmas decorator wants to deal with for a tree accessory. It's a tiny electric engine with required care and maintenance, and because it's smaller, it's more sensitive to dirt, debris, neglect. You have to oil the engine and gears, clean and oil the track and troubleshoot the issue when it's temperamental. I don't think it's something you could just slap back under the tree after a year in storage and expect it to work flawlessly. I was a little bummed that the train doesn't include a caboose, so I bought a $20 Bachmann caboose to go with mine. Things I noticed right off the bat are that the caboose is better made then the Christmas train. The wheels glide more smoothly and the car feels more solid. The coupler is also different and works as it should every time. I am new to model trains so I don't know if they make different levels of cars but it made me wonder if other engines, etc might also be better build than what comes with this set. If you're a tech geek like me, then I say go for it. It's a great price and a cool little train to play with, and it wouldn't take much space at all to build a really cool set-up. But, be prepared to break it in correctly, and take care of the engine and track maintenance to keep it in good working order.

N scale is small, kind of “fragile “ comes with the size, well built plan on using on the tree next season, will need to build a flat structure.

This is a nice little train. I got this as a replacement because the last n scale Bachmann train I bought died just after a week. However this engine is extremely weak. It will not pull more than 3 cars and there is no headlight either. This is way too basic for the price. It looks good, it’s easy to put together, but other than that, it’s a complete letdown.

The reviews mentioning the difficulty of track assembly are correct, the small metal couplings are very easy to misalign. Getting the track correctly connected took some time and patience. It was worth it, the little train has been running like a champ since then. Very pleased with this purchase!

My experience with this Bachmann n scale starter set was disappointing. I had used Bachmann h o gauge sets before and had few problems with them. However, this set didn’t work properly out of the box. Don’t think I could have returned it as I had to modify the track power receptacle to accommodate the power supply plug. The plastic housing on the receptacle was warped. Then after getting the track set up and running, I ran the engine around the track and it seemed ok. When I tried to get the cars up and running, they wouldn’t stay on the track and wouldn’t couple very well. Thought maybe it was my fault, but then bought a Kato n gauge set and tried it out. Thought there might be an issue with running on a Bachmann track and power supply, but it worked fine. Probably won’t buy from Bachmann again.

el modelo es de construcción robusta, aunque la esala N es muy pequeña para lo que yo queria, estoy muy satisfecho con la calidad del tren

Très beau mais petit

Colis arrivé rapidement en bon état. En fait je l'ai acheté pour "bricolage" le produit fonctionne bien mais Attention le bloc secteur livré est avec une prise USA et en 110V d'ailleurs c'est conforme aux photos de la description. Donc pour info le bloc secteur doit avoir une tension de 16V pour 1A il alimente le transformateur qui lui alimente les rails. Pour ma part j'ai utilisé une autre alimentation. un point très positif pour moi les roues des wagons et du tender sont en métal et le premier bogie du tender dispose de quoi récupérer la tension des rails. Donc ce système pourrait alimenter une autre petite locomotive en DIY. Faire attention lorsque on détache le tender de la locomotive les pièces sont fragiles mais de bonnes factures. pratique aussi le petit sachet "d'accroches wagons" fourni en supplément. Pour moi ça vaut les 5 étoiles. juste un dernier avis penser à fixer les rails sur une planchette de bois ou autre elles seront mieux maintenus et le train roulera nettement mieux.

Cumple completamente con lo esperado.

Looks to be all its was advertised as and looking forward to giving as a gift at Christmas