This is a very pleasing starter train set for a child or anyone interested in an affordable introduction to model railroading. A serious model railroader with higher standards for details (e.g. sliding doors on box car) or quality may not be fully satisfied. The set comes packaged in a sturdy, informative, and easy-to-open box. I will include pictures in this review, as the stock pictures did not provide me with enough detail prior to the purchase. The engine is one of the best-looking train-pieces in the set, and has functioning (LED, I think) taillights in addition to headlights. Some might be disappointed that the brightness of the lights increases only with increasing the speed of the train. Still, the lights make the engine more attractive and realistic. The engine seems very substantial in build and quality. The remaining cars are varied in type and color, and add to the overall attractiveness of the set. For a five-piece set, the manufacturer chose a very good assortment of colors and car-types. The box car does not have sliding doors that open and close at this price point. The box car looks very attractive otherwise. The cars are nicely weighted and have a low center of gravity which keeps them on the track. Some cheaper sets have such light-weight cars that keeping them on the track becomes difficult. A serious model railroader may not be satisfied with the weight of the cars or quality of wheels and axels, but they are just fine for this starter set, and most people will be satisfied. The engine and cars are fitted with EZ-couplers that work very well. Please note that you must couple the cars on the two pieces of straight-track provided in the kit. If you attempt to couple the cars on the curved pieces, even the EZ-couplers are difficult to work with. The EZ-track provided is enough to make an oval. Only two straight pieces (sections) are provided. Without the two straight sections, your track would be a circle, and not an oval. You can buy separate EZ-track sets to make more complicated layouts. One of the straight pieces functions both as rerailer and terminal plugin for the speed controller. The speed controller plug can plugin to either side of the rerailer which is very handy. If you are new to HO-scale trains, you MUST USE THE RERAILER to get each of the cars - including the engine - on the track. You do this by placing the engine or car on top of the rerailer section, and then moving the engine or car back and forth completely over the rerailer section, which ALIGNS THE WHEELS FOR YOU. You could try to align all the wheels using only your eyes and hands, but it will drive you nuts. Use the rerailer section, it makes life so much easier. Although the EZ-track system easily connects, you still have to be careful not to misjoin any sections of track. Doing so will cause the train to derail. If you cannot easily see that the track sections are connected correctly, just run your fingers back and forth over the connected sections (turn power off prior to doing this). The connections should be smooth. Misjoined sections should catch on your finger. Just pull apart the track and try joining them together again. The back of the box displays several track layouts that are NOT POSSIBLE, unless you buy extra pieces of track. A signal bridge kit is included. It looks wonderful, but is a PAIN IN THE NECK to assemble. The plastic is flimsy, and only some sections snap together. Other plastic pieces just lay together or hook-over one another. I found that I had to file off some of the excess plastic flash to get the pieces to lay just right for assembly. Note: using your wife's fingernail file works well, but requires a lot of explanation after the fact! The tiny plastic rail-traffic lights need trimming and can be pushed into place using the eraser on the end of a pencil. The rail-traffic lights are merely translucent plastic, so they give a slight illusion of lighting up in a well-lit room. These are not electric lights. The signal bridge kit is a nice-looking piece when assembled. It can be purchased separately for about $13.00, but I have to believe that they are better kits that actually do light up for not too many dollars more. The road, rail, and other signs are easily snapped off their plastic piping, but also require some filing of excess flash before they can stand up straight. All signs rest on pedestals that have two indentations for nailing or tacking down to a base board (nice for building a more permanent layout). You might be able to use plastic model enamel paint to give the signs a more realistic color, as they are all black lettering on yellow signs, poles, and pedestals. The HO-scale people are entirely pink - like pigs. As noted for the signs, you might be able to pain them with enamel modeling paint. Otherwise there is a variety of small-town and rural characters that seem like they stepped out of the early 20th century. The figures are nicely detailed. Other than the color, the bad think about the figurines is that they cannot be easily broken off the plastic piping they come attached to. You have to use a pair of nippers (wire cutters). If you try to break off the figurines by hand, you will snap them in two at their ankles, leaving feet attached to the pedestal, attached to the piping. Luckily the figurines are duplicated so that you have two of each kind. There are lots of telephone poles, and they are the right color (brown), and do not need to be snapped off of any piping. No telephone wires or power lines - just the poles. Still, it’s a nice feature. Altogether, this train set provides a lot of value. The little extras - telephone poles, signs, people, and signal bridge - are a very nice touch and can provide the basis for a great starter-layout. If you just want to make a child happy for a few years, or drop as little money as possible to get a first taste of model railroading you could do a lot worse than this kit (I have). I would give the set two thumbs up, but my wife broke one of my thumbs for using her nail file to trim the flash off the signal bridge kit. I do, however, give the kit five stars. Here are some pros and cons, although the cons deserve a lot less weight than the pros. Pros - Good-looking black and orange engine Engine has headlights that grow brighter with increased speed Engine has taillights that grow brighter with increased speed Lots of brown, telephone poles with slim pedestals that allow easy tacking/nailing down to board (no wires for poles) Lots of pink, HO-scale people figurines. Lots of yellow, HO-scale road, rail, and other signs Power pack and wiring seem to be of high quality Speed controller feels substantial and of high quality and works very well A detailed HO Scale Signal Bridge Kit (can be purchased separately for about $13.00) Cons - Rerailer track section causes train to rise up slightly (section is bowed upward a little) which can cause decoupling of the engine from the cars (does not happen often) Engine makes no sound (whistle or horn) Engine makes no simulated exhaust or steam Box car has no slighting doors, but is nice-looking EZ-track bed looks a little fake, and may not please every eye All signs have yellow poles and sign-boards with black print (e.g. stop signs are yellow and black, not red and white). People figures are all pink - arms, hands, faces, legs, clothing (uncertain if they can be painted with enamel paints used for plastic models) People figures cannot easily be broken off their plastic piping, you must use nippers (i.e. wire cutters). Excess flash on bottom of sign-pedestals and people-pedestals must be gently filed off to get signs and people to stand up straight. The people figurines need the most filing. HO Scale Signal Bridge Kit is a pain to assemble. Excess flash must be trimmed off and pieces do not all snap together, but do hold up in the end. Think plastic-origami. Note: Not all of my pictures were uploaded by the Amazon review sys
