I remember seeing the movie in theaters when I was 5. To date, it’s still my favorite Christmas movie of all time, and one of my favorite train movies. I have so many good memories of kindergarten of the days before Christmas where we’d wear PJs, drink hot chocolate, and watch the movie. I’d give anything to go back 20 years to those times.
I went on the Polar Express at the Wensleydale Railway last month, loved every bit, and just that it was pulled by one of my favourite locos - Black Five no. 45407
I had recently bought a Lionel ho Polar Express set from Amazon. People reviewed in Amazon that they had problems with the magnelock tracks, but my case was different. The locomotive was running ok, but after a week, the train started to lose sound, and was not running. We brought it to a model train repair shop and they said the controller is broken, but they could not fix it. They also said that the train's decoder is not standard, so they should change it so we can use the standard DC controller. But the repair and the DC controller had a hefty price, so we ended up using an analog controller. So your are lucky dude. Have fun with your train!
This locomotive could perhaps represent a whole fleet of "Polar Freight" trains that run the other 11 months of the year bringing in all the materials needed to create the toys at the North Pole (Cloth goods, Metals, Wood, Plastics, etc.) While the fabrication, construction, and assembly of these toys is taking place, the 'Polar Express" train goes in for yearly maintenance and refurbishment so that it could be in tip top condition once the big night rolls around.
The weathering is outstanding!!!!! It looks like a real winter train. If you do get the coaches I wait to see how you gonna weather those. When you said Polar Express can be also used as a freight engine too, that was a marvelous idea. Imagine Polar Express delivering toys to the north pole, and taking kids to the north pole. You did a perfect job on this video!!!!!!
Santa is Thanos confirmed! Also Bachmann should really consider making a HO Scale set based on a Christmas themed movie which will be 18 years old next year.
I still remember my father taking me to the cinema for the first time to this movie when I was 6 years old. And this model got me all nostalgic for it! Thanks TB! You've knocked it outta the park again!
The reason there's a water heater between the bell and stack is because the actual prototype for the Polar Express (A Lima 2-8-4 Berkshire) did have that feature (also known as a Worthington-type feed water heater). Details like this (and the marker lights) were taken out when animating the movie locomotive
I actually have been working a polar express gift shop at my herritage railroad, its amazing that so many people come and enjoy the ride even if its hauled by a diesel engine woth a steam heat car instead of a steam engine
hmmmm I was so looking forward to see the Polar Express Coaches but in the Vers. Of Polar Express Freight Train vers. To carry Santa's goods for Christmas? That will be awesome! Schedule for the Polar Express: - Carry Santa's goods to the North Pole before Christmas Eve. For preparations for the ceremony at the Town square - - Pickup An Random Child in an random town and go straight to the North Pole before Midnight starts -
Personally I think the lamp and water feed heater really suit the locomotive well, I know it's not movie acurate but I feel it draws a nice line between the locomotive being both realistic and movie accurate. What does suck though is the moulded handrails and the marker lights, I feel with genuine metal handrailing and those marker lights gone the locomotive would instantly become one of the best PE locmotives on the market.
I really like this! The icicles are a nice addition, and I don't know why, but I enjoy seeing the Polar Express with some weathering. While this may be a freight version of the engine, I'd still enjoy to see it pull those coaches one day. You released this at the perfect time, my choir concert is today, and I'm soloing Believe from the Polar Express movie. In short, Thia made me very happy. Also, I for whatever reason bother to read descriptions, so, breadsticks. Happy holidays!
This is a great custom! If you couldn't tell by my channel name, I love the PM 1225, as well as Berkshires in general, my favorite being NKP 765, which is based in my home state!
Looks great! If it helps, the feedwater heater being between the stack and the bell is actually correct for the prototype. The Van Sweringen Berkshires that the Polar Express is based on all had Worthington feedwater heaters. Now I'm not sure if the model in the movie had one or not. Also, I'm so glad you mentioned the headlight, that was something that bothered me about all the versions by lionel, lol
Dude this is really very good great job I always felt something was missing from the model new in box and well I wouldn't expect lionel to do it from new I'm glad somebody did this custom it makes so much more sense that the engine be dirty and frosted as it would be had it been going thru said settling well done 👏
Wait hold on, $300????? Damn dude, you got some cajones to customize this model. The extra work you did to weather and ice it really pays off tho. Great work!!
Ive actually been on the polar express, and im not lying when i say its the real one, i got to ride the Pere Marquette 1225, the polar express' basis!! It was quite the experience!!
I made a exact replica with my ho polar express I cut the feed water off recessed the headlight added a Baldwin 3 chime and took the numbers off the cab I need to add ice and snow like you did yours look awesome!
Looks great, dude! I got my Polar Express back in 2016 along with all the coaches, so doing a face lift like you did here would be a lot of fun! Would love to see you tackle the 5 add-on coaches as well! I hope Lionel will make a HO Polar Express like the MTH model, as I mainly use my MTH PM 1225 as my Polar Express.
On the points of the feedwater heater and the headlight, it appears that Lionel went for a hybrid of the movie engine and Pere Marquette 1225, the real engine that the original book was inspired by.
I know exactly what you’re talking about! It’s when the train is on the ice, and the driver slams on the brakes right after the conductor says: “turn this sled around!” The sound effect is the same one used for breaks sometimes in Thomas and friends.
I actually saw both a Polar Express and Hogwarts Express train set at Aldi's of all places. And they both were only $30. Idk if they're a cheaper variant of the train sets you gotta pay $300 for but they both looked really cool. I kinda wanted them to make an awesome looking set under my tree along with a Thomas G gauge I have.
I miss him 😔 It blows my mind how he was basically bullied away from making content, all from other Thomas content creators. I hope he makes a return one day though, I can’t say I’ve ever met him but he’ll have a friend in me. 🙏
@@ItsTrainBoy I didn’t know that! He was one of my favorite RU-vidrs, and I was so sad when he stopped posting. I thought the worst and thought he died or something. That seriously sucks. Why are people the worst? What was so offensive about his content that he was bullied off of RU-vid?
Nice weathering job, just subbed too! If you want to see how strong it is and you in the West Plains, Missouri area next October or December, drop by the club display, we'll be happy to put it through its paces, happy new year!
The Lionel models in HO and O are a mix between the real Pere Marquette Railway N1 class 2-8-4 Van Sweringen Berkshire number 1225 and the 1225 in the movie. If you are interested I would recommend the book Twelve Twenty Five by Kevin P. Keefe.
Time to make my set locomotive look something like this. Maybe without the rust but I might do the passenger cars too. I got the engine plus coaches and track set two years ago and I have the hot chocolate add on car. All I need is the add on coach and I’m solid.
Despite not being movie accurate, you still did a Great job with this custom! I always thought of buying the HO Gauge model of Pere Marquette N-1 Class No. 1225 made by Bachmann and modifying that for a custom Polar Express. Also, don't worry about the lack of coaches, the 2-8-4 Berkshires were freight engine's to begin with.
You did amazing job Also It’s funny there is a polar express freight variant by Lionel not only is it O scale but it’s also a completely different set with a different engine
Would you be trying to get your hands on the coaches for the beautiful old girl? Cause you could make custom ones, cause I know Lionel do light blue with red instead of dark blue with red, and in the movie the coaches are dark blue with red
This looks fantastic! Though for those looking for a realistic polar express- According to Wikipedia the Pere Marquette 1225 (the engine the Polar Express is based on) 'is a class "N-1" 2-8-4 "Berkshire" type'. You'd still need to make some modifications since the engine itself was modified in the flim, a Berkshire is an excellent starting point for a more realistic polar Express (it's also probably about as expensive as one of these new if it has to be aquired from Bachmann or another us model maker)
The real Polar Express pulled freight trains for 10 years with pere marquette when she was restored in the 80s she pulled passenger trains ever since.1225 pere marquette is one of my favorite locomotives to vist
I've been developing the idea recently of a conceptual railroad for the polar express to run on. My current name for it is North Pole & Southern and the PE would be its premiere express train.
That engine is the strongest engine I own, I was able to make it pull 120 cars with no issues at all (other than the engine constantly derailing on every minor track imperfection)
In O scale, Lionel interestingly has made a TON of locomotives and rollingstock, both passenger and freight, with the PE branding/livery. Most notably a PRR K4 pacific and an MILW EP-2. I see this as just world building. The train we see in the movie only services Michigan and only has kids from America on it (presumably) But Santa delivers presents to children all over the world, so there's probably a whole network of "Polar Express" Trains all around the world that bring kids to the north pole on Christmas eve. Or maybe I'm just reading too deep into Lionel cashing in on branding
What I find interesting about this and the O scale model (the one I own) it’s not movie accurate because it’s basically just the pere marquette with the polar express written on it. The one thing that is accurate seems to be the cow catcher. It’s funny how they got that one right, but the feeder and light isn’t.
Lance, The N-1 Berks on the Pere Marquette and pretty much all other late-era Standardized Van Swerigen Berks and Kanawhas designed by the Advisory Mechanical Commitee for the PM, Nickel Plate, and C&O came from Lima and ALCO fitted with the Worthington SA open type Feed Water Heater, along with the obligatory Cold and Hot Water Pumps. Also the Pyle National Headlamp and Class Lamps are again per the Prototype which is how Lionel opted to make the Engine, but it's extremely irritating that they neglected to complete the Valve Gear, since they never bothered to add the Union Links and Combination Levers (that part was the deal breaker for me when it came to buying one). The Recessed Headlight and the Goofy "Cowcatcher" Pilot harken back to the illustrations from the book, which honestly detracts from it. During production of the movie it was actually considered to make her look entirely prototypical, complete with a normal boiler tube pilot, front coupler, centered external Pyle National Headlamp and Class Lamps, and Flying Number Boards which I honestly would have preferred. To make matters worse, they have the throttle action reversed in the movie. They push the throttle to open it which is wrong. Also the Movie Engine has a Reverse Lever when the real 1225 has a Screw Operated Reverse for precision cutoff adjustment. When you call the engine the "Freight Variant", the 2-8-4 Wheel Arrangement was originally conceived by Will Woodard at Lima as just that, a Fast Freight locomotive which was actually a further development of the experimental and highly successful H-10 Mikado on the NYC/Big Four (which utilized a boiler that was laid out for and was fitted with an amount of Superheater Elements that nearly doubled the Superheating Surface Area of a Contemporary USRA Heavy Mikado (going from about 900 square feet of Superheating Surface to 1,700 and change). The Berkshire, by retaining the high Superheating Surface Area of the 2-8-2 (between 1,700 to 2,000 sq. ft. depending on the subclass) but increasing the Firebox Size of the Boiler and thus Grate Area from 66 sq.ft. to 90 sq.ft., made for a beast of a Steam Supply System that would easily keep a Large Pair of Cylinders fed at High Speeds which was the key to developing their 4,000 Drawbar Horsepower. But a bigger firebox meant the aft end needed more support, hence the need for an additional trailing axle, expanding a 2-8-2 to a 2-8-4, and so it was that the prototype A-1 was born. It's proving grounds was in the Berkshire Mountains on the Boston & Albany's right of way, which is how the class got it's namesake. Berks were designed to pull Heavy Tonnage at Speed, and they did it very well, the N-1's on the Pere Marquette for example had 69,368 lbs of Tractive Effort when starting and are easily capable of 60-70 MPH. And it's this very property that accidentally made them the ideal Dual-Purpose Locomotive, being equally at home at the head end of a Freight OR a Passenger Consist where many of them found themselves assigned. Just look at 765 with the New River trains back in the 90's. In fact, 1225 double headed with her for the Huntington Steam Celebration and also ran side by side with 765 on the dual track main, 1225 was pulling the 31 car Excursion and 765 was pulling a string of brand new coal Hoppers.
Just got the model and it’s nice just kinda sad there is no molded in whistle on the model kinda is a major let down but I took a piece of a saftey valve off a Bachman 0-6-0 and I plan to glue that on there as a whistle in the same location it is on the movie
While the polar express was an upgrade movie it was just a good movie but you know this engine is fantastic it's tastic one minor critique I have with it is that it should have came with snow detail from the start instead of vino just plain black that would've been nice but I get it the company probably had budget problems have it already been $300 dollars that's a lot of money I love the fact that you took the time to customize it nice work man
Be careful with the electronics, and I wish you the best of luck. Out of the 3 I've sold I've had 4 come back (one came in from a different seller). These things have issues burning up electronics.
I’ve bought two of them over the years, and both of them had running issues, derailed on completely smooth track, and just we’re generally cheap feeling, despite them being like $300. No offense to anyone who likes them, but I would not recommend them. They’re horrendously inaccurate to the movie, poorly made, and not at all worth their ridiculous price. I’ll take a Hornby model any day. Please note this isn’t meant to offend anybody, this is just my experience, and how I feel.
I am going To get one my self soon and i have a lot of 3d resin printing machines, so i will to a de patate pody very similar to the real polar express!
