11.1.2017

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!I thought I'd write an extensive review because like many parents who are probably a bit more interested in trains than their kids... I have bought a few different ones, looking for the BEST!I have three battery operated trains and here is their score out of 40;1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive 30! WINNER2 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard 26 TWO BONUS POINTS FOR BEING FASTER!3 - Hape Number One - 25The mighty red is easily the best all rounder, however it is not anywhere as near as fast as the Bigjigs AND the worst thing is the screw that needs to be opened to change the battery is very hard to get to.Bigjigs derails and has many problems getting round our complex track - Too fast down hills so derails,too wide to enter tunnels after a bend, not good enough grip to get up hills from certain make of tracks... generally less stable mostly because of speed.Hape is SLOW and steady, has never derailed or got stuck and can pull a couple of carriages. It is SILENT so that good if like quiet but bad for kids who like sound.All three seemed to have around the same battery usage. I use rechargeable batteries as you will be changing them every few days and it's a waste to throw batteries away and buy new ones. None of them are perfect by any means.Here's how they performed in different categories out of 5;SPEED1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 32 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 5 + 2 points! = 73 - Hape Number One - 1I just timed a lap of all three - slightly inaccurate because they didn't all start with brand new fully charged batteries but the order is undoubtedly correct. 1 min 10 sec for our fast and furious Bigjig, 1 min 42 for our medium paced but steady Brio and an incredibly slow but steady 2 mins 34 for Hape!However... because of Bigjigs extra speed, it is faster downhill and has less control. I've had to change the layout so that there is a long straight after the hill so it doesn't derail on the bend. However because I think it's important for a train to be fast I've added two bonus points for this category.CONTROLS (movement switch)1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 52 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 13 - Hape Number One - 2The Brio comes with a very kid friendly 3 individual, easy to see, well spaced out buttons that go forwards, stop and backwards. Bigjigs has just one button... forwards and kids keep half pressing it so it roars forwards but doesn't stay on. Hape has a slightly awkward switch, that my 2 year old doesn't understand and it's difficult to stop the train without putting it into reverse. The good thing is, it has a reverse!SOUND and LIGHTS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 2I've given Hape a 1 for sound because it doesn't have any! But to be honest not having a sound is good sometimes so depends if you want sound or not. Hape has a good light.Bigjigs has several sounds but unfortunately the loudest and most obvious sound is AWFUL and sounds like a pterodactyl or an attacking hawk... but it does have some other sound that fade in and out that are quite good. It has NO LIGHTS though, which is a real shame as they are fun to see as they go through tunnels or you turn the house lights off.Brio wins this easily. It has two headlights and very nice sounds, which also turn off and on after a while, meaning it doesn't become annoying. It also has a different sound for revers, which is cool.STABILITY1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 5Probably because it's so slow, Hape never derails. Brio is very stable but can come unstuck and Bigjigs is all over the place, because of it's speed it can derail at the bottom of hills and is generally less forgiving on an imperfect track.PULLING CARRIAGES1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 43 - Hape Number One - 1Brio and Bigjigs can both pull four carriages happily on a VERY hilly course but after that, with five carriages there are issues. Brio simply isn't strong enough and Bigjigs' magnet fails so the carriages decouple and roll back down the hill! Hape can only pull two carriages up a decent hill, at least when the batteries aren't 100% BUT the magnet is round the wrong way... at least compared to all other products from several different companies.HILLS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 52 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 33 - Hape Number One - 4Bizarrely, Bigjigs doesn't go up certain types of track - to the eye they look the same but the grain of the wood must be slightly different and it doesn't go up them at all.Brio is brilliant.Hape is slow but rarely if ever fails up hill with full batteries.TUNNELS1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 42 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 23 - Hape Number One - 5Bigjigs is much wider than the other two trains so when it tries to enter a tunnel after a curve and hasn't had time to fully straighten it gets stuck every time. This means I had to change the track so that there are long straights before tunnels - an unnecessary restriction!Brio can sometimes get stuck because of its height if the track is not laid PERFECTLY. But mostly it's great.Hape is definitely the smallest, therefore best in tunnels.BATTERY CHANGE1 - Brio red mighty action locomotive - 12 - Bigjigs Rail Mallard - 53 - Hape Number One - 5Brio, why make it so hard to reach the screw? The screw is a phillips/straight hybrid so I bought a set of tiny Phillips screwdrivers to fit. But the Philips screw has already worn out after three battery changes so I've had to buy another screwdriver, a flat head with a very thin, long neck or you can't reach the screw.To avoid the battery change experience I may well get a rechargeable train... it's expensive but maybe worthwhile. But how it will take corners I don't know!The other two trains have perfectly sensible, easily accessible screws.CONCLUSIONBrio Mighty Red is the most expensive but best all rounder. If you have a flat track and don't mind a noisy train then the Bigjigs is fastest and if you just want a nice, calm, nice looking locomotive then Hape is your best bet.I didn't add a category for looks/style because they are all very different and look good but it's down to taste.

11.1.2016

We had a couple of the electric Thomas Trains which were a bit pathetic in their ability to pull carriages - this little beast has fixed those issues.We have a mixed set of Track consisting of Thomas, Ikea, Wilkinsons and Early Learning which this Engine copes on very well. Their are a couple of times it runs the track and makes a bid for freedom across the living room floor, but that adds to the fun and mean that your little ones have something to do to correct the impending crash.The main advantage to this Engine is its pulling power, my son has had this thing pulling over 10 carriages and it still pulls, it struggles over hills with a load that big but you can't expect miracles.The buttons on the top from the front of the Engine to the back are the following:Forward,

21.6.2019

From the reviews it seemed this is the best Brio engine and experience tends to confirm it:- can pull at least 6 cars up the curved tracks for bridges (we only have 6... maybe it can do more!)- battery lasts well: 2-3 days of heavy-ish play, more than a week if the kid also plays with it in unpowered mode- it CAN be played with in unpowered mode! (button decouples gears and the wheels move freely then) which not many of the powered engines can do- it makes an engine noise for only a very short amount of time when started (about 10 seconds) after which it runs silent. Times out after 10 minutes or so (another good point to stop the battery for going dry if the kid forgets about it running around the track)- some people say it's slow,

19.11.2016

After seeing online videos of this, I was a bit worried that it would be a bit mundane compared other other, speedier, noisier, flashier, powered toys, and might not engage my sons. I was wrong. My two sons love it, and after a week of play, their love of it seems to just keep growing even stronger.It feels a very well made toy. It's not particularly fast, but it assuredly pulls a trainload of carriages around the Brio track and over bridges. It occasionally stops if the track pieces are horizontally misaligned (as sometimes happens if you are using track from different manufacturers, for instance) or the bend is too tight, but a quick push soon gets it going again.The accompanying sounds can't be turned off,

3.12.2020

There seems to be some real confusion in the review section so hopefully this will clear things up.Firstly, you don't need a special screwdriver to change the batteries. I can only assume these reviewers have ignored the picture on the bottom of the train clearly indicating that to change the battery you put a small Phillips screwdriver in to the steam spout on the top of the train. This is the same screw driver I use for basically all of my son's toys.Secondly, the train does randomly stop because there is a small yellow button underneath which stops the train when pressed. I'm not really sure why it is there, though I suspect it might be to stop the train going up tracks which are too steep to protect the motor.

22.1.2017

We bought the red train model for a few months, and have now bought this green one for our younger son. It feels a very well made toy. It's not particularly fast, but it assuredly pulls a trainload of carriages around the Brio track and over bridges. It occasionally stops if the track pieces are horizontally misaligned (as sometimes happens if you are using track from different manufacturers, for instance) or the bend is too tight, but a quick push soon gets it going again.The accompanying sounds can't be turned off, but they are not overly loud or annoying, and only play for a few seconds when the train starts its journey. The two forward lights, and the red reversing light, are nice touches.

3.7.2013

My wife and I had bought our 2YO son the smaller, single AAA battery BRIO train last year. Almost instantly we realised that unless you put a lithium AAA in it, it didnt really have the power to pull a reasonable train up the normal BRIO grade of hill. The other issue was noise, it was very loud.This type of train from BRIO is completely different. With two AAA batteries, you can run rechargable no problem. The noise is extremely muted and it will automatically power off if your little bundle of joy likes to switch it on and leave it running. The only problem we have hit is that this train refuses to go round the tighter bends. The large bend pieces from BRIO and the like are ok, hills: up and down,

4.11.2013

I ordered the red and green one, for my 2 & 4 yr old boys for Christmas. I couldn't wait to see them in action so I unpacked one for a test run. Its brilliant fun, moves at a steady pace, can take 4 carriages up hills no problem, possibly more, but only tried 4. Tried tight bends and wider bends and found no problem on either. It reverses fine on straight track, but didn't manage it around bends or up hills. Control buttons are easy to use, one for forwards, one for reverse and one for stop. You can switch it off and use it as a normal push along train. I got rechargable AAA batteries for them. I was surprised at how big the train itself was, didn't think it'd even fit on the track at first,

7.10.2016

... i'm finding getting the batteries in and out a real faff! It's tricky to see what you're doing when you've got to stick the screw driver down the tiny funnel, and i know i've a feeling i've almost stripped the screw head already. WHY didn't they just have a normal flap on the bottom of the train with a screw that you can see? You have to push the batteries against their springs with the 'head' of the engine while screwing it back on at the same time.Plus (and maybe it was just me being dim) but after faffing about getting the batteries in i was stuck for a few minutes thinking the train didn't work. You have to switch the little 'wheel spin free' button over before it will start up.Having said all that it's a nice train,

4.12.2013

Love this engine! Only had it a day so can't comment on durability. But first impressions are good. A lot of thought has gone into the design, including rubber rings around its powered wheels to improve traction and a moving joint between the main engine and its rear-most wheels to allow it to go round bends easily. It is relatively quiet, and powerful enough to pull quite a few carriages up a slope. The 2 front lights are not very bright, but adequate without draining the battery. When the engine is in reverse mode, there is a red reverse light that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the description. You can also disengage the wheels with a simple switch on the top of the engine,

9.11.2014

Bought this after a disappointing experience with a cheaper BigJigs engine which basically wasn't fit for purpose. Very pleased with it, and more importantly so is our 2 year old. Nice big controls for little hands, solidly built, and the sound effects and lights are a bonus.Minor downsides: it doesn't go backwards very well - tends to derail. And it eats batteries, or perhaps it's the cheap batteries we use. Now that we seem to have a few battery-operated toys I think I'll invest in a charger and a set of decent rechargeable AAAs. Some people have commented that it tends to derail/get stuck on tight corners because of its size - I've noticed this a bit on *really* tight corners but not much.It

1.5.2016

Firstly, this is a good train, well built and it looks the part.Now, I’m not saying it eats batteries; it uses them for tooth picks after it drains all the power from your house! Honestly, this train should really come with a mains adaptor or a little power station train to follow it round that you keep stocked with little coal pieces or some mini nuclear rods.At first you think WoW! This little train is quick, and then you start to add a few carriages to it (my son like to put all his carriages on). Once you have all this and you introduce a bridge, you’ll no longer be telling your child “ten more minutes” you’ll be saying “ten more batteries”. To be fair even when the batteries get low,

7.1.2019

Good strong engine, capable of pulling 4 carriages up most inclines that we’ve thrown at it. Batteries seem to be lasting well too. 4 year old son loves it, in particular the sounds when it starts off (thankfully these stop after a while) and the lights (he frequently insists on sitting in the dark watching it go round), but I’ve noticed a number of areas for improvement: i) would be nice to have a front magnetic so it can pull like a real engine, ii) when cornering the front has quite a large overhang so you can’t always put sections with sides straight after a corner, iii) it sometimes derails on the tight radius corners, particularly if you’ve needed to build a winding section around the furniture legs.

8.10.2016

Before I bought this, I read the reviews where several people warned that the battery drains fast, so I ordered some rechargeble AAA's with it. But to my surprise the battery actually last for a very long time, my son plays with it every day probably for 20-30 minutes, 1 set of batteries lasts longer than 1 week! The design and engineering are just good; it easily pulls up to seven carriers, going uphill is not a problem, and it stays (despite of what others say) on the track. The only thing I would like to see different is the triangle shaped screw to open up the battery compartment, not that handy, therefore 4 stars. Other than that it's a fantastic piece of toy, my son loves it (and so do I).

26.11.2013

I have ordered another brio train in the past with rechargeable batteries and they worked great for the first month. However when the battery starts to get older it can't power the train enough meaning the train can't pull very much. Now it can barely go up the bridge alone.The Mighty Red Locomotive seems stronger though and is using standard AAA batteries instead of the horrible rechargeable batteries I was writing about earlier.Our 3 year old and 1,5 year old loves the sounds and we are very pleased with this train (we have only used it for two days so I might edit this review later if it starts slowing down). They do need to be supervised as the train is a bit fragile,

Brio Mighty Red Action Locomotive - Reviews

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