I picked up an amazing bargain at WalMart!
It's a $28 Christmas-themed G-scale train set.
Now G-scale train sets are normally very expensive.
If you were to buy a LGB brand Christmas train set, you'd be talking about $400 or $500 probably.
So, at $28, this little train set from WalMart is quite the bargain!
I want to open it up for you, show you what's inside, set it up for you, and show you how it works.
What we've got in the box is the locomotive...
And a tender...
A boxcar...
And a little flat car with some elves on it.
Plus track. Enough to make a small oval.
And then there are some signs that you can set up around the layout, and...
There are some stickers for those signs.
So, let's start with the most fun piece... which is the locomotive.
When you pull it out of the box it has this little thing attached to it called a "try me" button.
It's just a little battery and a button attached to the locomotive by a wire...
So that when you push that you can demonstrate the sound capabilities that the locomotive has.
(Train sound effects)
(Laughing)
So, you can just disconnect the "try me" button and set that aside.
You will not need that once you put the batteries into the locomotive.
Now to do that you'll need a Phillips screwdriver...
And you unscrew the top of the locomotive and put four C batteries in there.
They're not included, so be sure when you buy this at Walmart you pick up four C batteries.
Now for me the big question about this locomotive...
Is whether it's going to be compatible with my existing G scale track
Because I've got thousands of dollars of track throughout my house and outside in my yard...
And I want this to be able to run on that.
So, I've got a piece of real LGB G-scale track and I'm just gonna set this on there and see if it's the same size.
And it is! So, this is fully compatible with regular G scale track.
And that's great news for me!
Now it won't matter to most people because you just want to get this and set up the track that's included with it...
And run it around your Christmas tree.
For me, it's a totally different situation since I own a lot of G scale stuff already
But for most people this is just a perfect $28 entry into the world of G scale trains.
So, let's try it!
I've set up the plastic track that's included with the set and made an oval out of it.
The perfect size to go around a Christmas tree. And here we go!
What you're hearing here is the sound that the train makes if you do not turn on the included sound effects.
So, in other words, to run the train... at a minimum, you have this amount of noise.
it's pretty noisy!
Now I'll stop it for a second so I can turn the little knob on the top of the locomotive that activates the built-in sound effects.
(Train sound effects)
As you can see, when you do that it lights up the smokestack, too.
(Train sound effects)
(Christmas music)
And the sound unit plays Christmas music as the train goes round and round.
Now for me, that little oval track is just too boring!
I want to run the Christmas train on a much larger layout made with real G scale track.
(Train bell)
(Sound of train in motion)
(Sound of train whistle)
(Christmas music: "Jingle Bells")
(Train sound effects)
(Christmas music: "We Wish You A Merry Christmas")
(Train sound effects)
Now I hate to be Debbie Downer here, but...
Before you get too excited about running out and buying a bunch of LGB brand track...
So that you can run your $28 train set on a larger layout...
I should warn you that this LGB track which is made of brass...
Costs about $7 per foot!
So, this layout that you see in my living room and dining room uses over $400 worth of LGB brand track.
If the first thing you buy is the $28 train set...
It doesn't make any sense to buy $400 worth of LGB track for it, but...
If you already own g scale trains and a bunch of G scale track...
It does make sense to buy a $28 train set to run on it at Christmas time.
And if you don't own any trains at all...
But you want a little set to go around the Christmas tree...
And you're on a tight budget that rules out buying an expensive G scale set...
This $28 set from WalMart makes total sense...
And seems like a real bargain to me.
Parents are gonna get real tired of the noise real quick.
But kids are gonna get a big kick out of playing with this.
So, let's end this video by showing our $28 WalMart train sharing the tracks with a real G scale train made by LGB.
It's a replica of the famous Santa Fe "Super Chief" passenger train.
It features A and B unit locomotives and four passenger cars following behind it.
Including a dome car and a lounge car at the end.
But those six LGB pieces set me back about $3,000!
So, I think it's pretty obvious which of the two trains is the better value.
If you want to pick up one of these inexpensive G scale model train sets...
My advice is to go to WalMart.com
Search for item number 569022965
And see if they still have them.
When I bought mine, it was $28.50
But of course, there's no guarantee that this will be the price if you go to buy one.
Or if they'll even still have them at all. Good luck!
I'm Jim Zim. I do a lot of videos about G scale model trains.
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