BRIO Mighty Red Action Locomotive

BRIO makes such high quality trains! We love this battery operated one most of all. The red color is bright, it is compatible with all our wooden train tracks and it actually is really strong. My son loves loading up all the train cars he can to see how many he can get it to pull. We highly recommend this train to anyone who loves trains.

First; it’s strong and can haul a lot over humps and turns with ease. Second, it has buttons to engage forward, reverse, and pause motion. Lastly, when it’s off, the drive axle disengages so a child can free play without damaging the motor or drive axle. If your child is playing with the engine and moves it against it’s desired direction, the wheels will click and drive axle is wearing. It can handle it, but over time, the drive axle will completely wear down and no longer engage when activated (engine will run, but wheels will not forcefully move). I know this because I’ve owned two of these engines (one used has this issue with the worn drive axle gear). Great Engine but can be broken; be careful buying used/pre-owned

This is the second electric train I purchased. The first one was part of the harbor set. I must say, the electric trains have really changed the way my LO engages with the tracks. He is so much more interested in building tracks. So I would try a train even if you don't get this one. That aside, what about the train? It has a plastic body using 2 AAA batteries. It feels heavy and durable. Cool features: -It is much faster (almost 2x) as the train in the Harbor set. -Strong: It easily pulls 5+ trains along flats and 3 trains up an incline. -Has a switch that disengages motor apparatus so you can push it without resistance. Some times you want to just push it. -Biggest downside: you can stack engines because it does not have a magnet in the front. -Second biggest downside: It has some sounds when you start it off, but thankfully they die out quickly as it chugs along the track. So they aren't super annoying. Summary: If you want a train want a train that looks good and has some good power, this is the train for you.

The engine is high quality in looks, finish, and performance on flat track. It easily pulled an 8 car long train, and I think it would have no problem pulling a few more cars. The ability to disable the motor and push the locomotive freely is a big plus. It's probably the smoothest engine we have in that regard. After about 5 minutes of running, the motor shuts itself off. This is nice if you have kids that like to walk away from their running toys, as it saves battery. Why 4 stars though? Hills. Once you add hills into the layout, the train struggles. As others have pointed out, the engine lacks traction when going up hill. The front of the engine lifts up and the drive wheel slips every so often. I found that about 4-5 cars were the max this engine could handle pulling uphill. It also can't back up a hill well either. Another disappointment is the lack of a magnet on the front, though this seems to be a trend with many of Brio's engines. Despite the drawbacks I mentioned, I would recommend this to anyone in the market for a battery powered locomotive for a wooden train set.

A great toy for my grandsons. It has lasted now for more than a year through some "play abuse" of 3-5 year olds and still runs great. Supper neat sound effects when first starting out going either forward (train whistle sound) or backwards (bell ringing sound). With new AAA battery, it can pull up to 6 cars over hills. The battery replacement takes some patience, since the front of black front of the train comes off through a small screw in the smokestack - you have to be careful since the screw has very find thread. The battery lasts for quite a while, usually more than a day of intermittent play. Much more powerful than some of the smaller motorized Brio engines. Sometimes on very tight track turns, the train will derail if pulling a longer train, and when going backwards, sometimes it will have trouble going up steep hills when pushing, rather than pulling the cars.

My grandson loves. It has a double axle, those seem to work the best

This is a well built train that is worth every bit of its price. It is strong and capable of pulling 5+ cars (probably more) on flat tracks and at least 2 cars on the hilly tracks I've built (see video). The running lights and choo choo noises are a nice touch too. (Sound disabled in the video for privacy.) It was smart of the designers to incorporate the on/off toggle so that it can be used for free play (gears disengaged, rolls freely, won't damage the motor) as well as powered play (forward and reverse). The only downside is that it will have trouble on sharp curves (runs off the track or gets stuck) because of the long wheelbase. But as long as your tracks have broader curves it will run fine. Overall this is a great way to bring life to wooden train sets.

Bought on December 30. Lasted only a little over a month. Tried changing the batteries, and still didn’t work. Do not recommend this toy at all.