Search  for anything...

Lionel The Polar Express Ready-to-Play Set, Battery-Powered Berkshire-Style Model Train Set with Remote , Black

  • Based on 9,187 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for product changes
$74.99 Why this price?
Save $39.96 was $114.95

Buy Now, Pay Later


As low as $12.50 / mo
  • – 6-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout. Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, PayTomorrow, Affirm, Apple Pay, and PayPal. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Selected Option

Free shipping on this product

This item is eligible for return within 30 days of receipt

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.


Availability: Only 3 left in stock, order soon!
Fulfilled by Amazon

Arrives Saturday, May 25
Order within 17 hours and 32 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Size: Set


Features

  • A CHRISTMAS SPIRIT SHOWSTOPPER All aboard The Polar Express Ready-to-Play train set; This set comes with an exclusive track system allowing you to create a circle, rectangle or oval track; Great for kids, hobbyists and holiday decorating
  • SET INCLUDES Battery-powered steam locomotive and tender; Passenger-coach; Observation car, 24 curved and 8 straight plastic track pieces; Remote control
  • TRAIN SET FEATURES Battery-powered Berkshire-style locomotive; Authentic train sounds and announcements, including a whistle; Working headlight; Detailed passenger coach, fixed knuckle couplers; User-friendly remote control
  • PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS 50 x 73 Ready-to-Play track; This set is not compatible with Lionel G Gauge or any other G Gauge track systems
  • BATTERY REQUIREMENTS - Requires six C cell batteries to operate train; Requires three AAA batteries to operate remote control; Batteries are not included with purchase of train set

Description

This year, showcase the magic of Christmas with the Polar express train set. Witness the children's shadows as they sit in the passenger cars drinking steaming mugs of hot chocolate and chattering excitedly about Santa. This train is sure to make your home Glow with Christmas spirit this season. You can operate this train using six conventional C batteries (not included)! The set also comes with an easy-to-operate RC remote control (requires three AAA batteries). with this ready-to-play set comes an exclusive track system which allows you to create; a circle, a rectangle or an oval layout. As this track system is exclusive to ready-to-play set, it is not compatible with Lionel G Gauge or other g Gauge track systems.


Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 3 inches


Item Weight: 8 pounds


Domestic Shipping: Item can be shipped within U.S.


Country of Origin: USA


Item model number: 711803


Manufacturer recommended age: 4 - 15 years


Batteries: C batteries required.


Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No


Release date: December 12, 2018


Manufacturer: Lionel LLC


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Saturday, May 25

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Apple Pay Later
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Top Amazon Reviews


  • Extreme durability, longevity. Add lights, make coaches glow. Simple Instructions below.
Size: Set
The media could not be loaded. Update 12/2/2021: five stars for longevity This is our fourth Christmas with this train. When we first purchased the train we had two kids. Now we have four. It has been through years of use (dare I say abuse) from three of those children and it still runs like new!!! It’s incredible and I’ve now officially raised it to five stars for being one of the few toys around here that has served this house for this long without a single issue, dent, crack, or scratch. Still no real connection issues as other reviewers have noted. Repetitive and thoughtless unrealistic “chuff” noise is still annoying. Also to note I’ve seen reviewers complaining of the train coming off the tracks, and I agree!! But not for the reason you might think. I am constantly replacing the train on the tracks because my kids keep taking it off to scoot it around on the floor. It has fallen off the tracks before when the track is not on flat to a flat surface. If I get the tracks down right I have no issues at all, it never pops off the tracks on its own. I highly recommend this train and for only $50 it has been an amazing experience and remains one of the kids favorite Christmas decorations. When they see the tree come out they immediately start asking about the train. Scroll down for instructions to add lights to the coaches. Update 12/14/2020: extreme durability It’s been a couple years now since we got this and it’s still going strong, and still no serious remote disconnecting issues as mentioned in previous reviews. As I noted In the original review we got this as a more durable place holder for its 6 times more expensive cousin we used to put under the tree. It has served the purpose well. It has been picked up and dropped and thrown about, had its tracks torn apart and thrown around the house, used on and off the tracks, had its piston parts torn out of place multiple times (they can be popped back into place), the remote has been slobbed and also covered with (unknown Sticky food substance), and the engine has been pushed all over the house on many different surfaces like a toy and through all of this it still works exactly as it did when we bought it. Nothing has even broken on it. Chuff sound is still annoying and unrealistic, still burns through batteries like no tomorrow under high use, but it still chugs around the tree like brand new. As far as remote disconnecting, maybe every once in a rare while? But it doesn’t last long. Maybe a second? Possibly they mostly solved this issue, or perhaps some people got duds? I still recommend this, especially if you can get it at a discounted rate. We paid about $50 after amazon price matched it self for us. Instructions to add lights to the coaches to make them glow: What you’ll need: - aluminum foil - 2 to 4 led wire string light sets with battery boxes that hold three double a batteries. Id go for ones with a remote or Bluetooth control. More on that down below - a small or maybe even precision size Phillips screw driver Steps: 1. Buy battery powered wire string lights. I would go for ones that take three double a batteries as the ones we have with a 6 double a battery box won’t fit. I was able to fit two sets of string lights with two separate three double a battery boxes in the coach without issue. I put one on one side of the poles and one on the other side of the poles. I do recommend two sets, I had one in originally and it was pretty dim. I am currently testing out a set I just got off amazon currently called “MINGER 16.4Ft Fairy Light Battery Operated 2 Pack“. (The amazon listing keeps changing names for some reason so you may have to search with less words to find it if it doesn’t come up at first). They are Bluetooth controlled so I use an app to turn them on or off when I’m ready to use them so I can screw the coach back together and not go through batteries too fast. You don’t have to get those. Any will do, probably should find some with a timer at least. You can always leave the top of the coach unscrewed after you’re done, it will stay on top as it kind of fits into place. But if you have young kiddos like I do then your coach may end up opened and the lights taken out regularly :). 2. Take your first coach and unscrew three screws from the bottom with a precision screw driver. The top will come off without issue. Make sure to keep track of the screws. Some of them stay in and some fall out. 3. Take out red plastic window piece with window stickers on it. Be careful as the stickers can peel off if you aren’t. 4. Lay aluminum foil inside the coach to prevent the light from shining through any where besides the windows as the coach is plastic. Line foil on top of all areas of the coach you wouldn’t want light to shine through. 5. Take your battery powered wire led string lights and set the battery boxes in the coach on top of the foil. 6. Take the wire lights and wrap them tightly around the inner poles of the coach from one end to the other until all the wire is used up. 7. Make sure there isn’t wire in the way and place plastic window piece back in place. Make sure to line the holes up over the poles. 8. Cut a piece of aluminum foil to put over the openings in the plastic window piece. Make sure to poke holes where needed to make room for where the poles meet up top to bottom. 9. Turn on lights and/or put top back on. 10. Repeat for second coach. That’s it you’re done. Yay. They glow like the o gauge set for a fraction of the cost. If you want to you can secure the screws back on at this point. It’s not necessary unless you have children or pets that may try to get into the coaches and makes it harder to turn on/off the lights if you need to /replace batteries but you gotta do what you gotta do. The top stays on unscrewed on mine at any speed so far. Keep in mind that if you do this to your train the windows will shine through red not yellow because the yellow windows are just a sticker sitting on a red piece of plastic and since the plastic is red the color that shines through is red. Also to note, the shadows of the people on the stickers are hardly noticeable while the coach is glowing since that’s just a sticker. Keep the string lights as close as possible to the center of the coach to prevent them from shining through the windows too concentrated in certain areas. Review: This train is somewhat annoying. We own the better version of this train. The o gauge that goes on the electric tracks. I feel like Lionel quality has gone downhill over the years. We decided to get this so we had something more durable to go around the tree this year. The chuff sound it makes is fairly annoying and repetitive, almost like a broken record. There’s no variation in the chuff like a real steam engine has. My sons $20 wooden train toy sounds more realistic than this does. What’s worse is you cannot change the sound, lower the volume, or turn the chuff off. On our more expensive set you can turn the chuff off (which that one’s chuff is just about as annoying). But I guess they decided to leave that out on the cheapo. Also this thing chews up c batteries. Probably should buy a 50 pack to get you through Christmas if you have kids who like to watch the train go round and round. It used 6 in two days. I added lights to the coaches because that was one thing I miss from our more expensive set was the glowing coaches. It was fairly simple, as you may have already seen the instructions to do so are listed at the top of the review. Aside from that I think it’s probably worth the price. I actually raised my rating one star because I paid $68 originally and I thought that was too much. Then the price dropped to $50 and so I called amazon and they price matched it for me and refunded the difference because amazon customer service is wonderful. I feel like $50 is a more justified price for the train and so my rating went up. I wouldn’t pay much more than that and if it’s over that at the time you’re reading this review I might wait if you can to see if the price will head down again. Just put it in your cart and save it for later. Amazon will tell you if the price ever changes at the top of your cart in a little note. All in all I really wish Lionel would cut the annoying chuf and get something a little more realistic. Or at least always give you the option to turn it off. We are fairly satisfied with it and my kids love it so it serves its purpose. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 3, 2018 by Scott and Julia

  • Very Good Train. I recommend this train for both kids and adults.
Size: Set
I am editing my review because of how quickly the batteries run out. This is a good train at an unbeatable price. Although the price is low, the quality is impressive. I have owned two of these trains and I love them both. It's only been a few years, so I can't attest to how it will hold up in 10 years +, but I have to say I'm pretty confident it will last a long time. You can just tell it's a good quality set when you pick up the cars and feel their weight. The controls are very simple and they're perfect for either a kid or an adult. I know it's mostly for kids, but I'm an adult and I just love it. I couldn't really afford to invest $400+ for my first train, and this one looks wonderful around the tree. It's awesome to have the remote which lets you control the speed, direction and play sound effects. If you're looking for a nice gift which can be used every Christmas for years to come I highly recommend this train. Also just so you know before purchasing: this is the cheaper model, so you won't be able to add additional cars like in the more expensive models of the Polar Express, but you can extend the track as long as you want, just make sure you buy the Ready to Play track. I rated volume control 1 stars, because there is no volume control, but it's a train and I wasn't really expecting that anyway. Ideally there would be a volume control, but it's ok as trains are supposed to make noise. Unfortunately the batteries don't seem to last that long, so just be prepared that you'll need to have a massive amount of batteries if you want to run it during the whole holiday season. Update: I think I've figured out that what happens: I think the batteries inside the controller weaken because I can't use the sound FX right now, but it still controls the train. When I turn the train on it doesn't have the train sounds either, but it still runs. I'm certain this will be fixed replacing the batteries, but I'm mentioning this because it is kind of a cool unintentional feature, because now I have the train still running and it isn't as noisy. So I think the batteries on the train last a while, but you just may need to replace the controller ones. I definitely recommend the train! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 16, 2022 by Connor

  • Update!
Size: Set
Update! The second train is perfect! And I was right, the connector was too short for the back cars. It must have been made wrong. And broken tracks. Very happy with the new one! Now let’s see how long it lasts! Very disappointed in this product. Not only because my son is disappointed, but also because you’d expect more for the price. First off, one track piece was broken, which wasn’t a deal breaker. But the biggest problem was that the last two cars would not connect on a circular track. It was as if one of the connectors was too short. Obviously I’ve seen other reviews with the train working perfectly fine on a circular track, and it’s the entire reason we purchased it (for around the Christmas tree). I’m returning this one, and hoping (praying) the replacement works! I will update my review in a few days! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 2, 2022 by Amazon Customer

  • A-MAZING!
Size: Set
This thing exceeded all my expectations. We already own the smaller version of this and so I expected it to be about the size... THIS THING IS HUGE! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Sounds like a train. The remote is a great addition too. Love the beep to remind you to shut off the train to conserve power. Seriously... Could not recommend this train set anymore! Buy it! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2022 by Ruben Corbo

  • Obsessed little boy
Size: Set
Very impressed with the quality of the train. It does take a lot of batteries, and they're quite expensive these days, but the batteries are going on 3 days now of almost continuous use by our 4 year old. Note to self, the tracks need to be on perfectly level floor. We originally had it around our tree, and any minor bumps from the tree skirt would make it derail. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2022 by Samuel Gillham

  • Worth the money
Size: Set
The train is super easy to put together, and it’s really pretty. The ONLY bad thing I can say about it is that if/when it comes off track, it’s super aggravating to get it back on. Lining up the wheels and tracks is quite tedious. We love it anyway!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 10, 2022 by Kelly

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.