Hape Wooden Railway Battery Powered Engine No. 1 Kid's Train Set Red, White, Black, Blue, L: 3.7, W: 1.3, H: 1.9 inch

Great value motorised train (engine). At £8.99 this was the cheapest one on amazon and i'm pleased to say its really good. We have the Green £12.99 Brio motorised one too and its much the same. Build quality is similar, speed and power similar. The Brio train takes one AAA battery, the Hape takes 2 AAAs. The battery compartment was a bit fiddly compared to the Brio, but not too tricky. The video shows the train use a mixture of Brio and BigJigs track, battery life was low, with fresh batteries its about 20% faster.

SOUNDHape is SLOW and steady, has never derailed or got stuck and can pull a couple of carriages. It is SILENT so that's good if you like peace and quiet but bad for kids who like sound.SPEEDSlow, but steady. This is a very slow train but it's battery life is good so it slows down less than other trains if the batteries are low.CONTROLS (movement switch)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 LIGHTSHas the brightest light but no sound.STABILITYHape is the most stable tarin by far!PULLING CARRIAGESNot great at pulling carriages... two maximum up hills.HILLSPretty good up all hills, does get stuck temporarily on a brio hump bridge when it's batteries are a little low but eventually gets up it.TUNNELSHape is definitely the smallest, therefore best in tunnels and never gets stuck.BATTERY CHANGEHape is easy to change battery - the reason I have this category is that the bigjigs mighty red is so hard to open it makes the experience a real pain - but not with Hape, which has a sensible easy open screw section.CONCLUSIONHape is a great little train, a bit boring because no sound and slow but it's steady and always stays the distance!

Don't understand the negative reviews on this at all. It can pull loads of carriages even up a hill.Battery life is very good. Obviously it will eventual run down with a 4 year old always leaving it running. But to still lasts days.Also very quiet. Which is a big plus for use.Update on this. Recently got the brio freight train as well.Had to return it as it's twice the price but only half the quality of this little hape train.Wheels are bent, won't stay on, only half the speed and canny pull as much as this train

We already have a BigJig battery loco but wanted another loco to complement and extend the layout. The Hape is cheaper so that's the one we went for. In comparison we found it's worth paying a bit more for the BigJig. The Hape requires 2 triple A batteries, the BigJig only 1 but the Hape has a working spotlight that eats the extra battery. Because of the strong internal battery connection spring and the angle required to re-fit the tiny door screw the Hape Battery door IS a frustrating nightmare to get back on. Both loco's go at the same speed but the BigJig is better going up and over a low rise bridge, the Hape struggles and even when only pulling two caridges it sometimes needs a helping hand, the BigJig loco can pull several carriages over on its own. It's ok... but the Hape's cheaper price reflects the poorer overall experience.

I quite like this little engine. It manages hills quite well on it 0wn, it is a little short of traction for some of the slightly heavier trucks that I have but most it manages alright. I had heard that this engine was really slow, I found though that it was only slightly slower than my Brio Big Green action loco. The apparent lack of a freewheel mode is perhaps a slight drawback, one that I can happily overlook as I have plenty of other engines which can be pushed. This one makes no noises but then its a lot cheaper than my other battery loco. Bot take two AAA batteries and run well for a long time on rechargeable batteries. This loco has a single but quite large light at the front but no lights when reversing.On balance based on my experience with this one I can recommend the Hape battery powered loco.