Though not a Christmas set, the Atlas O Industrial Rail Angel Train is certainly a cousin of holiday rolling stock and sets. As such, I would guess that the outfit’s primary market lies beyond the toy train world.
Opening the box
The locomotive: The O gauge set is powered by the now-familiar Industrial Rail 4-4-2 Atlantic steam locomotive that we have reviewed previously. The engine is based on a Pennsylvania RR prototype, and it is a fairly good – if Spartan – representation of that locomotive. The locomotive is a bit on the smallish (underscale) side, but it has a well-executed die-cast metal boiler. The tooling is good, with clear, sharp impressions.
The locomotive features angel wings on top of the firebox, an angel, and the Angel Train name on the tender, with a scriptural citation on top of the cab roof. The cab carries the name “Gabriel”; inside the cab, you’ll find a complete-with-wings angel in control.
The passenger cars were the attention-getters for me. These are from the first production run of the new Industrial Rail cars, and I was pretty impressed with them. The cars are a good, basic design of heavyweight passenger cars (baggage car and a coach). Rivet and seam detail is crisp. The roof has a series of vents, and you’ll find the nub of a simulated diaphragm on each end of the car.
The car has interior decoration and illumination. The seating impressed me. All the windows have solid plastic panes. In keeping with the angelic theme, most of the windows have angel silhouettes.
Paint application was excellent. The coach is named “Michael,” and the combine is named “Raphael.” Both cars sport cherubs applied to the sides as well as the number 929. The baggage car has white wings painted on the sides of the baggage compartment.
The outfit uses Industrial Rail sectional track, which I like. The track pins offer a snug fit, ensuring good electrical connectivity. The roadbed is textured, but unlike regular production track, the roadbed with this set is snow white – perfect for a holiday layout.
The power supply is a large, 80-watt transformer, which is more than enough power to operate this rig, and then some.
On the test track
As I’ve noted previously, this steam locomotive is a nice though lightweight, little model. In a passenger train context it should be right at home with a consist of two to four cars.
The outfit’s basic sound package literally never sounded better. In keeping with the theme, the digital whistle is Gabriel’s horn. The sound itself is long and steady, and the reproduction of the tone is great. The digital bell is a reproduction of church bells, and the clarity was also darned good.
The Industrial Rail 4-4-2 does not have any command systems, so our testing was done only in conventional-mode. The Angel Train is a unique set that may well appeal to both train enthusiasts and folks outside the model railroading community. It is complete and well made, and so will be a good starting point for entry-level hobbyists as well as angel collectors looking to add light and motion to their Christmas village.
Price: $299.95 (no. 1009203)
Features: The locomotive has a headlight, smoke unit, digital bell and whistle sounds; coaches feature die-cast metal trucks and couplers, interior detail and illumination; outfit includes 18 sections of track (12 O-36 diameter curves, a straight lockon-section and 5 straight sections), and an 80-watt power supply and hook-up wire.
Great attraction for kids up to the third grade at Sunday School . They can tell their friends.
Love that Industrial Rail!
I think the "Angel Train" is a wonderful idea that is way overdue. It appears to be a well executed starter set that will (as the article suggests) catch the eye of someone that would not otherwise be interested in toy trains. I bought some of the Industrial Rail rolling stock about 10 years ago, (not long after it first became available) and I find it to be quite satisfactory. One might call it a good "bang for the buck". They work well and look right with my other .027 trains. In fact, they were BETTER QUALITY and had BETTER FEATURES (die cast trucks, interior lighting and more detail, like safety chains etc.) than you might get from other manufacturers for the same money. To the manufacturers I say, "keep it up!"