What we have here is a Santa-fied version of Lionel’s M7 transit car.
More than 1,100 of the real M7 cars have been built by Bombardier since 2002. Their customers are the Long Island and the Metro-North railroads. These are not, strictly speaking, subway cars, though they are rigged for third-rail operation. These are commuter cars; some, designated B cars, are equipped with lavatories. Seating is conventional, not back-to-the wall, with an overhead rack for bags.
But just add red and green paint and painted-on holiday decoration and quick-as-a-sleigh you have the Candy Cane Transit commuter two-pack.
This is an O gauge commuter train from Lionel’s expanded Christmas lineup for holiday cheer.
The model
The M7 is a starter-set grade item that offers reasonable levels of detail and operating capability, along with an nice price.
One end of the car is a control cab, while the opposite end is simply a cast-in door for moving between cars. One nice detail point is a sign for the car number in the middle of the door.
The cab end is flat, but it still has a good amount of cast-in texture and detail points. There are no couplers on the cab-unit ends, but there is simulated pilot detailing of what looks like an uncoupler arm. There is rivet detailing in the pilot.
The face has cast-in hinge, door, grab iron, and safety appliance detail. There are two large windows for motormen and a small window on the car door.
I was a bit surprised there were no crew figures in the cab, but there is a shield that hides the motor.
The interior features illumination and seats. Interestingly, the seats face away from the center of the car, indicating they mimic the M7A variation. The M7s have seats facing the center of the car.
The sides have nice cast-in detail points, such as seams and curves in the carbody. Each side has 11 windows (including those on the doors).
The doors on each side of the car open. There is a fairly well concealed black plastic lever between the side of the shell and the battery boxes/speaker housing.
Slide it one way, and the doors of one side open; slide it the other way, and they close. Each side is operated independently.
The truck sideframes are plastic, which means they are more breakable than normal, die-cast metal sideframes. Not a problem unless there is a risk of high-speed derailments, animated toddlers with toy hammers, or a pooch with a taste for green plastic chew toys.
The roof is nice, with topside extruded texture and cast-in exhaust fan detail.
I had this car set perched on the hallway window of my office and received more comments about it than any scale-detailed O gauge monster that had previously occupied the roost. While more than a few folks thought it was awfully close to being “too much” Christmas, their remarks just demonstrated how well it had achieved its goal: to be noticed!
Decoration on this set was flawless. The black/white and red/white striping was clean and crisp, with no overspray. The wreaths and garland on the side were finely detailed (the dot pattern in the holly suggested they were printed decals).
On the test track
This O gauge model is a simple, basic conventional-only outfit.
The electronic horn leaves a bit to be desired when compared to the digital Sounds-O-Thunder systems on the market, but it is adequate for around-the-tree rolling. There is no bell feature.
When the train is under way, four white lights (two overhead and two below the cab windows) illuminate.
Directional lockout and horn on/off are located on the belly of the model.
Lighting in the passenger compartment is very good – bright yet not glaringly so. You have a good chance to see inside the cars as it rolls past you.
The motor sound is a bit noisy, but no more so than my Lionel jet-powered Rail Diesel Car. The echo of the FasTrack I tested the train on may have contributed to the “roar of the rails” effect.
Motor operation was smooth, and our conventional low-speed average was 33 scale miles per hour, while the high-speed average was 125 scale miles per hour.
I was not going to test drawbar pull, but then I remembered that although the car lacks knuckle couplers, Lionel does offer the no. 35113 two-car add-on set in MTA Metro-North colors.
I suppose if the Candy Cane outfit sells well, they might offer a similar add-on car set. So our drawbar pull measurement was a respectable 1 pound, 6 ounces.
The M7 subway cars are certainly good-looking models that can easily play the role of the RDC or subway/streetcar. Frankly, that and the price (and maybe the possibility of a re-paint) are what led me to buy it.
In summation, the Candy Cane Transit is a Christmas decoration that flies the flag of candy canes, sugar plums, and gaily wrapped gifts. The operating qualities are pretty decent, and the graphics application is first rate. Checking the calendar, I’m pretty sure it isn’t too late for this holiday ho-ho-ho to hi-ball around your Christmas tree!
Features: O-27 operation, motorized and unpowered units, interior illumination, manually opening doors, headlights, and electronic horn.
