"28mm train at Walgreens" Topic

I found a 28mm compatable steam engine train at Walgreens today. It is $9.99, and 50% off.

It's called the Passenger Express.

Just FYI for you guys.

Ah, thanks. Have to stop at Walgreens on my way to the airport today, then.

I have one of these, and keep thinking I should get another to make for a longer train…

Mike … you might want to get a different set for your "second" just to have a slightly different mix of cars.

I picked up a Passenger Express, and paired it with a Western Express. The WE set replaces one of the passenger cars with a horse carrying covered boxcar (of course, it could be used to haul anything really), and the loco is slightly different (I actually like it a little better).

I understand tha Patriot Express replaces one of the cars (not sure which) with a flatbed car. Don't know if the engine is a different model from the other two or not. I've been thinking I need to get a Patriot Express, just to round out the collection. : )

Steve

I thought the Patriot Express had a big gun on the flatbed. That gun is removable? If so, that would be great because there's nothing better for a running gun battle than a flatbed car!

Shucks!!! None at my local Walgreens.

I recently bought a 3 piece Tomy battery train set at the local toy store and an extra passenger car. The set was about $14 USD and the extra car about $3. USD I've also seen a boxcar, that I'll get when it gets restocked. It is a Japanese engine and probably from a later period than my western town, but it looks nice sitting in front of my Whitewash City train station and is the right scale for the WC tracks. The couplings are white, but I'll paint those black. I've put a couple of photos on Yahoo Flickr, search longagoigo.

Are these the goldloc trains?

How do you know it's 28mm? Does it say so on the package?

Do you have a sku number?

Hope I can find a Walgreens near NJ

I keep a 54mm and a 28mm in the pockets of all my coats, plus a set in my briefcase. That's how.

longagoigo
Very cool pictures on your flickr. I enjoyed looking through your town swt up. I do my western gunfights in 54mm otherwise that whitewash city would be the way to go!

Nice stuff

DS6151
Mark the edge of a credit card or library card with a sharpie to the scale of a 28mm or 54mm figure or mark it in increments of your prefered unit of measurement.

For those who wanted a bit more info …

Yes, these are Goldlok trains. The two I own are:
-Western Express (Spirit of Steam)
-Passenger Express

Both come with an engine and 5 cars and enough track to build a 41" x 29" oval. Neither box has a product code or ID number. The bar code on both boxes is identical, so that's no help.

There were several other versions of this set that I know of, including:
-Continental Express (engine and 3 cars)
-Patriot Express (engine and 5 cars)
-Western Express (Christmas Express) (engine and 4 cars)

There are definitely other configurations. I have seen the same set (Western Express) packaged in several different ways (the types of cars changes, but there are usually only an engine plus 3 cars in these smaller sets). One version of the set comes with the standard engine plus 5 cars, but includes additional track (the oval mentioned above, plus two switches and some extra curves so you can make a circle inside the end of the oval.

So DO NOT just search for a set that says Western Express and think you are getting the "right" one. You may pay more and get less than you bargained for. Before you buy, make sure you see a photo of the set so you know if it's a small 3 car set or a larger 5 car set.

They are "not" 28mm trains. They are brightly colored (not painted, the plastic parts are molded in different colors) engines and cars, with black plastic track. The track is not bad actually. The wooden ties have a wood grain to them which a quick drybrushing would bring out, and the "rails" are shown spiked to the ties, a nice little detail). No scale is specified anywhere. The idea is you snap together the track, put a couple of batteries in the loco, switch it on and your train chug around the oval track. The loco makes train sounds, and the light on the front works. Apparently the various Christmas versions play tunes.

This series of trains was recommend in several yahoo groups dedicated to western skirmish gaming, but before I bought my two sets I tracked down some photos of 28mm minis next to the trains, and they looked close enough to work.

I can't point you to any of the photos I have, but I will be happy to email anyone who wants a PDF I can whip together of all the piccys. Shots of several different boxed sets (including the two sets I own, and two other different versions of the Western Express set), and 6 photos showing the Continental set "before" it was repainted and after, and two of the after shots show the train with Foundry minis.

Just drop me an email: seattlered (at) aol (dot) com

Also, Arnica (makers of excellent western buildings in resin) has a photo that shows the Western Express loco parked on the track next to the Arnica Train Depot:

link

You can also try ebay (that's where I found mine). I just checked, and there is one available (until somebody does the Buy It Now thing):

auction

The link above takes you to the expanded 5 car set with the extra track.

Again, I'm not saying they are "properly" scaled for whatever your version of 28mm really is (I've read the threads, the debate between which scale of vehicles works best with 28mm troops ranges from 1/43 up to 1/64 or so). I have no idea if these things are really HO (I'm not a train guru) or just some size that the company liked and it's "close" to something. They look a little on the small side to me, but certainly large enough to look good next to actual figures.

Finally, the official Goldlok site is here:
goldlok.com

But I had no luck gaining access to their products page with either of my browsers. Don't know if it's my problem or theirs.

Steve

Mark the edge of a credit card or library card with a sharpie to the scale of a 28mm or 54mm figure or mark it in increments of your prefered unit of measurement.

I tried something like that for a while. I had a card marked with a sillouette of the figures in each scale.
It didn't work well for me, I need to see the heft of the figure not just the height.

Besides, it's great to pop open the briefcase and have someone in a meeting say "Uh, is that a cowboy in there?"