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Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains(tm)
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EZ-Tech G-Gauge Christmas TrainsThis is a brand-specific addendum to our artlcle Battery-Powered Christmas Trains. Our intention is to provide train lovers with holiday-themed choices that won't break the bank or risk expensive equipment. Please refer to that article for hints about building roadbed, etc. for temporary outdoor use.Scientific Toys has offered "G gauge" trains under the EZ-Tech brand almost since LGB made "G gauge" popular over 40 years ago. Their Christmas trains are more toy than model, but they have features that delight visitors. Truth be told, I started testing EZ-Tech's "non-Christmas trains while looking for ways to help newbies try into garden railroading How They're Sold - Like New Bright and a dozen off brand trains that I haven't bothered testing, EZ-Tech trains are sold in department and hardware stores First of all, make certain they say "G gauge" on the box. EZ-Tech offers a few, much smaller trains that are designed for tabletop use.. Second, pay attention to what is offered in the sets you see. EZ-Tech changes the features every year, often without changing the name of the set, or even the product ID. The massive "Santa Express" at the bottom of the photo to the right was their premium set in 2022. At least one earlier "Santa Express" contained only the locomotive, tender, and caboose. So don't go by the name of the set. In addition, different store chains offer different sets, so a set you see at WalMart might not be available at Target and vice versa. Sometimes they're marked down 50% after Christmas, so if you don't need one this Christmas, keep your eye out. Buying Used? I've actually picked up the ones I've tested used from garage sales, train shows, and auction sites. I usually pay a small fraction of the set's list price, and I mostly get usable trains (except for the box, which is almost always partially ripped apart). While newer sets have better features, even sets made twenty or thirty years ago are generally useful, as long as batteries haven't exploded in the locomotive. Newer is Better - To make a long story short, EZ-Tech has made similar trains since the 1980s. But somewhere in the last couple decades, they added remote control and has moved the batteries to the locomotive, which improves traction. They haven't changed their molds much at all, though, so most cars from most of their "G gauge" trains are interchangeable. And the older locomotives still work fine as long as they haven't been damaged by rotting batteries or some such. How Solid Are They? Most of their pieces are made of a very hard plastic, the kind that is somewhat more likely to shatter if dropped from a height onto a cement floor. That said, I have seen very few of these that have been damaged in any way, except for the aforementioned battery damage. My guess is that with careful handling, they'll last as long as anything else in your collection. What Pulls the Train?In recent years, EZ-Tech has offered two different locomotives in their Christmas sets, a 2-6-0 Mogul and a 4-4-2 Atlantic.
The stickers also change from set to set, though they're not always the same as the name on the box. Sizewise, the Mogul was originally designed to compete visually with LGB. It's actually a bit oversized, but it's impressive outside. Some recent sets replace the tender with another car.
Generally the Atlantic is offered in more expensive sets, which may include more cars or more accessories. Outdoor Operation Both locomotives run smoothly over my outdoor railroad, even through my AristoCraft turnouts. So putting a battery-powered train out for kids to run doesn't cause any more operational problems than my much more expensive track-powered locomotives. The remote controls tend to work between 15' and 25' away. If your railroad is 90' long, like my first one, the train will continue running as it gets out of range, but that's okay, unless you want to stop it 50' away. (Many other battery sets will stop once they're out of range.) What Cars Might I Find? .As mentioned earlier, each year's entries have different subsets of cars. We have an overview here.
Note: The following links will jump you to different sections of the cars page. Most unusual are the animated cars that may involve skating elves, spinning snowmen, and more. Many sets include one animated car, usually the Elf Handcar, which has two elves pumping a lever as though they were moving the train along by their own effort. See in Video - In 2023, I put action cars from different sets into a train and recorded it running on my raised-platform garden railroad, so you could see them in action. The video is here. Though all of the cabooses are made from the same basic mold, some include animation or lighting. Boxcars and tank cars are not animated, but even some of those are clever and fun.
About Remote ControlThe original sets had no remote control, and the batteries were in the tender. You controlled the locomotive's start, stop, and reverse functions by a button on the "steam chest." Since these are in little danger of speeding too fast for people to hit the button, that worked fine.A separate switch, built into the bell, allowed you to turn the sounds on and off.
At some point, they added remote control that used "walkie talkie" frequencies in the 27MHz range. Then, sometime later, they moved the batteries to the locomotive cab. So if you see a set with the cab windows "blacked out," it was almost certainly made to use a remote control, though there has been at least one "budget set" exception. Today, the button on the locomotive has one function: forward. The switch under the bell turns the locomotive on and off. So if you lose the remote, you can still run the train, and turn it off easily if you need to stop it. Most of the sets from the first-generation of remote-control use the same 27MHz remote control, which has buttons for forward, stop, reverse, and sound. Because of this, you can't run two of these within, say, thirty feet of each other without the remotes interfering with each other. At least one relatively new, premium set I found had a sticker that read 2.4GHz. You could certainly run that set near one of the 27MHz sets with no problem. About The TrackEvery set has an oval or at least a circle of 45mm ("G gauge") plastic track that makes 48" curves - the same diameter as entry-level Large Scale train sets from LGB and PIKO (as well as the discontinued Big Hauler sets). So:
The best way to accumulate extra track is to buy more trains. Especially cheap used trains. Just remember, if you use "extra track" to make an elaborate railroad, try to avoid "S curves." About SoundsMost of the Christmas-themed trains have a sequence that plays a few "chuffs," a whistle sound, and then a Christmas tune. Then the cycle repeats with a different Christmas tune.It seems pretty loud indoors, but not so loud outside. Some folks think it's cute to hear the train playing a different Christmas tune every time it comes around. Some folks like me would rather leave the locomotive sound off and play better music on the stereo. On most sets made since 2000 it's very easy to turn off if that's your preference. Battery ConsiderationsIf you plan to run these for a while, you'll want to stock up on batteries. Look for places where you can get alkaline batteries cheap. The older trains take six C cells in the tender; the newer ones take four C cells in the locomotive cab.Generally, I can get a few hours of actual runnung out of a set of batteries, but I extend that by only having the trains run when kids are actually running or watching them, so I don't have a precise count. Most of the remotes only draw current when you're actually pushing a button, so the batteries in the remotes last much longer; they're more likely to fail from shelf life issues than actual use. But they do fail. Always remove the batteries from the locomotive and remote when you put the train "away," even if you're planning on getting it out again in a few days. Yes, I know that may seem to be a hassle, but the vast majority of EZ-Tech or New Bright or battery-powered Lionel train failure is the result of corrosion from batteries that the owners forgot to remove. If you are checking out one of these used (or if you get one cheap online) be certain to check the battery compartment immediately. Used EZ-Tech locomotives almost always contain dead or dying batteries, and you may have to clean the acid out of the battery compartment or even sand corrosion off the contacts. That said, permanent damage is rare, but it does happen. For More InformationBecause we've broken our information about these trains up into many small articles and videos, we're listing them here to make them easier to find.Note About Video Resolution: Most of the videos were recorded in HD, so when you watch them, Watch them full-screen, and look for the letters HD on the little gear. If "HD" isn't there, click on the gear and select HD. The "default" and "auto settings" are often much lower resolution. EZ-Tech Christmas Train Articles and Videos
Lionel G-Gauge and Ready-to-Play Battery Powered Christmas Trains
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