I hope this post is fair game, not getting much help from the Lionel website. My son's Polar Express train was working fine for the first week he used the train. Now, for some reason, the engine essentially shuts itself down when the remote control is used to put the engine into either forward or reverse. The bell, song, and whistle functions on the train still work.

Any idea what to check or do?

I hope this post is fair game, not getting much help from the Lionel website. My son's Polar Express train was working fine for the first week he used the train. Now, for some reason, the engine essentially shuts itself down when the remote control is used to put the engine into either forward or reverse. The bell, song, and whistle functions on the train still work.

Any idea what to check or do?

If you've got the large "G" scale battery set, it may simply be that the batteries are too low to power the train, but have enough left in them to activate sound.

If that is the situation, think about getting a rechargeable battery(or two) and a charger. It'll save you lots of money, in the long run. Better yet, get a track-powered electric train.

I wouldn't have thought about the batteries being marginally useful, but the train did come back to life with a new stack of "C"s. Thanks for the tip...

You're welcome. FYI, Lionel also makes an O-gauge Polar Express track-powered electric set too.