The BRIO #33214 Freight Battery Engine is an impressive puller for it’s size, but it has its limits. A single AA battery plus one set of drive wheels will only get you so far, as you can see in the video below.
So why get two of them?
The answer is because they have magnets in both the front and back, which means you can do the same thing “real” trains do when they need more power: add engines. With two Freight Battery Engines working together, you can pull an impressively large load.
And, if you want a longer train, you can always add a third. Very few of BRIO’s battery engines allow chaining like this (for example, the #33249 Rechargeable Engine 8WD).
You could always, of course, put one in front and have a second in back, going in reverse to “push”, but on longer trains that is more likely to cause a derailment. Plus, two of these engines together looks really nice.
I feel like it’s an oversight in Brio’s product development. I find that they have enough power to pull the load, but not enough traction. I bought the Brio #33504 Travel Battery Engine and it can’t even pull its default configuration up a standard Brio bridge. A light push “down” on the back of the train where the drive-wheels are is enough to have it pull the cars up the bridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou1HCzGwKXs (lacking traction)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EygB0WK5QSI (with added coins for weight, thus traction)
I would really appreciate it if Brio’s product developers would test their things to work in at least the basic configuration. I believe the standard Brio tran is 1 engine + 2 cars.
Yeah, main issue is that the drive wheels lift off the track on the standard ramps. Adding weight over the drive wheels helps. Adding more drive wheels (so they don’t all lift off the track at the same time) helps. Using graded supports so that you have a more gentle slope helps.
I find the Big Red and Big Green engines do well on their own, as does the Smart Track engine. The 4WD Rechargeable is generally good but the drive wheels are too close together. The 8WD Engine is the top performer.
I don’t quite understand how they can lift off the track, it boggles the mind… Especially considering the 2 cars are hanging down off of it. I have to figure it out because it bothers me a lot.
I did just order the #33599 Rechargeable Engine with mini (actually micro) USB cable, let’s see how that one does. It must definitely be able to pull up 2 cars up a standard bridge.
I added in a #33211 Road T-Switch now that they’re still for sale somewhere. That feels like an exotic piece already in this day and age of Brio. I think the setup always looks better with some road in it (and I wish they didn’t only make 90º turns but also 45º ones)