If it worked consistently it would be amazing
As soon as the batteries were in my son was not interested in opening or looking at any other Christmas gifts. Sadly, it stopped working within the first hour of playing. My dad was able to jostle it back to life a few times and we changed the battery once and it worked again for about 10 minutes. Now it is completely dead. And its wheels don't work like the regular trains so my son can't use it manually either. We absolutely have to return it. I have read that the battery powered Thomas works better, so we will try to exchange it for that one. It had no problems staying on our imaginarium tracks, pulling cars or going up hills when it was working. If it worked consistently it would be the perfect toy. For $30 it should be more reliable. It is NOT a "very useful engine."