Jouef Junior HJ1042 SNCF OUIGO TGV

It's a well made set but The locomotive is dead after running it three times only

Got mine when the prices were low, and I managed to secure a used product even cheaper at 35 quid.Wouldn't pay much more for it if I'm honest, but then again it's a junior product so maybe I was expecting too much.Detail ... Good for the cost.Its a full set so you're up and running out of the box ... I never used the track or power/controller as I used it on the main layout I have.Track seems decent quality.Are hornby controller which are just sufficient.Power came with euro plug so adapter would be needed.The train itself is quite nicely detailed, it ran in nicely and was less noisy than I expected although sounded a little hollow and plasticCars/carriages connected quite firmly and never detailed on my about even at a decent scale speed .. which it can very easily manage as it's quite rapid.At the end of the day though, taking pros and cons into consideration, I didn't bother keeping it and made a small profit selling it on.

I received this set yesterday and on opening it, was immediately impressed and reassured by its quality. Jouef is owned by Hornby who naturally distribute the Jouef range, and you can clearly see all the hallmarks of a typical Hornby set.As opposed to the Mehano set, you get:Larger oval of nickel silver track (not steel) which includes a Hornby power straight track piece,Track mat for play value,Coach rerailer,Proper owner's manual,Smoother and much less noisy power coach.The controller and two pin adapter are standard train set fare, so you may need to consider upgrading to a 1 amp output controller for better performance.Note: If, as I did, you purchase a Jouef train set from an independent UK model shop, the wall mounted transformer is (or should be) a 3 pin mechanism suitable for UK electrical sockets. Check with your local model shop in any case.As with the Mehano set, the wheels on the power coach needed cleaning as trying to run it straight out of the box didn't work first time. That said, the wheels didn't need that much cleaning, when rotating the wheels electronically with transformer wires and using cotton buds dipped in Isopropanol. That got rid of dirt deposits and I was able to easily do the running in of the power coach - 30 minutes in each direction at about 40 - 50% speed. As mentioned earlier the coach was far less noisy and didn't need a sudden power surge via the controller to get it going. I may have to take the Mehano power coach to someone who can look at it in more detail, as I don't know why that is happening.Quality control is far better as you would expect from a Hornby manufactured set, though ensuring clean driving wheels should not be an issue, which it was in this case, and as it was with the Mehano set.Of the two however, the Jouef train set is the one to have as the quality is miles better and (in my case) was cheaper. I rest my case.

Wile the engine and carriages look good, you need the manual dexterity of a neurosurgeon to fit the wheels on the track! So far, having spent hours trying to get the wheels onto the track, I have been unsuccessful! Overall, a disappointing purchase.

Great starter set, if you can get it for a low price! Which I did! Please note as this is a French set it comes with a french plug, so buy a Hornby UK plug or adapter. (Hornby own Jouef!) HO gauge, but fully compatible with OO gauge. They both use the same track.

Made a nice change to my layout idea.Starts in France appears out the tunnel in England.

It has a lovely colour, classic Hornby rails, power unit and cable control. But the plug is not compatible with UK sockets; is it legal in the UK? We used travel adapters, but it didn't work. The extensive paper base looks very poor, and it should be something like fabric, not a weak paper.We didn't like it; poorly manufactured, overpriced and defective.Terrible experience!