Surprisingly, many toy failures have simple causes that even mothers can understand. If it doesn't work, check the following:
Casual sexism? Check
Yes I know it was a different era, but someone had to make that joke, riiiiiiight?
Gotta love how it suggests the train will run in reverse if the battery polarity is reversed, but I thought the design of Plarail contacts made it virtually impossible to actually fit the battery in reverse? I tried it once just to see if I could get an engine running in reverse for a shunting loop [would have looked better running backward] but alas, no, because the positive contact [on the motor unit] was recessed to prevent such an occurrence, by making sure you had to put the raised 'tip' on the positive end onto the correct contact to fit.
Casual sexism? Check
Yes I know it was a different era, but someone had to make that joke, riiiiiiight?
Gotta love how it suggests the train will run in reverse if the battery polarity is reversed, but I thought the design of Plarail contacts made it virtually impossible to actually fit the battery in reverse? I tried it once just to see if I could get an engine running in reverse for a shunting loop [would have looked better running backward] but alas, no, because the positive contact [on the motor unit] was recessed to prevent such an occurrence, by making sure you had to put the raised 'tip' on the positive end onto the correct contact to fit.
Been building Plarail worlds since 2001; Building when I can in 2023 
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