2026 PCGG Day Nine: Lionel Area 51 Train Set

Our final pick today in The 2026 PopCult Gift Guide is a high-ticket item, with some high-ticket add-ons, but it’s the perfect gift for the intergalactic conspiracy-minded model train enthusiast on your holiday shopping list.

I remind you again, this is NOT CHEAP!

Area 51 Train Set
by Lionel
Very expensive directly from Lionel
Cheaper, but still expensive from Walmart,  Amazon or Trainworld

Yes, it costs a lot, but it’s really, really cool!

This is a fun and ridiculous O-scale train set, based on the top secret Military Base, Area 51…you know, the place where they take all the UFOs and Aliens.

The track set included is basic, with an oval of track, a wall plug, a branded Area 51 remote, and all the usual Lionel features.

The train itself, all branded in cool alien-hunting livery, includes an Electric locomotive controlled by LionChief remote or Bluetooth LionChief app. There’s an On/Off switch for sound, which is the RailSounds RC sound system with diesel revving and background sounds, horn, bell, and user-activated announcements. You also have Lionel Voice Control (LVC) so you can run your locomotive by speaking commands into your phone via LionChief App. The engine also has an operating directional headlight, two powerful maintenance-free motors, operating couplers and an illuminated cab interior.

Three pieces of rolling stock are included: Damage Control Lighted Boxcar; UFO Recovery Derrick Car; and a Sky Survelliance Searchlight Caboose. There are light features on the Boxcar and the Caboose.

Here’s what Lionel says about this set…

Did you see an unidentified flying object fall from the sky?

Area 51’s brave operatives will head to the scene by rail with a Recovery Derrick Car capable of hoisting a downed vessel, a lighted damage control car to transport any friends they meet along the way, and a searchlight caboose to search the skies for incoming UFOs – this set has everything you need to handle the job.

Additional add-on rolling stock includes a helicopter to assist and a maxi-stack to haul any debris!

Those additional add-ons, found HERE and at other train retailers, are pretty cool in and of themselves. Once you buy some more track to accomodate them, you can add a Radar Car, Missile Launcher Car, a MaxiStack, a Crane Car, a handcar (with one human and one alien providing the motive power), a pick-up truck, a decontaminaion unit car, a tank car accident structure, an area 51 Quonset Hut, a set of 2 Aliens and 3 “Men In Black” Humans, a Trolley and more…all branded with Lionel’s Area 51 livery. Some of these items are pre-orders, and you may have to check different retailers to get them all. You might also want to check local train and hobby shops.

So, it is indeed one of the coolest toy train sets ever produced, and it is pretty pricey. The basic set ranges from $330 to nearly $500, depending on where you get it. The add-ons aren’t cheap either (although the set of five figures can be found for thirty bucks), but this one of our high-ticket picks, so you knew it was going to cost a lot.

My favorite part is that nearly everything is branded “AREA 51,” which is delightfully absurd for a train based at a secret government facility.

Recommended for fans of toy trains, aliens, Roswell, Area 51 and friends of Braxxie.