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I have an 8 year old son who loves trains. He has had the "baby trains" as he calls them. He wants a real one for Christmas. Any suggestions? He has the ones from wal-mart, but he wants the tunnels, mountains and all that the real ones have. Thanks
Posts: 2 | From: Reeves, La., USA | Registered: Nov 2001
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You have lots of choices to choose from. Any particular type of train/manufacturer in mind? There are different sizes too. I have Lionel 0-27 gauge trains, which is a medium size set up. They're fairly expensive but not terrble and they hold up for years. Smaller trains cost less and you can do more in a limited space, but you can't see the details as well. Scenery is a whole different subject. Woodlandscenics.com is (from what I think)the best site to buy materials from. The prices there are pretty cheap. I suggest you buy some type of RR scenery book and go by their ideas. Scenery can be very complicated for beginners and even more complicated without a plan to go by. I can give you even more detail if you could tell me what your plans are in terms of train size/cost, scenery, and available space. A lot of people around this site may also give you more suggestions and ideas to pick from...
-Jesse
Posts: 106 | From: Hilton NY USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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You may want to look into HO scale. Bachman markets several different train sets that include the track, already mounted on plastic road-bed. I can't remember what they call it, something like "Easy Track" possibly. You can buy as much track as you want. It is easy to connect together, so you can make temporary layouts. It would also work well for a permanant railroad.
Scenery can be as easy, or as complicated as you would like. There are many already made mountains, signals, and structures that an eight year old boy might like.
On the other hand, HO is not as durable as the larger scale models that Jesse has mentioned. There are good and bad things about both scales.
I hope you find something that your son enjoys.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
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Deb, I think for a young one starting out, I'd look up a rail-oriented hobby shop in your yellow pages, and ask them about 'G Scale'. As always, it depends on your space and money available - G Scale are LARGE models and need a certain amount of space. I don't have any firsthand experience but they make a very good appearance and by their very nature will operate well - i.e., due to their weight/size there will be few electrical contact problems and stalling, also few derailments. An 8 year old will probably be satisfied with 1 engine at a time, and a few cars - which given the prices is probably all you will want to consider ! Can be added to slowly. If you don't have space then HO or N Scale are possibles, but there you'll need help of experienced modelers to set up and operate well. Good luck! Jim Bradley National Director Hawk Mountain Chapter National Railway Historical Society
Posts: 57 | From: Allentown, PA, USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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