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Hello My sons and I are looking into model railroading. I've been doing some research and it looks like HO is probrably the best option. Is it better to just get a set and start there or put it together piece by piece?
rrrayinmd Member # 4148
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A train set is one way to start....gives you a "quick and dirty" idea of the hobby and what is involved. Hopefully, you've researched the "intrique" of building "YOUR RAILROAD EMPIRE", literally, from the floor up!! Welcome to the hobby, best wishes and good luck. Keep us informed!!
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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I agree with the "quick and dirty" part. The main "dirty" part of a set is that locomotives found in most sets can be quite inferior. Since nothing runs without a good locomotive, you could "set" yourself up for some disappointment.
I started with a Life-Like set that had a diesel locomotive and and a small steam locomotive. The steam locomotive has worked remarkably well, but the diesel is not so great. It has a whiny sound and its wheels get dirty really easily.
The problem is that the rear wheels are metal, for electrical contact, while the front wheels are plastic, and do the driving. The plastic wheels deposit a lot of grime that gets picked up by the metal wheels, and electrical contact becomes sporadic. Cleaning the wheels on this locomotive is also difficult.
Better locomotives can be had for not too much more money, but are much more reliable. These have all metal wheels, which means more opportunity for electrical contact. Plus all wheels are powered, for better traction. Cleaning these wheels is a snap. All you need to do is apply electricity to one end, and the other end will spin while you apply a cleaning pad or brush. Kadee makes a wire brush that provides power through the bristles while cleaning.
Athearn makes a variety of decent locomotive kits that are fairly inexpensive. Sometimes you'll find them on closeout sales for as little as $20-30 dollars. So feel free to buy a set, but you may want to supplement it with a better locomotive.
newbbie Member # 4239
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Cool thanks for the advice. I forgot to add that we are moving in May (military family)so how could I protect my set up or should I not set it up temporarlly and just box everything when we move?
rockymidlandrr Member # 4267
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Its great to have new people in the hobby, it gives me someone to help guide their development on their layout. If you get a Like Like set, I would get an all wheel drive and all wheel electrical pickup locomotive to go along with the one with the set. Trust me, been there done that. You can run the all wheel locomotive pretty much all the time while the Like Like is gettting its wheels cleaned. I would start off with a bachmann diesel set so you have knuckle couplers, all wheel locomotive, cars, track, but lack structures. That is your only downside, but some medium quality kits at good prices are fairly easy to come by. If you set the layout up on a temporary basis, make it small andeasy to disassemble and move. I would recommend that you do box it up when you move to keep the trains from being damaged. Hope Alabama knowledge can help.
Roger Hensley Member # 1374
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Temporary setup that you can box up when you move.
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