vicster,
On the whole I agree with DJSpanky. I run a CW-80 (an older version) every day as the main power source for my small "carpet central."
But whereas the CW-80 manufactured within the past year or so are probably OK, it is not easy for a neophyte to distinguish the new ones from the old ones. The situation is complicated by the fact that the "Power Max," which comes with some starter sets, is a low power look-alike for the CW, and there is yet another transformer out (or coming out) that doesn't have any power to spare either.
I love the CW-80, despite its warts. Many others absolutely hate it. There has been more written about it on this and the other major O-gauge forums than any other product with the possible exception of FasTrack. Many of these posts have reported very disappointing events on Christmas morning. You have been cautioned.
Something to consider is that your child is only two and will give this set some rough treatment over the next few years. None of these sets will survive better than the others so investing in the additional $100 or so for an MTH set or a mid-level Lionel set with digital sound and smoke (which are comparable in quality to the MTH sets being extolled here) may not make sense.
The other issue not raised is that, speaking as a physician, I would not repeatedly expose a young child to toy train smoke under any circumstances as it is almost certainly a risk factor for lung irritation, precipitation of asthma in susceptible individuals, or worse, particularly in the developing lung of a toddler. So the availability of smoke should emphatically NOT be a plus in any set in my opinion. Some sets come with small parts not suitable for a two year old and thus will require hawkeyed supervision to play with such a set. I'm sure others will consider these warnings overkill, but each year small children are harmed or killed by choking on toys or other household items that should have been out of reach or out of the house.
Thus I'd stay away from using any smoke feature and buy a relatively inexpensive set for a child this age, certainly spending no more than $200 or so. A two or three or four year old will not be able to appreciate the finer points of more expensive sets for some years yet. Sound features might be a plus, but put away any small bits or figures that come with the set until your child is no longer placing things in his mouth.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
This was my first MTH set and I must say that the quality of the smoke, sound, engine and trucks (wheels) on cars is great. Much better than my other Lionel Starter sets.
I like the Polar Express engine however the cars don't compare IMO to the quality of the MTH ones. The MTH transformer model 1000 is very reliable. One thing that I do like better with the starter sets of Lionel is thier Fast track which I use. You can get an oval set of fast track for under $40 on ebay. All I know is that my grandaughter loves this set ALL year long and it has lots of extra cars for expansin .....................................
Welcome to the forum. I would have to agree with those speaking of the MTH 2-8-0 starter sets. I own the Polar Express and an MTH starter set. My 2 yrs old loves both of them but he tends to lean towards the MTH more because of the sound and smoke that MTH produces. I also own a PA Flyer set and my son does not have much interest in it I think because of lack of detail and sound. A neighbor of mine purchased the Rudolph MTH set for their tree and his 3 and 4 yr old absolutely love it to the point where it has been up all year and still gets daily use. That's my 2 cents worth but whatever you chose you will enjoy regardless.
Lionelsoni (Bob Nelson) is one of the most esteemed members of this forum, especially in technical matters. Unless I am completely mistaken, however, his post above is totally, but totally, tongue-in-cheek.
Based on a plethora of his posts over the years, the only thing you should take seriously in the one above is to research the forum archives prior to purchasing any of the Lionel starter sets due to the POOR reputations of the transformers that come with them. (Many of the problems have recently been fixed, but dealers may be dumping old stock and an apparent bargain may not actually be one.)
If I misconstrue Bob's humorous intent I apologize, but the only way I can read his post seriously is to assume he has been out in the Texas sun 'way too long this summer.
vicster wrote: Any recommendations on a good set that is not holiday themed, if we were to decide to skip the holiday them altogether and just go with a good, generic year-round appropriate type of set?
That's what I like about the Polar Express, because you can use the engine for anything, all you need to do is replace the tender and add frieght, viola! A whole new train.
Here is my Polar Express pulling a frieght consist. I bought a duplicate Polar Express tender and with a little work I relettered it so that it resembles a frieght train, trust me it wasn't much work, plus it gave me somthing to do while I was waiting for my "train allowance". You could just as easily pick up a different tender off ebay and swap out. Doing this allows me to have a holiday train and an everyday train without having to purchase a new locomotive. For me its a simple issue of expandability, while maintaining my son's initial interest in train; i.e. the movie Polar Express; IMO this does both.
Here's a video of it running
Here's my old and new tenders
Many if not all new Lionel sets come with the CW80 transformer or its amusingly named smaller cousin, the Powermax, both remarkable examples of modern toy-train transformer engineering and design. Judging by their reputation, I cannot praise the reliability of these transformers too highly. You can read for yourself the numerous testimonials to them that have been posted on the forum. It would be a formality even to test the transformer before you buy the set.
Bob Nelson
If you go to this link and use the 15% code you might still be able to get the Penn Flyer set for less than half price. With the code about $94 shipped.
http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/57660482/m/7841032444
My grandaughter loves the MTH Rudolph set with her favorite DVD movie.
Has many add on cars to expand the set along with a great transformer and if you get
PS2 Sounds you will have clips from the show . Santa, Rudolph, etc....
Ok, first things first, HOWDY!!!
Now, to answer your question, if you're going with O-gauge then go with the Polar Express set, you can use it all year long and it doesn't have that Christmas Red and Green look to it. I hear what some are saying about the Thomas stuff, but you want the set to be able to grow with your son, the Polar Express set will do this nicely, and is exactly what I'm doing with my son.
One more corner - I'm sure you and your son will enjoy either one. Now based upon MY experience I would probably go with Thomas. At this age, the Thomas set is particularly designed for. Large, colorful, minimimal detail. In addition that Thomas Theme can go the year around, and even spill over to bedding, room decorations, the storys on dvd or tape are great! Books an entire Thomas world exists. The Polar Express and Christmas train are "both" holiday trains, and I wouldn't want to "burn him out" on those items being left out all year. But it would be extremely frustrating to take them away after the holidays too. Thomas was alive and well in our house for a good 4 to 5 years. My vote ---- Thomas (its expandable too)
Oh yeah, you could even have auxillary Thomas trains that do not require electricty and need minimial supervision. (Don't let him eat the cars though, some of the paint isn't good for the small ones).
Don
The 4-4-2 in the North Pole Central set is a good basic engine. I really like the Berkshire in the Polar Express set a lot. For a young child, the 4-4-2 probably more durable over the long haul. The Berkshire has finer detail. The most notorious example is the whistle on top, which easily breaks off. I think they changed the design. But there's a lot less likelihood of small pieces breaking off the 4-4-2.
It's hard to go wrong with either one. I'm a fan of the Polar Express (the book, the movie, and the set). But my gut feeling for a young child would be to go with the North Pole Central because of the more basic engine.
My son is about to turn three and is fanatical about trains. Though we don't own the Polar Express set, he is very intrigued by the whole mystique of the thing. If your son watches the movie when he's a little older, he may appreciate having the "tie-in" model.
Randy
TCA#09-63805
First of all vicster------ to the forums! Come introduce yourself on my thread "Grayson's Caboose" its were you call lay back and talk about trains or off subject things.
So, price is not a issue, thats a sure important for a O guager. Anyway, the polar express is a popular set, it has a nice berk, a very reliable locomotive, as well as being powerful. However, a typical 4-4-2 is known as the reliable locomotive. It can pull up to 10 cars with ease, and is rather cheap to do so. I would recommend the the polar express though, as its a larger locomotive, as well as being a good start in the hobby for future expansion.
Grayson
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
We'd like to get a holiday train set for around the tree for our son, who is currently an advid train fan. Neither of us know much about trains however. He'll be 2 in October so we want something that will last a long time and be durable. The tree we get each year is about 7 feet tall and so we are thinking that an O gauge set would be best (we were told by a local hobby shop that the HO gauge is too small and fragile). We will always be supervising our son with the set.
We're considering the Lionel Polar Express Train Set or the Lionel North Pole Central Set. Price is not really an issue and we don't plan on having the train run all year and so the holiday theme doesn't really bother us. However, the engines on each of the above two sets look quite different and we're not sure which is "better". The Polar Express set comes with a 4-8-4 Berkshire engine and the North Pole set comes with a 4-4-2 steam locomotive. The North Pole Set comes with a boxcar that plays Christmas carols, which may be fun (or annoying over time) and both have steam/smoke capability and run with the same transformer. Any thoughts on which is the "better" set to get? Thanks in advance from this train newbie.
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