Recommend train gage for starter

[Hogjaw]

Yes, I am a Grandpa with four grandsons. The 3 and 4 yrs come and visit quite often.

I have tried Backmann large scale and HO scale. Don't have room for L/S. Spend all my time trying to keep cars on track with HO.

Do have 4' x 6' 3/4" plywood table built, however, this may be insignificant. Just want a train we can enjoy playing with and also expand.

Didn't have any idea there are so many variables in this hobby.

Your comments please.

Thanks

[dbaker48]

Hogjaw,
I would recommend looking at the Lionel Thomas The Tank Engine Set. Especially for the 3 and 4 yr olds. We spent hours and hours with the metal diecast 10-12 yrs ago. The messages are good, videos and all the other paraphanilia that is available they will relate to. Also that set may continue to expand, currently their are a lot of add ons available. Good on 4 x 6 layout, as well

Have Fun

(If you havn't picked up a copy of CTT, do so and look at the various mail order sources. Also, go to Lionels website and check out the trains, esp. Thomas)

[jimhaleyscomet]

O scale is definately where you want to be for small kids in the minimum amount of space.

Ditto on the Thomas. It is available online for as low as $150. A wonderfull engine, figures, and the top of cars remove for playing. Thomas includes the new Lionel Fastrak. Just make sure you get one with a lighted terminal track with it or it might not reverse.

After you get Thomas you might want to consider a Penn or NYC freight expansion set (about $75 online) or a switch siding track pack.

A different option is the K-line construction set (about $175 online). This uses K-line snaptrack which is usually availabe at Hobby Lobby. However, k-line is bankrupt so the track may not be around forever. It does however easily convert to O track (or with Lionel fastrak adapter) to the new Lionel track. Also unlike Thomas, this engine goes fast enough to fly off the track.

Jim H

[Anonymous]

I'm not too sure about Thomas for 3-4 year olds. My Grandson is only 1 1/2, and has gotten to the point of rejecting his Thomas videos in favor of "I Love Toy Trains" videos showing "regular" toy trains. Price-wise, you can't beat a Lionel starter set that comes with track and transformer, about $150. store price. Buy from a local dealer, if you can, for advice and help. You can then add-on items in the future. Jo

[Dr. John]

I agree that O or O27 is the way to go. You can have a nice layout in the space you have. Lionel, MTH and K-Line all have excellent starter sets at reasonable prices, especially if you shop around.

[Anonymous]

I am in the same place that you are. I have Lionel trains from 50+ years ago and my grand daughter loves playing with them. They are just the right size for young hands. HO is far too small and difficult. I believe that Lionel trains are to be played with, not stored and treated like museum artifcts.

[Birds]

Take the grandkids along to a well stocked O guage train store, or look through a catalog together, and see what grabs their attention. Make the entire process a group activity.

You can do a lot in a small space, but switches help keep it interesting even for young kids (wish I had more of them).

I'll toss my vote in for going with the old fashioned tubular track and passing on the various types of "fast track". You have a table so stepping upon track isn't a problem.

The old tubular stuff is affordable for expansion and I think it, and regular transformers, make wonderful teaching aids for learning about electricity and circuits as the kids grow.

This past Chistmas I saw an automated multiple train setup based purely on insulated tubular track sections (the owner made the insulated track sections himself). There were no relays, no swtiches, no computers. Nothing ever collided. It was simple, very affordable, and never failed.

Enjoy!

[laz 57]

0 or 0-27 thats what got me rolling.
laz57

[jimhaleyscomet]

Birds. How do you do a automatic multiple train setup without relays?

Jim H

[lionelsoni]

I have a loop up high on the wall around my train loop. Two trains take turns going around, with one stopping at a signal. The section before the signal, where the train stops, has both outside rails isolated but connected together. A section before that has only one outside rail isolated. That rail is connected to the outside rails of the stop section.

When the moving train comes up behind the stopped train, it shorts the two two outside rails together and provides a return for the stopped train, which then starts and moves onto the normal track beyond the signal. The other train pulls up to the signal, stopping when it is fully into the stop section.

The signal has two lamps, red and green. The common between them is wired to the isolated outside rails. The green lamp is wired to the center rail; the red lamp is wired to the normal outside rails. There is another lamp wired in parallel with the green lamp, big enough so that it stays off when no trains are around.

[Roger Bielen]

Hogjaw - O-gauge is the way to go. I have 3 granddaughters, 8, 6, & 5 and have a loop of Fastrack on the floor in the TV room, in addition to my layout in another building, and they enjoy playing with that while the TV is on. They are allowed to use whatever engines and rolling stock I have on display in the room, as long as they ask, but always seem to gravitate back to Thomas or the old gang car.

[dave_hartmann]

I had the same question about a year ago and decided to go with O-Gauge. I purchased the Lionel Thomas Starter set and the Pennsylvania Flyer set. They seem to be rugged enough for the little ones as long as they are not real rough with the trains. My son loves the Pennsy Flyer because is smokes. The Fastrack that comes with the Lionel starter sets is nice but I decided to build a layout on a 4' x 6' platform using Lionel's O-27 track. O-27 is good for small layouts, the track is very inexpensive and switches only cost about $20 a piece (although Thomas takes a bumpy ride over the O-27 Switches). You can find some nice 4' x 6' track plans for O-27 track at http://www.thortrains.net/marx/46dex1.html. Here are some pictures of my layout: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhsquared/sets/1641819/

Good luck!

[jimhaleyscomet]

lionelsoni

Thanks for the wiring help.

Jim H

[Birds]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jimhaleyscomet

Birds. How do you do a automatic multiple train setup without relays?

Jim H

Jim,

I'll have to find my drawings, and I'll start another thread regarding it. Will probably be later tonight or tomorrow.

Birds