Looking for 1st S gauge set - any ideas?

[IRONROOSTER]

This page http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/saf.html has pointers to American Flyer sites.

The parent site http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/sscale.html has a lot of pointer to S - scale, Flyer, hirail.

Enjoy
Paul

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Keep an eye on ebay especially during the week and combined sets will save on shipping.  As far as a list I would look for a 300 or early 21160 loco, cheap reliable and easy to work on; $25.  Common box cars, tankers, gondolas $15 each.  Caboose $5.  Expect to spend $1 ea on straight and 50 cents for curved, that will clean up.  Double that for ready to use track.  It's hard to beat an 8B transformer 100 watts and around $10.  At the prices I listed don't expect mint stuff, but I have been surprized what a little cleaning can do.  Watch what couplers you're buying, there are both link (early) and knuckle (with varieties later).
This would get you and oval and a start on having fun.  This is basically the set my grandkids have to play with.  It's not a stressful letting them play and learn to run trains with less expensive items. 
You can have a nice set without spending a fortune.
Jim

[Joe Hohmann]

As a diehard American Flyer Nut, I've got to reccomend going right with vintage American Flyer!  You could get enough track transformer, cars and loco to get started for   ~ $100. 

Jim

Could you itemize the items leading up to the $100. total? Thanks, Joe

[Sturgeon-Phish]

As a diehard American Flyer Nut, I've got to reccomend going right with vintage American Flyer!  You could get enough track transformer, cars and loco to get started for   ~ $100. 

Jim

[ADCX Rob]

What's a PE set? 

"Polar Express"

Rob

[CSXect]

If you are looking for a good starter set in S do not look at flyer alone as american models and s-helper have great starter sets as well they are a little better on details and are smooth runers and come in hirail and scale wheeled versions. If you have Tmcc already the Lionel/flyer mikado is great.

[Dr. John]

Check out these sites:

americanmodels.com
showcaseline.com

I purchased an S gauge set from Showcase Line a few years back - Very nice SW-1 switcher with three cars, caboose, track (similar to RealTrax, but in S) and transformer.

[Poppa_Zit]

You'll get your best deal on eBay if you pick the right seller. The Flyonel boxed sets are selling slightly under market value right now, but soon they'll start their annual Christmas climb and stay there for awhile.

All of the sets you mention have good graphics and are well-made. I can't answer which set would please you most, though.

What's a PE set? 

[FEClionel]

I've never seen the appeal of American Flyer but I have always respected it as having a great product and history. I'm looking for a Lionel/American Flyer mid 80's - today set. A LHS has some AmFlyer switches and track so I thought maybe I should get a set and go back and get that track. I think this would be a great item to run around the tree with my PE set. Any ideas? - Silver Flash, MoPac or frieght - any good retailers?