After reading the recent threads about fastrack vs. tubular, I have question pertaining to a certain situation that wasn't really addressed in these threads.
My 10 year old nephew has taken a great interest in my layout. I gave him a copy of the latest Lionel and K-Lionel catalogs, and I guess he has been bitten by the bug badly! He told me he preferred steam, so last week I purchased an old 2037 train set with 7 cars. I have a spare 1033 transformer, so I'm almost ready to go with his Christmas present.
Here's where things get tricky. He wants to be able to change his track plan often. Mom doesn't want a permanent layout in the house. His train set will have to run on the carpet in his room. My experience with tubular (which I use), is that it doesn't like to be taken apart and re-assembled all that often, especially by a kid on carpet. Fastrack seems like it would be better suited for this purpose. He can purchase more sections in a store near him, whereas with tubular he would have to get it while visiting me, which is quite a drive for them.
Personally, I don't care much for fastrack. I'm not a plastic roadbed sort of guy, and I almost cringe at the thought of a postwar 2037 running on it, not to mention the price. That's my opinion, not his, and it will be his train set. I'm leaning towards fastrack on this one. I didn't see this issue addressed on the other threads. If it was, I'm sorry to beat a dead horse, but would like a few opinions on this situation, since I'm a little biased, and don't want my bias to interfere with his fun.
Chucks point regarding hanging an oval on the wall is a good one, and even for a die-hard tubular guy like myself - it seems the right choice for this circumstance. The cost is gonna be a lot more, but it is much easier to set up and run on the fly so to speak.
Besides, at that age, kids eat worms and drink from mud puddles. I wouldn't be too worried about the "FasTrack give you cooties" thing for a few more years.
I have a good size permanent layout in Fastrack. With a little weathering, it looks pretty good. As for your nephew's needs, I think it will serve him well. Less chance of the old cuts to the hand from trying to put track together/take apart. It will also be less likely that he will get carpet in the gears of the 2037 on Fastrack. If you keep it on the simple side, you can develop a reasonable size layout with a couple of manual switches, he can have some sidings for more interest.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
I own one oval of fastrack and about 100 pounds of tubular.
I'd recommend sticking with the roadbed included system, as it keeps dirt, grease, and oil off the carpet better than tubular. It's also more modern, which may keep a 10 year old's attention better than 100 year old technology.
Regardless of track type, I would encourage a carpet beneath it of a set size. This helps a novice realize that a layout has to have boundries, and a kid to realize that if I can't have everything I want, I need to prioritize.
Not knowing what your nephew's shop stocks and going by what's readily available here, I'd be more likely to recommend MTH's RealTrax than Fasttracks. It seems a lot of people here buy MTH sets and don't want the track. They then resell the track for next to nothing. I've never tried pricing the two track systems against each other as far as switches or any other non starter set pieces, so it may be a wash.
All that said, a 2037 looks nicest to me on O27 tubular hauling far undersized cars (6014s, 6112, and SP cabeese), but I'm not the guy playing with this train.
J White
It seems a lot of people here buy MTH sets and don't want the track.
There are a number of good reasons for this
I've used both. You can not hang a loop of Real Trax on the wall unless you get the under the track locon pieces. The solid rail is quieter BUT the electrical connectors are really poor and the track often seperates from the electrcial connectors between the pieces. The track is often harder to put together and take apart than tubular.
Frank53 wrote: Chucks point regarding hanging an oval on the wall is a good one, and even for a die-hard tubular guy like myself - it seems the right choice for this circumstance. The cost is gonna be a lot more, but it is much easier to set up and run on the fly so to speak.Besides, at that age, kids eat worms and drink from mud puddles. I wouldn't be too worried about the "FasTrack give you cooties" thing for a few more years.
dont forget ...............eating paint chips and elmers glue..........
I agree this is a condition for the plastic stuff, would not want to mess moms carpet up. thats not good
FasTrack is tubular taken to the next level.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
mpzpw3,
Fastrac would be great for what you want with one or two exceptions, the 2037 may have derailmenty problems when used with Fastrac switches, I highly recommend that you try the 2037 locomotive on a layout with Fastrac switches before giving it to your nephew. Some post war locomotives have deep wheel flanges on the steam locomotives, also if using post war electric operated knuckle couplers the contact shoe may hang up at the switch.
Lee F.
Jim,
Have you ever tried a 224E or 226E loco or pre war 2640 passenger cars with the Fastrac switches? These may have deeper wheel flanges than most other Lionel trains.
When giving a train to a young child the last thing that you want to happen is for a derailment to happen! That is why I say to try it first, might not have a problem but there is always that possibility.
Here's my HO track storage device...the wall...
mpzpw3 wrote: Also enjoying playing with HIS 2037 train set in the meantime on my layout!
I know my Dad did the same thing with mine and my 3 brothers trains come that time of year. I guess maybe Santa wanted to give it a good ops check before the big day!
Fastrack is the right choice for what you are doing. It is much easier for kids to assemble and well suited for floor running. You won't be sorry either. On tubular track, your 2037's spur gears and axles will suck up carpet fibers in no time bringing it to a screeching halt. Fastrack is ferous metal and works with magnetraction.
"No childhood should be without a train!"
DJSpanky,
Is ordreing from the web really that much cheaper when you have to include shipping costs?
I deal with some auction sites and get really good deals on used Lionel & Williams trains. Sometimes the prices are 40% lower than when thew were new, also don't get caught by the shipping BUG! Shipping BUG is the delay from the time of ordering to the time of receiving an item. I ordered some track from Lionel and have been waiting for almost six months to receive it.
Dave Farquhar wrote:If you have a Hobby Lobby near you, and if they have Fastrack in stock, and if they happen to be running a 40% off web coupon, you can use that to save quite a bit on Fastrack, provided what they have matches what you need.
Dave it would be nice to have a major hobby store down here in south Florida but usually only the smaller hobby shops stay in business or the ones that cater to H.O. & N scale mainly do well.
The only place nearby that has a chain type hobby store is either Savanah or Macon GA and that over 400 miles away for me. There is Ready To Roll in north Miami FL and that is a rather large hobby store, about 65 miles away.
phillyreading wrote: The only place nearby that has a chain type hobby store is either Savanah or Macon GA and that over 400 miles away for me. Lee F.
The only place nearby that has a chain type hobby store is either Savanah or Macon GA and that over 400 miles away for me.
Well since i live near savannah (about 10-15 mi from it.) I can tell you that the only hobby shop thats sells O gauge trains is Bull Street Station on Bull street. It has everything you wont for ho and n, but only o gauge track, but does have fastrack. I dont know about macon, they could have one.
Grayson
"Lionel trains are the standard of the world" - Jousha Lionel Cowen
Seems like just about every town up here has a train store that sells O gauge. We had to pick and choose which ones to visit and which ones not to yesterday!
magicman710 wrote: phillyreading wrote: The only place nearby that has a chain type hobby store is either Savanah or Macon GA and that over 400 miles away for me. Lee F.Well since i live near savannah (about 10-15 mi from it.) I can tell you that the only hobby shop thats sells O gauge trains is Bull Street Station on Bull street. It has everything you wont for ho and n, but only o gauge track, but does have fastrack. I dont know about macon, they could have one. Grayson
Forget Macon. They have one isle with O gauge anything on one side and that is it. All full retail and at most, they have a few sets and a few track pieces. Bull St. Station in Savannah only has a few items as Grayson mentioned, but they do have some scale rulers and some items for doing scenery, but again, that's it.
majicman710,
I lived in Dublin GA for about three years in the mid 90's, Macon has a nice size hobby store on the north side of I-16 on I-75 that goes thru downtown Macon, I forget the name of the store. There should be another hobby store on the east side of Savannah(not Bull Street Station) near a military base and the end of I-16. Also there is another hobby store that has more O gauge stuff on highway 441 near Watkinsville, the name is Memory Station.
Jaabat,
Here in Florida hobby store are becoming few and closing down in the past six years, almost two years ago BT&L Railroad in West Palm Beach FL closed-it was a hobby shop that dealt with model trains. About six years ago Lee's hobby shop in Stuart FL moved to Port Saint Lucie and closed after five months. Going back over six years ago Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami FL closed.
I only wish I had more hobby stores to go here in south FL.
phillyreading wrote:Jaabat, Here in Florida hobby store are becoming few and closing down in the past six years, almost two years ago BT&L Railroad in West Palm Beach FL closed-it was a hobby shop that dealt with model trains. About six years ago Lee's hobby shop in Stuart FL moved to Port Saint Lucie and closed after five months. Going back over six years ago Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami FL closed.I only wish I had more hobby stores to go here in south FL.Lee F.
What a sad story, Lee. And me without my violin...
phillyreading wrote: Dave it would be nice to have a major hobby store down here in south Florida but usually only the smaller hobby shops stay in business or the ones that cater to H.O. & N scale mainly do well. The only place nearby that has a chain type hobby store is either Savanah or Macon GA and that over 400 miles away for me. There is Ready To Roll in north Miami FL and that is a rather large hobby store, about 65 miles away.Lee F.
Lee, I used the store locator and found a few Florida locations.
http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/store/astate.cfm?hlstate=FL
I don't know if any of these are close to you, but maybe we'll get lucky. Despite the name, Hobby Lobby is more of a craft store than a hobby store (at least in my opinion, for what that's worth) but they do have an aisle with trains.
Sorry to hear about the plight of the traditional hobby shop in your area. I'm concerned about the health of my favorite shop in St. Louis too. I would think there are enough hobbyists in St. Louis to support it, but maybe not.
dwiemer wrote:Forget Macon. They have one isle with O gauge anything on one side and that is it. All full retail and at most, they have a few sets and a few track pieces. Bull St. Station in Savannah only has a few items as Grayson mentioned, but they do have some scale rulers and some items for doing scenery, but again, that's it.Dennis
Dennis, I think the only reason is still there since the 80s or 90s is because they sell the artist's supplies. Since you have the college of art and design right around the corner, alot of people will be going there.
However, in my town, a person opened a small (very small) hobby shop in an old building (about 10ft. 20ft. (seriously)). I went and asked him if he sold lionel, he said he was going to get some starter sets in soon. Every time I go and look, they are not there. He is one of those hobby shops with rc planes and boats, not trains.
Phillyreading, about the other hobby shop in savannah, there was one, now that i remember, but it closed about 3-4 years ago.
Well zeke, first of all, please spell my name Grayson . But its really not a big deal though. The place in savannah (bull street station) has a layout set up. It is terrbile, with an amtrack engine and a few cars derailed around the layout. No senery. Ask dennis, he'll agree with me.
I dont know if this makes a differnece or not, but it looks like a k-line train, cause its got super k track. They do have a really nice ho scale layout set up. Nice senery, 2 trains running at the same time.
Another hobby shop in statesboro, georgia (about 70mi from savannah), didnt have a layout but did sell lionel cars and track. They closed however.
i dont know zeke. Just might have to be like me and order all my trains from the internet.
ouch sorry, i have a little dexlexia from this tumor i got. i always try to keep names spelled right, sorry.
but I mainly get my stuff off ebay its cheaper usally, and i dont leave the house that much anyways. But I remeber stooping somewere on one of my trips to savanah and stopping at some huge hobby train shop/hobby shop and they had a huge lionel layout. I took pics so maybe i can search and figure that out....
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