Get the "Tweetsie Railroad" set with the freight car's and combine passenger car not the set with just passenger car's called "The Mountaineer" the passenger car's in the sets have crappy plastic railings and IMO the freight cars are better quality than the passenger cars plus the freight set has "Tweetsie R.R." on the coal tender (pass set has "ET&WNC" )
Or you could get both and have 2 loco's with the same kicken paint job and diffrent numbers! Thats what I did only with the Durango & Silverton freight & passenger sets
The passenger car railings can easily be fixed by super/hot gluing them from the botom
The track that comes with the sets is good for indoor's. If you plan to go outside I would suggest LGB or Aristocraft track
Ozark Miniatures sells excellent metal replacement handrail sets for B/mann coaches. Cheap too.
http://www.ozarkminiatures.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=121
That solves the only problem with the cars.
Its a pretty good set to start especially in the ET&WNC colors. The Bachmann ten wheeler is based on this ET&WNC engine -
The engine in the set is the big hauler edition and is less detailed then the "Annie" (anniversary edition) but shares the same drivetrain. The engine and cars are fine as said above the track is worthless outdoors and the power pack in the set is pretty basic.
I was recently shopping for a set for some very good clients of mine who have children and thought about that set but ultimately went with a slightly used LGB set from eBay for about the same money. The LGB set come with outdoor brass track and their small locos are well know for their durability. I helped to pick up a similar set LGB set for my nephew last year and it was a good choice for all.
Since you are not new to model railroading you should consider purchasing your loco, cars, power supply and track separetely as that may serve you better in the long run.
-Brian
That should work fine then. if you have a real tree try to make sure the track doesnt get wet and it is clear and clean. Ozark metal handrail's for the combine would really be a plus and are cheep for a set of 4 but like i said a dab of glue can also work wonders
The set's come with tight curves (same as LGB R1) but it will work fine for around the tree, the sets include small plastic pieces that snap in the last tie of each track piece and connect it to the next one so once they are all in you can pretty much pickup the whole circle of track without it falling apart.
The transformer is okay and the clip on track connector they supply with the sets that connects to the track works okay, I had to bend the clips a little bit to get it on the tracks but i didnt have any issues with it coming loose while on wood floor or carpet. (I use Aristo basic train engineer with LGB power clips now, its basicly remote control to the track power and uses the power pack from the bachmann transformer)
Watch the DVD that comes with the set it shows how to oil the engine and the oil and stuff can be found at most hobby shops.
For those that may be interested. The Tweetsie Railroad set contains the locomotive, tender, ET&WNC log car w/logs, Linville River box car, and Tweetsie Railroad combine. The set number is 90033, as listed in the 2007 Bachmann catalogue.
Good looking set.
JD
One bit about the Bach controlers (unless they changed the design) don't leave them plugged in for more than 8 hrs. Mine melted into the carpet and our (former) landlord was strangely upset. Good thing I don't rent no more, Now olny my family gets mad at me when something melts to the floor.
Thanks for the heads up on the melt down. Ken
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