Best Brands ect. for a Beginner just starting

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am just deciding to start a outdoor model railroad and would appreciate any advice on the best brand of trains and type of track to use or anything else that you think might be helpful. Thanks.

[Curmudgeon]

Hang on, let's back up a step.

Brand hasn't got nearly as much to do with it as what you want to DO.
So, before you spend a lot of money, and end up with stuff you'll sell for less than you paid, decide what ERA.

Steam?
Early?
Late?
Rod or geared?

Dismal?
Early or late?

Mainline?
Switching?

You come out of any prior model railroading experience?

How do you feel about scale conformance?
Appearance of the track?

You like bigger than 155 pound rail?
Sharp curves, tighter than trolley lines?

Outdoors or in?

If out, what climate?

All brands have their plusses and minuses, from scale fidelity to cost, so decide what you want to do, what you expect, what your goals are, THEN we can advise..

TOC

[Anonymous]

I started with an LGB starter set and it has stood me in good stead. If you wi***o stick with LGB as you become more knowledgable you can do so. However if you wi***o go to other brands, LGB will work ok with them but not necessarily the other way.

Rgds Ian

[vsmith]

tforce WELCOME to the forum first off!

Second, both TOC and Ian are correct. There are so many different ways to advise you its hard to say one way or the other. One big question.. how big are you planning the layout?

Follow TOCs advice and determine what type and size of railroad you would like to build, modern? old school? diesel? steam? narrow gauge? standard gauge? Euro? American?

This will streamline the decision process a great deal. Once you chose its far easier to let you know what your options are.

Ian is correct in that LGB are dam near bulletproof, a starter set gives you a small loop, a good 1 amp starter powerpack thats good for about a 20' x 20' layout (any bigger and you'll have to go to 5 or 10 amp) and a dandy engine and a couple cars. the downside is that almost all the starter sets are based on either prototype European meter gauge engines (OK sorta-prototype HJ) or small mostly non-proptotype American narrow gauge, but no standard gauge trains. The 2-4-0 starter is a NKP (no known prototype) somewhere between 1/29-1/32 scale standard gauge engine with 2- 1/22.5 scale narrow gauge passenger cars in tow, looks OK as long as scale isnt an issue. Personally I would look for a narrow gauge 0-4-0 Porter supplied set like the current "Big Thunder Mountain" set thats a great little bugger of an engine if you like narrow gauge.

For standard gauge, Aristocraft has decent starter sets (also narrow gauge sets) with one big advantage in that it comes with a Basic Train Engineer R/C controller which is well worth it. I have one and never regret buying it.

Bachmann has good narrow gauge starter set trains but the stamped steel track is pure junk outdoors so track is a seperate purchase, factor that cost in...

Let us know what your thinking, Vic[8D]

[ttrigg]

tforce

#1. Welcome!

#2. Even though I have never met the three above individuals, I count them as well knowledged "friends". I compliment you on asking a question to which they give an agreeable answer. Putting a train in the backyard is about a whole bunch more than a "best brand".

#3. If you have any previous experience in the "smaller scales", once you move into the garden be prepared to either;
a) throw the word "scale" from your vocabulary or
b) build everything from scratch. (And I mean everything, starting from ties, track, engines, cars, people, buildings, etc.)

#4. Once you have thought about all the questions asked of you today, then ask each of those new questions giving what you have decided and this same bunch will give you more information and suggestions than you will ever be able of processing.

#5. I came to the garden from thirty plus years of HO and N scales, and one of the hardest things was to accept it simply because I liked the looks. Now I simply have FUN. That is what GRRing is about, FUN

[devils]

Brass or nickel silver track from LGB or Aristocraft and you can mix them later if you need to.
Starter sets are a good bet as mentioned above, LGB do the narrow gauge European sets and their Thunder mountain set would be good for US narrow gauge with a bit of repainting. These are pretty accurate models in both sets
Standard gauge start sets are available from Aristocraft for diesel and LGB for steam, some of these locos are freelanced or heavily shortened representations of other locos.
Anything larger than a GP diesel or 060 steamer will probably need 4 ft radius rather than the 2 foot stuff in the start sets so think about what you want to get in the future when you plan the layout or you may find your dream loco confined to the mantel piece. The catalogues will tell you the minimum required radius and as it always rears its head - radius is always half the diameter - this causes some confusion usually so I just thought I'd include it!
Have fun and good luck[#welcome]