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Joebob, I think you will get a far better quality locomotive and rolling stock (cars) if you buy individual units and not a set. IMHO, you should choose from the following locomotives (in decreasing order of quality and cost): Atlas Master series - the cream of the crop in terms of detail and motor/drive quality. But not cheap! Kato or Athearn Genesis (tied for second) Life-Like Proto 2000 (P2K) - MUCH higher quality than the standard "Life-like", but slightly less than the three above. A very close third place. Stewart, Atlas Classic - fourth place tie: not as much detail, but very smooth runners! Athearn locos, P1K locos (tie) - very good locos for the price, less detail and not as good a motor/drive as the above. Walthers locos - quality varies, so ask someone who has the model you want about the quality. Bachmann - some of the steamers are good, most of the diesels are inferior. Regular Life-like - good for children only Model Power - avoid. In terms of rolling stock, the top of the line is the Kadee cars, followed by Atlas, P2K, and Athearn Genesis. These all have great detail and run well. You can't go too far wrong with the standard "blue box" Athearn kits - good value for the money, but usually less detail and less authenic markings than the above (some will surprise you on this last point, however). I am less impressed with Accurail (some of which are very inaccurate as to markings and style) and with Roundhouse (ditto). I have a Branchline car, but haven't put it together yet, so can only say that it LOOKS very good! Avoid regular Life-like (unless buying for kids) and Model Power. For track, get Atlas or Poco. If you want a snap together track, Bachmann E-Z is good, but expensive! For a power supply, try a MRC Tech 4 series. Or the new Digitax Zephyr for a DCC unit. That's my 3 cents worth of suggestions. Again, I think you will get a better MRR "set"if you buy from the individual makers I've suggested instead of buying a pre-packaged "set". I myself bought an Athearn set to begin with - but although it had better components than a Life-like set, I still feel that I could have put the money to better use by buying individually. Which I now have done! Good luck! = George
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