Train suggestions for a six year old boy

[Anonymous]

My son wants to upgrade from his Thomas/Brio train set for his 6th birthday. Any suggestions on a brand/size... of electric train that would be fairly durable (he has a 3-1/2 yr old brother), easy enough for him to manipulate?

Thanks,
Matt

[Kooljock1]

The LIONEL Santa Fe Fast Freight Set is a good choice. It has a heavy-duty die-cast metal 2-8-4 Berkshire Type steamer, die-cast tender with the highly interactive "TrainSounds" sound system, a nice assortment of freight cars riding on die-cast, sprung trucks, includin a two-level auto carrier with cars, and an automatic log-dump car.

It all comes with LIONEL's excellent FasTrack System. The only down-side might be the CW-80 transformer, which has had reports of problems. I'd have the dealer test everything before leaving the store.

In regards to the three year old, it all depends on how rambunctious he is. In any event, this is an expensive toy designed to provide decades of father/son enjoyment, and is not designed for non-involved parents or non-supervised play.

Jon [8D]

[Anonymous]

Jon - thanks! I think this is on the right track (pun really not intended). I hope I didn't sound non-involved... I just know that he will be playing with the train after kindergarten and before I am home from work. I am concerned that running the train around a fixed track may bore him (he constantly re-arranges his wood track), and if there are too many technical problems that my wife can't solve while I'm away (she struggles with the VCR/TV), the train may reduce my son's interest instead of encouraging it.. He is a pretty big train fan, but it is not his only passion. (He likes riding a local steam train around a park, but seems to have outgrown the 10 or so live-train videos he used to watch religiously). I'll check out the set, we have a reputable train hobby shop about an hour away.

Thanks again,
Matt

[Anonymous]

Matt, I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old. We started with the Santa-Fe Freight with the 2-8-4 Berkshire a couple of years ago. Now have a whole mess of trains and cars on a 9X5 table. As Jon says it's definitely a parent supervised function at 6. Get a railer /rerailer and the six year old has no problems putting the engines/cars on and off. The two year old loves just watching and the occassional sounding of the whistle guided by dad's hand. If they're only going round and round, the 6 year old could well get bored. But it's easy to keep things interesting with log dumps etc. Also we run holiday trains at all the holidays. Sometimes with a long haul of special holdiay cars we've bought; sometimes with ordinary cars we decorate with easy to remove stickers, figures, etc. We always have a candy gondola at these times and it goes without saying that's always a big hit. At this age kids are also oblivious of scale so you're free to incorporate all their other toys into play. One thing we love doing is using lego to build canyons, mountains, lakes etc. We then fill the canyons full of stryofoam popcorn and use a wedge snow plow pushed by the Berkshire (in reverse of course) to clear it out. You'd be surprised how much fun this is! And at how the stryo snow just flies. You want to use a heavy steam engine for this kind of thing and the Berkshire works very well.

In our house the trains are run only with Dad present. Because it's up on a table it's easy to control. Even the two year old knows that it's a completely out of bounds area. It took a while for him to learn not to touch anything on the table but it was worth it. The six year old has no problem understanding that he won't have total access to the system until he's 8. Don't be too worried about controlling the access. As you rightly suspect, they will get bored. But it's not a permanent boredom. It's a "okay, I've run the train for half an hour now and that's enough." But two days later they'll be all excited again. And of course every new purchase of stock etc, gets them all excited again. Like when they get their favourite Major League Baseball box car (MTH) for their birthday!

If you don't want to go big with a table right off it's nice to know that the Fas Track stays together when lifted off the floor and can be hung up on the wall out of little hands' way. Then the cars could be put up on shelves. Set-up and tearing down won't take that long and it will signify a special play time. Besides kids love that sort of thing.

IMHO you absolutely won't go wrong with the set Jon suggests and it'll probably start a lifetime of shared enjoyment. The nearest hobby train shop is an hour away and so I get all my stuff from the various big internet discounters. And Trains.com has made it very easy to get all the information and techinal support I could possibly need.

Good Luck!

[Sturgeon-Phish]

The adult supervised train play is a good thing in my opinion. Our grand kids 2 yrs. and a set of 3 yr twins know that it is only with an adult that they can play with Papa's trains. I believe that boundrys and restrictions teach dicipline and patience. It also becomes a "special" time for parent (grandparent) / child interaction and play.

[Jumijo]

My kids are 5 and 2 and they enjoy the Thomas and Percy from Lionel. Way less expensive than the Berk set, but no less fun. Even I enjoy watching Thomas running through the scenery and over the bridges on our layout.

My kids aren't old enough to operate the trains without supervision. Derailements can lead to damage, and all must remember that these are electrically powered. Things can and do go wrong. Always supervise these activities or you're asking for trouble.

Jim

[dwiemer]

I have a 3yo and a 1yo, the boy (3) loves to play with Dad's trains. He has his own, but likes mine more. The girl (1) loves to derail the train at any given point that I happen to be at the farthest from the site of derailment. I purchased the Ridin the Rails Hobo set and the Polar Express. I would say that the Hobo set, or any set around $100 that is sturdy would be great. My son likes to put things in the boxcars and gondolas. I would suggest that you get a few cheap boxcars/gondolas that they can do this with. In the end, you want something that is strong and yet wont set you back to where if it does get broken, you would cry.
Dennis

[jimhaleyscomet]

O guage (Lionel size) is the most kid friendly size. HO and N break too easily. G is not as readily available.

The Berkshire set would only work with constant adult supervision. It goes fast enough to leave the track and is harder to rerail because of the 7 axles.

I think I would start with the Thomas set. It is VERY simple (ie less problems) and easy for the little hands to handle. Even at full spead it will not leave the track. Plus the whistle is so cute! The face plate is removable so you must keep it away from kids that could choke on it. The recent sets have a lighted terminal track that eliminates the reversing problem with the CW-80. I prefer the CW-80 although others do not like it. Make sure you get a lighted terminal track or put a lighted car on the track. Fastrack is VERY small kid friendly. It is easy to assemble and holds connections fairly well. Be sure to test the transformer before giving it as a gift. If it does not work Lionel sends out a new one free but it could take a few weeks. That is why it is good to get that first set from a local dealer.

I assume you have a Lionel catalog. If not, get one for your sons. Dreaming about getting a train is almost as good as getting one. At one point my son would get a new train catalog and go through and find all the publishing errors...he read them that much. If you join the "Lionel club" they will send you new cataloges periodically.

I had a five year old over last weekend and he is able to run everything all by himself (his big brothers taught him how). He would run the faster engines too fast and the fell off the track. Thomas stayed on. His mom had done a good job of teaching him to "stay low" when carrying cars and engines (imagine how soldiers walk near a helicopter). That way if thetrains get dropped it will not be too far. Operation was easily handled by this 6 year old, but I was always within earshot and keeping an eye on operations (he was in the living room, we were in the kitchen but frequently looked in on him. I would be uncomfortable with my child running a train set on a different floor of the house or in a room with the door closed. However, I allow youngsters to run on the living room floor while I am cooking in the attached kitchen. An always unplug or flip off a power strip when finished.

If you do not mind mixing train sets I would start with Thomas. I would wait at least a few weeks (or more) and then add a freight expansion pack ($75 discounted online) with a dump car. Then I would consider adding the outer loop or inner loop expansion pack and the figure 8 expansion pack. I would stretch out obtaining these items because each new purchase seems to re-spark interest.

If he gets real interested, you will probably obtain future sets and or track expansion packs. So avoid buying a whole bunch of curves at the start. Later you will have too many of them anyway.

Hope this helps.

Jim H

[laz 57]

The lionel copper mountain range set is a great deal from Justtrains.
I believe the cost is $162. That includes fast track, train cars dockside switcher and transformer.
Good luck.
www.justrains.com

laz57

[laz 57]

Heres the page.
http://www.justrains.com/liotrainsets.htm

laz57

[fwright]

Another thought: when I was a boy around 7, I did a lot of unsupervised playing with our postwar Lionel (all bought used) by pushing it on the track by hand. Wasn't allowed to plug in the transformer until I was 8, so I played without power until Dad came home. Just a thought.

Fred

[jimhaleyscomet]

fwright.....

Pushing trains sounds like a good idea as long as your engines do not have traction tires. Is there any problem with this?

Jim H

[Anonymous]

Being a father myself Id go with Thomas and Percy.They are sturdy and simple.And the price is affordable.[2c]

[Anonymous]

My parents started me on trains at a very young age and had an LGB set for me. It was very basic and although the LGB's tend to be expensive they were relatively durable and I rarely caused them to derail. As i got a little older probably 10-12 yrs my parents got me a Lionel starter set and then it all took off from there.

[dwiemer]

Carry the pushing the trains a step further, you could check into some of the battery operated, or even the keyed clockwork type available on eBay or at trainshows.
Dennis

[Anonymous]

after you buy your new 0 gauge trainset---
buy at discount (less than $1.00 each) a whole bunch of the old style 3 rail track so that you and your son can run the trains all throughout the house. it will be years before either of you get bored.

[ADCX Rob]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jimhaleyscomet

fwright.....

Pushing trains sounds like a good idea as long as your engines do not have traction tires. Is there any problem with this?

Jim H

Jim, it's not so much the traction tire issue. but the gearing. The direct drive worm/wheel configuration(shallow pitch) on newer can motored locos essentially "locks" the drive wheels while not under power, and trying to push those around could peel a tire off or worse. It's not an issue with spur-gear driven engines - the motor will spin along freely for the ride on those (motor-in-truck - eg. K-Line MP-15/S-2, & similar Lionel locos, & all the "side gear" postwar/MPC steamers, etc.).

Rob

[simon1966]

One thing you might also consider is the more realistic wooden trains made by the Whittle short iine railroad from near here in St. Louis. http://www.woodentrain.com/browse.htm My boys are now 6 and 8, and while they have long ago stopped playing with the "baby trains with faces" they still regularly set up the wooden track and play with the Whittle trains. They like electric trains as well (HO scale) but the Whittle trains are a great way to extend the life of all the wooden track you have. Besides the two boys can then play together.

[daan]

The only big problem is probably with the electrics. I would go for a K-line battery operated set in first place. It's cheap, can be pushed around too, and no hazards with electricity. You could consider to have both. I've seen the K-line set new on ebay for less then 50 dollars, so for the spare monye you could buy a set with transformer to play with together with you. The K-line engines also works on the tracks from the expensive set, so without supervision he can enjoy the "big layout" too.

[Anonymous]

This is getting to be an interesting thread so I'll jump in again. On Thomas vs. another set like Berkshire: I've got both and am waiting for a Percy I ordered. However, as much as we sometimes enjoy Thomas there's no way my 6 year old who grew up on Thomas wants to run it near as often as the Berkshire. I know a lot of 6 year olds and most of them were hardcore Thomas fans. But I've watched them all start losing interest, some at 4, some at 5, but almost all by 6. Yes, they'll pick it up to play with a younger sibling but it's never that intense anymore. Matt, when your son says he wants to upgrade, he wants to upgrade! Thomas has no lights, the two passenger cars, Annie and Clarabell have no lights. The train goes quite slow and if you start adding a few Troublesome Trucks and a Sodor Milk car, well it's really slow compared to the Berkshire. Thomas doesn't smoke! I doubt whether Percy will have picked up the habit, we'll have to see. Most of the cars don't have sprung or articulated trucks so it just lacks the edge that 6 year olds are starting to look for. (I was seriously disappointed that Lionel didn't use any lighting on the Thomas cause kids love turning down the room lights and running trains. Just made no sense! With the rooofs coming off interior lighting would have be problematic, but headlights and marker lights would have been possible! ) The plus with Thomas is the roofs on the two carriages do come off for passengers. We're forced to use gondolas etc. with our other trains when we want to carry toy people. The kids don't seem to mind.

Finally, if you're looking at "bang for the buck'" there is simply no comparison between what you get with a Thomas set compared to something like the Sante Fe with the Berkshire. My table has a 2" lip on it so I can run the Berkshire full speed. The number of times it's actually derailed are minimal even running solo--the Fas Trak's standard 0-36 larger diameter curves are good for that.

Another finally, re: the CW-80 transformer. Because when I started out I found it cheaper to buy (over time) 4 different Lionel sets (you'd be surprised at how cheap an entire set is when you get it at blowout prices!) I've got 4 CW-80 transformers. They all work fine. I've read the reports here and I guess I'm just lucky or it was a bad batch or two and Lionel has corrected it.