Any model train enthusiasts?

[quikah]

My son is pretty train crazy atm. Looking for recommendation on a budget set (he tends to change his passions target quickly).

I have a 40 year old O scale Lionel set I gave him to play with. It runs but it needs a lot of work. Several of the cars have pieces broken off, the engine is making a lot of noises it shouldn't, the transformer is making a loud buzzing, and I need to clean all the tracks with a wire brush still.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

I used to be - when I had lots of room & money! A lot of the Lionel O scale are now collectors items so I would definitely keep that set, even in its current state.

HO & N are the best scales for economy & availability of everything. Z is pretty cool (very small but expensive). O & G are good as well (but large & expensive). You should be able to get a decent starter set in HO or N for less than a $100. I used to have Bachmann years ago - they were excellent quality then but I haven't had a train set in years.

 

[notposting]

I used to be - when I had lots of room & money! A lot of the Lionel O scale are now collectors items so I would definitely keep that set, even in its current state.

HO & N are the best scales for economy & availability of everything. Z is pretty cool (very small but expensive). O & G are good as well (but large & expensive). You should be able to get a decent starter set in HO or N for less than a $100. I used to have Bachmann years ago - they were excellent quality then but I haven't had a train set in years.

My wife grabbed a Bachmann set last year for our then 2 year old (yes, piles of wrong within that statement). It's pretty cheap and basically junk -- not made for swapping in standard replacement parts like couplers. Booo-urns.

 

[Brainonska511]

We recently donated all of our model train stuff (HO scale) to Goodwill. There was a mix of stuff: newer Bachmann snap-tracks and a few new rail cars, engines, and unique track pieces, and a fair amount of very old stuff (40-50 years old), but still good - mainly track that needed cleaning and a plywood surface to nail them to in order to keep them flat.

 

[yhelothar]

Yeah I have an HO scale set that I like to jo onto with some buddies (im not gay) and kick them around like a monster.

 

[Maximilian]

Theres a guy in philly who is... NSFW!

http://lolsnaps.com/upload_pic/JoOnRails-37218.jpg

 

[Imp]

Go with Lego. I want a set for nostalgia, but don't have the space to put it anywhere when I'm bored and done.

Starting price is a bit steeper than "budget" though. On the other hand, who gets sick of Lego?
http://shop.lego.com/en-CA/Passenger-Train-7938?fromListing=listing
http://shop.lego.com/en-CA/Cargo-Train-7939?fromListing=listing

 

[aloser]

Bachmann's never been "excellent quality" by any stretch of the imagination. Well, unless you don't have anything to compare it to I suppose... That being said, it *is* a decent *starter* set, and, if this is only a temporary venture (until the next best thing comes along), is probably all you'd need. If you're looking for something more robust (and that will keep much of its value should you choose to try recouping your investment down the road), I would go with something from Atlas or Kato. For availability, HO's the way to go; for space constraints, probably N or Z would be better. With kids, something bigger might be more interesting (either O or G) since they offer animation (working smoke, moving accessories] many of the Christmas village sets are appropriately sized as well], and other attention-keeping attributes).

 

[JManInPhoenix]

The Bachmann stuff I had in the late 70s was good - can't speak for anything in the past few decades though

 

[mmntech]

I had a Bachmann set growing up. Still got it in fact, in a box in my parents' basement. It was alright for beginners but was mostly replaced by Atlas stuff later on. I used to be big into trains when I was a kid but sort of grew out of it. My dad had big plans and we had a proper layout finished, but he never had time to help me with the scenery. Got replaced by RC planes, then RC cars. I do have the original Bachmann locomotive on display in my hobby workshop. I've also got boxes of scenery, bridges, buildings, track left over. I'm not willing to part with it though.

I really couldn't say what's good these days. There are quite a few starter kits out there. Even if you get a cheap one, most of the gauges are standardized. So an el cheapo Bachmann will work with Atlas stuff. However, Lionel IIRC uses a third rail system for power while most other sets use two rails. Lionel gear won't be compatible with third party gear then. I'd buy a common two rail system.

O scale is also quite big. Even HO was a bit big. We used to have an entire room dedicated to the "train table" in the basement. If you've only got a small space to dedicate it, you might want to go N Scale. They're less detailed but smaller and cheaper, and still pretty neat.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Think big! Summer's coming and who's going to bring the beer and snacks out to the backyard? The answer is G scale of course. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESwDbeQyF1A

 

[yhelothar]

I have a few HO scale models
http://www.amazon.com/LADY-FLASHING-...s=model+trains

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Think big! Summer's coming and who's going to bring the beer and snacks out to the backyard? The answer is G scale of course. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESwDbeQyF1A

Nice!

 

[dawp]

unless you can ride it, it ain't a train

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g44eKZPQzh8

skip to 4:40 to see them run, If I ever win the lottery I'm getting me one.

 

[thegimp03]

I loved trains when I was a kid, starting up with a wooden Brio train set and ending up with a Lionel. Lionel is pretty expensive for what it is, and once I got into video games I rarely had the motivation to put the time into setting up and playing with it.

 

[NoTine42]

The advantage of O scale is sharper turns, you can actually take more space with the smaller HO scale (because it is meant to use actual scale large radius turns)

For 5 or less, GeoTrax is really fun and nice (remote control / battery powered trains on locking plastic tracks)

Growing up, my dad refused to buy a 3rd set of saw horses because he knew he'd want to build a larger train set with 3 sheets of plywood with me

 

[Vdubchaos]

Funny, past 2 weeks I've been thinking about getting into it.

But my current interest is with Lego. 1/4 of our basement is dedicated to Lego Train/City. I think I'm going to continue with that as quality Models are NOT cheap. And you can't really take them apart/customize them like Legos.

We are currently on our 3rd Lego Train set. We bought yellow Cargo train last year and I already had High Speed Train from 10 years ago (just added 2 custom double deckers to it). I also have plates/wheels for a new custom one we just build.

TONS of tracks etc.

Mind you lego is not cheap either but you can take it apart and customize it gazillion times.

I think my High Speed train is worth tons of money. I've seen just the head car go for $250 a pop. I have 3 extra cars too....now 6 in total.

I still think I will get into Train Models down the line and maybe do a combination of Lego city/train and model trains.

From the research I've done past few weeks, it seems like HO scale is the way to go. Bachmann <something> series seems to be quality and most people recommend Athern, Atlas and Kato.

ALL are arm and a leg.....assuming you want the goodies (DSS/sounds etc). We are talking at least 100-150 a Locomotive for base.

There are cheaper models but from what I gather they are not worth getting/not as detailed (although I'm not exactly sure if I give a crap about "detail".

 

[Phoenix86]

Yeah I have an HO scale set that I like to jo onto with some buddies (im not gay) and kick them around like a monster.

Wat?

 

[yhelothar]

Wat?

See the post below it about the guy from Philly.

 

[Phoenix86]

See the post below it about the guy from Philly.

Ahh hell, I should have put that together w/o the link! I have seen it before but it didn't spark.

 

[Old Hippie]

unless you can ride it, it ain't a train

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g44eKZPQzh8

skip to 4:40 to see them run, If I ever win the lottery I'm getting me one.

The 1.5" live steam stuff is much more interesting.

They can come in machined/un-machined kits or completely built.

You can buy used, like the one in my link, for 8-10 grand or go big (4-8-4) for 50.

After my interest waned in my American Flyer and HO stuff I got into these @ 1964.

I still attend the steam meets in my area but the price point/practability factor has always been a little to high for me to purchase one.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I think the first step is figuring out what scale is best for you. I started with Lionel when I was young, but unfortunately was rough on trains.

If I had to buy a set now, I'd definitely look at N scale because the size is small enough to build a layout and store somewhere. When I was young, my dad helped me build an HO layout and we ended up using most of a sheet of plywood. It was a huge layout that took up a good portion of our den. Z scale is by far the smallest, but the cost is beyond anything reasonable.

 

[Fritzo]

 

[acheron]

My son is 2.5, loves his wooden train set, figure we'll try electric trains sometime in the next few years. I know there's some pieces at my parents' house somewhere -- I had a beginner set when I was young though I never played with it much because it didn't seem like we had any space for it; plus my grandfather had a larger layout at one point. No idea what shape any of that stuff is in though, so I'll have to dig them up and check them out.

 

[disappoint]

I wonder if Sigmund Freud had nice titties for a guy.








what? too soon?