Gomez Adams LMAO!!! I forgot all about that! He was always blowing his trainsets up huh. Classic man.
If you want to keep yourself, and your “understanding” wife (bless her) sane, keep it flat…at least for this year. Remember, Christmas layouts go up in only 8 weeks (sooner in my house). Have fun! Joe
Yes, it is now…but when FasTrack first came out, they only offered a uncoupler-only section. Very recently they offer the combo you speak of, but I’ve not actually SEEN one at my well-stocked dealer. I’ll look at York tommorrow. I’ve been using the old-style operating track hooked-up to FasTrack “transition” sections. To make things more confusing, the FasTrack won’t fit into my older milk can platform(and by “older”, I mean 1 year older). So here’s the bottom line: the new combo piece is #6-12054, not to be confused with #16-12020 uncoupling-only. If you find the combo track, make sure it fits into the operating train unit you are buying. Joe
I like the On30 idea.Being O scale the trains would be the right size for the village,and it runs on HO guage track so you can switch easier to HO if you get bitten by the bug[:)]!
Thanks, Joe
I only have old track, and know nothing about Fastrack, other than seeing it at my buddy’s house.
Lionel’s web site has a delivery date of Dec05 for 6-12054. I guess that’s why the TrainStation sells an item that takes it place … TS-50P …(second item down on the following list):
http://www.train-station.com/cgi-local/ebshop.pl/page=polar_frame.html/SID=PUT_SID_HERE
It seems like they just jimmy an old operating track to fit into the Fastrack. $50 ! Dang.
Jim
You might pick an scale ruler and check your xmas village out, then go from there[2c]
And[#welcome] to the forum.
JIM
Holy Cow! Aren’t you glad you started this thread? Hope we have’nt confused you too much, and hope I have’nt given you a “FasTrack Headache”. Plan B would be to put the Christmas tree in the bathtub and run radio controlled boats. Is there a lighthouse among those buildings? Joe
Well Joe, I dont have too much of a headache but I think I will give that place a cal and see what they have for options for the setup I want and let them guide me. Once it is here I think I can hook it up just fine as long as I have the right stuff to do it with. Thanks for everyones help!
My recommendation:
A Lionel set to start with. Lionel is something of a Christmas tradition–has been for many years–and the trains are a pretty good match for Dept. 56 “Snow Village” buildings and most of the others that have tried to copy the success of the “Snow Village” series. Also, the trains are large and rugged, and will hold up well over long periods of operation.
Lionel sets made today come with their FasTrack line–a very rugged and nicely designed sectional track system. FasTrack is more expensive than the traditional tubular track for three-rail O gauge, but it’s worth the extra cost, particularly for an on-the-floor layout. You would definitely want to buy additional track sections, depending on how large a layout you want to have. Don’t go overboard, though, until you have some experience with the train and can more accurately determine what you can do in the space you have available.
I’m recommending Lionel because of the “tradition” factor and because you can always keep that train for around the Christmas tree over the years and switch to some other scale for a more permanent model railroad if the model railroading bug bites.
I collect O gauge (Lionel-size) Christmas trains, and have a good number of Christmas trains made by Lionel, MTH, K-Line, and others. There is a whole lot of stuff out there to choose from–and I do mean a WHOLE LOT of stuff!
I might recommend that you consider Trainworld as a place to buy your first set (www.trainworld.com). But before ordering anything, pick up a copy of “Classic Toy Trains” magazine at your local Barnes & Noble or other bookstore, and go through the ads to see what is offered, and at what price. Be a good consumer, and do a bit of homework before buying.
I do not have the Polar Express set, but I do have a good number of Lionel Christmas locomotives, cars, and sets in my collection. Instead of the Polar Express, I chose to buy Lionel’s bright red “North Pole Cetral”