Ok my brother inlaw wants to do something for his son for christmas. His son is 3 and is very bright and loves trains. When he gets up of the morning he can walk down stars and find the right tv remove out of about 5 that are there and punch in the channel numbers by him self with out any help to every cartoon channel there is.
So here is what we wher thinking about.
Lay out size: 4x8
Lay out build: 1x4 frame & blue foam inside the table frame.
Scale: HO
Track: Atlas Starter Set Along with some extra snap track
Power Supply: Backmann E-Z Command DCC & Analog w/ Locomotive
OR maybe just DC He has not desided yet!
So here is my questions about this project.
We want something that can be takin apart several times and put back together in a different track plain. So what is better to use? Atlas True-Track or just atlas snap track?
If he does the dcc system, will it be easy for his child to reprogram an engine on the main and not mean to do so?
I think if you are going to be re-doing the track plan a lot, some snap-together track with roadbed attached would be best. Kato Unitrak is the best but also the most expensive. The bachmann and Atlas track is good too though.
At this point I would not go with DCC, you will probably only run one engine at a time I’m assuming, and remember, upgrading is as simple as switching power supplies.
The Atlas snap track has been the defacto standard in the hobby for over 40 years. There are more pre-defined track plans available for that particular type of track than any other. As a child I spent hours rearranging it in all different sorts of layouts. I learned more doing that and wiring them up than probably anything else in the hobby. The True-Track has a very limited number of pieces greatly reducing the possibilities. I don’t believe I started doing this until six or seven years old though. Before that time I just ran the trains on the track my father had put down, or played with some “Brio” type toy trains. I learned a lot from those too.
Depends on the DCC system. Unfortunately I don’t have knowledge of the DCC system mentioned. I would say no, on both mine (Digitrax and Lenz) it is a pretty long chain of commands to program on the main. But even if he could, what difference would it really make? Worst case is to put the loco back on the programming track and do a re-set. I think I would start with the DCC system.
P.S. I used to use double sided sticky tape or thumb tacks to hold my temporary layouts onto the board.
Why not just do a simple non-electrical, wooden Thomas the Train layout. Your nephew can push the train around the track and use his imagination to build the layout into whatever configuration he can come up with. The track pieces and trains are fairly hardy and would hold up very well to any inadvertent mistreatment. It’s also very portable and can be easily transported to other locations and destinations.
We have talked about that also but the price of the wooded stuff is more then the electric stuff. Yes it is stronger, but he is a well behaved child and I think with his father being with him while around the lay out he should be fine.
My twin boy/girl grandkids turned 4 Sunday and they love toy trains. We went both directions. They have their wooden trains and it is great to let them figure the track layout and just play. They also have an American Flyer circle / oval mounted on indoor outdoor carpet covered plywood. Manual switches to keep it simple simple simple. I let them use lower end locos (21160, 21165) and cars with supervised play. The wood layout allows creativity and carefree play, and with the electric layout they can play and not have to fiddle with fussy equipment as the attention span when things are not moving wanes fast. The side benifit of the small electric oval is after train maintenance it is a great test track.
James, I also would vote for wooden trains. My 7 and 9 year olds still play with their Whittle Short Line trains http://www.woodentrain.com/ long after they lost interest in Thomas the more realistic wooden trains are much loved. I consider them the best value toy I have ever purchased because of the years of play value. For one thing they can play with them on their own without supervision. I would not want a 3 yr old deciding to plug in a transformer on their own so that they can “play trains”. Having said that, based on my own experience young boys can learn to handle HO equipment and get it on the track without damaging it. The other thing I would say is that kids of this age get bored very quickly with a train that just goes around and around. They have alot more fun pushing the trains than just watching, even if they have control over the throttle. I think that the bottom line is that a little lad is far more interested in operation than just running and pushing gives them more control over the operation.
For a 3 year old, have you considered a Thomas the Tank Engine set from Bachmann instead of the Atlas starter set?
I agree with the assessment of others concerning DCC – keep things as simple as possible now by using a DC power pack. DCC can come later as the child’s experience dictates.
I too would recommend a wooden train for this age. That way he can take it apart and put it together different ways by himself. When he gets a little older, get him a Lionel or American Flyer with sounds and smoke. Add some action accessories. For most boys putting things together and taking them apart is a big part of their learning experieince. And action is where it’s at.
Don’t be surprised if he sets up a couple of train wrecks.
O.k., here is my two cents/experience. He who we refer to as “The Boy” became obsessed with trains the minute he could obsess over anything. We started with the wooden trains. He still has those and still plays with them all the time (he’s six now). For his fourth birthday daddy built him 4 X 8 layout in the garage. Two loops, a crossover, and one siding. We used all Bachmann EZ track and bought him the Thomas HO equipment. He mastered that within minutes, including putting trains on the track and such. Within a year he decided he wanted more realistic equipment and started spending his allowance at the train store on low end Model Power and such cars. As for the watching the trains go around, even at six he’ll only run trains for a bit then pull the powered stuff off of the track, pop on his dummy diesels and then push stuff for hours. Allows more freedom in his imagination and play.
As for dcc. He had that mastered at four also. He could use daddy’s Atlas system and now can operate the NCE Powercab. So long as he can see the number on the side of the engine he is good to go.
Rules to govern if they’re ready: fine motor control with their hands, maturity in their attitude towards the equipment, and their overall interest level. To a less extent: actual age.
All the replies here have ignored one caveat you will see on every packaged train set sold. “Not recommended for children under eight years of age.” A youngster may not realize he can’t place his fingers between the prongs of a plug as he places in a socket without getting one hell of a shock.
I say NO to a child under 10 who wants to use a DCC system. Start with a non electrical Thomas trainset. A good complete set will cost a little bit of money but with sufficient track and equiptment allow the kid to explore all the possibilities and allow the boy to build layouts like Daddy does.
Such a Thomas set might be a draw to other neighborhood kids who might bring thier own thomases over to run. Next thing ya know you might have the entire Isle of Sodor being brought to life in your home. All out of wood.
The key to a child’s enjoyment is control. I would rather that child to control wooden peices that are harmless by themselves instead of being in charge of a computer system backed by house power with some very scary problems without supervision.
I am fearful of what a bad short driven by 8 amps can do in the way of fires and other damage in my house and you think a CHILD will be able to do it any better than me? No way. My own Chief commands respect and total understanding of the power that it holds off the house electricity.
You dont want to program on the main. You risk erasing everything else if the codes get fat fingered. Or slimed with PB and J. (Or worse…)
I had an HO set at 7 that I could call my own. The engines were DC analog with a very sturdy powerpack. I put the trains thru every problem possible including crashes and top speed flying off the track.
I think you must have a stout heart to think that several hundred dollar engine with DCC and sound can survive destruction at the hands of a giggling child.
Another problem is the detail parts are so small they probably can go right down the throat of a child and perhaps get stuck or other problems. I bet you that parts will get consumed along the way.
Eventually the child will develop the skills with motor control of his body and move on to the higher mental understanding of binary and CV’s etc… dont worry by the time they hit 16 they are going to be wanting cars with computeri
Also it maybe worth bearring in mind that he may grow out of trains. My boy was nuts about them at that age, now he finds the subject as interesting as collecting stamps. Sits infront of the tv most of the time playing dam games[:(] I’d go with the idea of cheap to start with and see how it pans out over a couple of years. Kids are like women at that age, change their mind like the weather[:)]
I have to disagree somewhat about what young kids can do. I watched my friend’s kid play Quake 2 online against other much older human players and he was in the lower middle of the pack. Young kids can figure out computer stuff pretty quickly. They would probably figure out the HD TV faster then mom and dad. My boy figure out the basic’s of the remote control 12 months old thru trail and error and tinkering. (On/off, channel up/down)
I would still start with a wooden train and see how strong their interest is. An HO set would be fine as long as the kid is supervised and Dad doesn’t mind spending time playing trains. Now if the HO set is going be SHARED with dad, then hey go ahead. I can look back on my own childhood (70’s) and see a missed oppertunity for my Dad and I if he had spent time helping with my 4x8 layout. (we did do other things)
Hello: I have a 7 1/2 year old boy who has been obsessed with trains since he was a toddler. He is THE reason I moved from arm chair modeler to having a fully operational (yet to start with the scenery) 8’ x 13’ “U” shaped N-Scale layout. We started Matthew w/ Brio & Thomas at about 1 1/2 - which he played with all the time until he was about 7. What was interesting was until he was about 5- 5 1/2 he wasn’t interested in running the N-Scale, he wanted to push them. I had some older pieces for him to use. We hooked up DCC this spring and he runs them just fine. Basic operations but he loves it. I never go by age recommendations, just common sense. I by no means am an expert railroader but always explained to him my logic in what & why I was building the layout a certain way. He would try to copy it with his Thomas layout. Start small and keep adding - you will have Christmas and birthdays covered for years. Have fun!!!
FWIW, I was given my first train set, Lionel 027, at the ripe old age of five months and four days. By the time I’d stopped using the box car for a teething tool I had mastered speed control and throwing manual turnouts (having long before mastered rerailing after “wrong turnout” derailments.)
I stopped putting things in my mouth before my third birthday, so the size of things I was given had become a non-issue.
If the children in question fit my profile, all they might need to run an HO model train would be a rerailer - not the one in the track, but one of those flat, spatula-looking things used to place rolling stock on the rails. I, personally, would go Atlas snap-track, powered snap-switches, knuckle couplers and analog DC to begin with - unless this is actually Pop’s sneaky way to get his own hobby interest under Mom’s radar. If that’s the case, DCC will simplify control requirements.
Thomas has his place, and the sets in the Walthers sale flier are inexpensive, but he will wear out his welcome just about the time that the junior railroader discovers that a road switcher has a front coupler and that breakfast food boxes can be cut down to make ersatz buildings next to stub-ended sidings. Once he makes that connection the die is cast, and the youngster will never lose interest in the hobby.
Chuck (happily running trains more than 68 years after that first Christmas)
There is another option, kind of half way in between wood and electric train sets. They do make Thomas stuff in a “come along” series. It is plastic, both the track, engines and cars. They have unpowered engines and also battery powered locos including one with steam and sound. The track is “sectional” and can be arranged and re-arranged as necessary. My girlfriends boys love playing with it and making their own layouts. The stuff is available at Target , Wal Mart, etc.
Even Lego makes a train set. As mentioned in my previous post, the main reason for suggesting the wooden train layout:
It gives a youngster the liberty to use his imagination - He/she can arrange/rearrange the track into whatever configuration they can come up with. And there’s no wires to fuss with.
It’s very transportable - You can tear it down and take it with you on a trip to a relative or friend’s house in a cardboard box.
With that said, I was playing with my brother’s American Flyer layout when I was 2. But I was more content with pushing cars around the layout than actually running trains.
It’s the greatest. Trust me, a 3 year old will get bored with “real” model trains. These trains are the best thing. They are all remote controlled, cost about $15 for a complete train & transmitter, can all operate indepandantly at the same time, have many “industries” that operate, track available for just about any configuration, operate on batteries, have “sound”,can be “pushed” along (unlike HO) when desired, and are EXTREMELY durable.
I must spend about 3+ hours a day with my 2 year old playing Geotrax. It’s really fun.
We’ve tried the wooden trains (yawn) and the plastic Thomas (zero control) and they cannot compare. I’ve invested quite a bit in the Geotrax and do not regret it at all. My living room has become a 14 x 22 foot Geotrax empire!