My 4 year old is fascinated with model trains. I want to give him a set for his 5th birthday, but don’t know where to begin. I don’t want something extremely kiddy, but I don’t want anything to hard to operate either. I would like something that can grow with him.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
albuck,
First off: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]
For a 4-year old, you might want to consider a Brio or Thomas the Train layout “non-electric” train set. The track is dismantlable and he can use his imagination to put it in any configuration he wants. It’s interactive because he pushes the train around the layout. It also makes for easier storage when the layout is “not in use”.
If the love for trains continues to blossom, a “good” electric train set when your son is a little older will be a fun and anticipated present when he’s ready for one.
My [2c]…
Tom
I can recommend an HO or On30 Bachmann Spectrum set. It comes with Nickel Silver track (easier to keep clean=better running) an upgraded power pack, and the equipment is good quality.
The cost is a bit more, and you’ll want to help him with it… (not suitable for pushing across the playroom floor carpet!) but if you show him how to take care of it, he’ll have it for years to come.
The less expensive Bachmann sets would be okay, too, but they’re not as durable. On the other hand, if something gets broken, you’re not out a whole lot of money.
The On30 sets are nice because the equipment is a larger scale, but still operates on HO scale track. You’ll find more accessories available for HO scale, though.
Lee
I am sure you are aware that a five year old wants a toy, not a hobby. It may grow into a hobby but not soon. The keys to a toy are they are fun to play with, it does not matter if they break, and they seem easy to the child. Good luck.
If you want a hobby, be aware that the children will tire of it soon and tend to break what you have done. There is not as much overlap as we would wish.
[#welcome]Most 5 year olds do not have the manual dexterity to use HO equipment very well. Also, as previously mentioned, he wants a toy, not a hobby. The wood sets mentioned are excellent for kids, but if you want something a little more fun for yourself (we all started with our kids this way!!) that is also useable for your son, try a Lionel O gauge set. The larger size and heavier construction make them more “kid friendly”. If he has seen the Polar Express, Lionel has a P E set, and by playing with him - making believe the train is skidding on the ice - going down a steep mountain - serving hot chocolate (these are my grandson’s favorite scenes!!) - it is more of a toy. The soundtrack of Polar Exp is available, and playing it while running the P E set can add to the “realism”!! If he grows into the hobby later, all the better, but for a few years he can have a fun toy. Taking him to see real trains can be another part of helping his fascination with them. Happy RRing [:)]
The suggestion of a wood set is a good one. Thomas and Brio are good choices. If you want a step up there are the Whistle Stop Trains.
Now if you are looking for yourself and using your son as an excuse, that’s a different story.
Hello and Welcome I have a 5 year old girl and she loves trains I have a ho scale layout and she helps me with some stuff but not a lot yet. She can be a bit hard on them at times so I have to watch her when she helps. But she has a Thomas layout made by Tomy and has a lot more fun with it. It can be pushed on the floor or it can run on batteries some AA or C so it runs like mine she says. You can find it on ebay or walmart. Here is one of are layouts. Have fun Frank.
0-6-0, that’s great - but I count 25 locos + a ton of other stuff!! That’s about 2 Lionel Polar Express sets!! But if she likes it - GREAT!![:)]
I tend to second the wooden trains suggestions by the other members. I also second the lionel trains if you must have an electric train set. These things are rugged and durable, and my Grandfather’s Lionel Set can still take a pounding considering the average age of all the components is 50 years old.
James
Hey, and Welcome
I got my first train set when i was five, i was interested into conrail because the tracks ran right by my house then, and i did not witnessthe fall of conrail which i’m glad i moved before i saw any patched units. But i wanted a hobby, and my father liked trains too, so it was a match, i got a conrail gp35 train set from bachmann for christmas in 1997. I love that engine and i still have it i still run it to this day even when i have newer engines. But Bachmann is a great way to start, trains help me build a good hooby that i can share with my Dad, and my grandfather. But get something durable, the new atlas train man sets are nice quality.
heres the link
http://www.atlastrainman.com/HOLoco/tmhotrainset1.htm
Yet bachmann is nice, like others have said kids like toys and maybe this may be a building block for a nice hobby in the future.
Tjsingle
I have a little different opinion then most of the other posters here.
My son was born 3 days before Christmas. I was working at a hobby shop, and on Christmas Eve at close, I bought an HO Bachmann train set. I set it up around the tree for 3 Christmas’s before he figured out he had a train. [:D] That’s where it all went downhill!
I got my old HO layout from my parents house, rebuilt it, and set it up on 24" legs. I showed him how to use it, and let him run his own equipment on it. I also got him a Brio “Bucket”, since he had fun playing with them at the train stores.
The brio is still almost new. He played with it some, but it just didn’t have the appeal for him the “real” trains did.
He’s now 16, and still has all of his original equipment, and still runs trains on the layout,although not as much as he used to, ( you know, there’s girls, cars and dirt bikes to play with ).
So my opinion, FWIW, is you are never TOO young for model trains!
Rotor
I would lean towards wood or something made with batteries. That being said…
My first train was a simple over/under wood set. By age five, I was already abusing my eldest brothers Lionel trains every chance I could get. That thing survived 3 boys & 2 girls and never broke. That same brother also had lots of HO trains, which he kept hidden from me for many years. My first real set was N scale and guess I was perhaps 7 or 8 years old. I ran the heck out of that little set and it also survived endless hours of abuse. Rather emarkable when I think about all the highballing and countless flying off the track episodes. My [2c] worth.
***Frank, I don’t think your daughter has enough locos yet.[(-D] (that’s a wonderful setup)
[C):-)] Rob
Purely my opinion…my son received a GEOTRAX train set when he was 4 or 5 and for the next 3 christmas’s we bought an expander set or 2 for it. He is now 9 going on 14 and still gets it out on occasion, especially during the colder months. It is durable plastic, battery powered with hand held remotes (also battery powered). The track has being assembled and ripped apart about a hundred times and still performs well.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=geotrax
The batterys last surprising long as well.
You could end up with what happened to me, my son was given a train set at 5 years old. He and my other children enjoyed running the trains on the 4x8 for a year or so… BUT I WAS HOOKED. Have been modeling trains since.
This was a cheapo Bachman set, after 4-6 months we were running Athearn on Atlas nickle silver flex track.
I agree that there is no schedule that applies to all kids the same. My son (who is now nine) got his first trains for Christmas when he was 4 1/2. We started immediately with DCC, a Bachmann Spectrum saddle tank 0-6-0 (I had never before used a soldering iron, but I managed to get the decoder in.) and some freight cars. A half year later, for his birthday, an Athearn Genesis F3 followed. We still have these engines, and you will not find any missing parts. The only thing I avoided was anything with elaborate handrails. So far, his “record” of breaking something is not much worse than mine.
Well it depends waht you think he is ready for responsibility wise. A wooden train set is good if you think he will break something, since those are pretty hard to mess up. If you don’t think he will, Athearns or Bachmanns are pretty good, stay away from Life-like and most tycos.
I had a wooden set at 3, at 5 I had an electric set that kept growing util I was about 6. (move destroyed most of it). At around 15 I bought myself a newer bachmann set with an F9 for 30 bucks since my LL Gp38-2s and F7s sucked. I was impressed with that unit for it’s power and queitness at the time, and it was just what I needed (I was in a haitus, that lone bachman F9 got me back in majorly). I had that until a few days ago, when I gave it and the set away to a freind’s sons, so they would start off with something good. I only regret giving 2 kids one trainset, hopefully they will learn to share.
OK. Go here:
And click on “getting started”. Then select your child’s age group for some decent advice from the experts in trains for kids.
Remember, this is a corporate site built to promote its products, but…
Lionel has always historicaly been the trains for little hands, and they are durable, able to take the abuse a four or five year old will dish out, and they can be loads of fun for mom and dad, too. The accessories are animated, making for a lot of visual and audio entertainment for your child. Many on this board had their starts I am sure, with a Lionel train. I know I did, and it did not keep me into “larger” trains, but it did allow me to enjoy electric trains, with parental supervision of course, at the age of 4. Lionel basically launched a lot of us on the path to scale model trains, which has for many of us, lasted a lifetime.
Good luck and welcome.
Here is my [2c]. Thomas Track master sets. The enignes are all motorized (though they do eat up batteries so recharables are a good idea) You can get quite a few cars. It is very simalar to the tomy stuff but it’s the new generation of it. It’s not all that expensive I recently got my 2 year old son a couple of sets. He loves my trains and Thomas of course so Ithought it would be a good idea. He doesn’t quite grasp putting it together yet but he has an absoulte ball with it. It can be found at any wal-mart I’m sure. Thats where I got mine. Anywy point of the matter is it takes a good beating and keeps on going, it’s in expensive if it breaks, and for a five year old it would be very easy to make his own layouts.
I have to put in a STRONG vote for the Brio (or Brio generic) train sets. They are durable and are wonderful for the young toddler’s fingers and imagination.
I got one for my daughter when she was about three and added to it for most every Christmas and birthday for a good number of years there after. It has even been out on the front room floor, with friends over, in her early teen years.
No they are not cheap, but very well suited for the youngster that wants to “play”. A comment was made earlier on about “pushing” a train about…Hey, that’s what the three, four and five (even older) kids want to do! They want to make it go and a power pack is useless if you have hands!
A hard part for me and perhaps for others too, is to remember that when looking for a “train-set” for the toddlers it’s a toy to play with and not a hobby to play with. The hobby may come, but with a toddler the playing is a must…And some of the stuff may be destroyed in the process. The little beasts! (That’s with a he-he)
GOOD GRIEF! Did all of that come in one set?? That’s almost more track than I had on my first layout!