hello, I’ve never owned a train before and really know very little about them. But I have recently wanted to get one for my daughter. I came across this one http://www.buddyltoytrains.com/buddy-l-toy-train-set.html at a local store, but not knowing anything about trains, or what to look for I didn’t know if this was a good one or not. I did read a few articles about picking out your first train, but it didn’t list this scale or this company. Any advise/ insight/ or opinions about this set, company or what to look for or keep in mind would be while shopping for a train would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance
sao
That is a heck of a first train.
First of all is it for you or your daughter. If it is for your daughter, I’d not spend a lot on spec. I got what I thought what my kids would like, and they both could care less. My 12 year-old daughter joined our train club and quit after a month. Now she doesn’t want to have anything to do with trains. My eight-year old son, goes hot and cold. Sometimes is very into them. Other times, he’s bored. I on the other hand am having a blast.
So if it is for you. Take your time and get what you want. That takes deciding what you want. Try to buy to the era, location and road name, you think would be fun to model. If you don’t know, take the time to research and figure it out. IF you don’t, your first train will be a throwaway anyway, so don’t get something expensive.
Welcome aboard, sao.
As usual, Chip has given you good advice. How old is your daughter? How receptive will she be to trains (which may be a great unknown)? Is this going to be a “permanent” railroad or one to be set up when used and taken down when not? I know, I’m asking a lot of questions.
Scale is a function of a lot of things, including available space, age of the user, desire to “big” equipment, desire to superdetail equipment, etc. Brand will also be partially based on the scale.
So, as you guessed, there is no easy or single answer.
welcome to the forum…like chip said…is it for your daughter or for you?..my kids also played with their train sets for only a few days and that was the end of their interest in it and it eventually ended up in dad’s collection…(they’re both grown now and have left the nest and still think their dad is weird for playing with model trains)…it is a nice train set but g-gauge is pretty expensive if you plan on expanding it further…a lot of folks do outdoor layouts in G gauge and some of them get pretty elaborate…if it’s for your daughter I’d find out if she’s really into it and if not, maybe you can get her a nice HO or O gauge set until the new wears off and she loses interest in the hobby…most of us here at the forum are diehard railroad enthusist and we spare no expense to add to our layouts…but then again…we do this because we have such a love affair with trains and it’s in our blood and we can’t shake it…that’s why we do what we do and our layouts get so involved…chuck
If you want large scale, you might take a look at the Bachman offerings… A little less expensive, unless there’s some particular reason you must have the Buddy-L set… For example,
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/catalog/?function=detail&id=35
Retail price $365…
Good luck,
Jeff
I would like to add my voice to those who caution you about imparting what is clearly an emotional interest in doing something good for your daughter, and then matching that with something that has temporary appeal to the vast majority of people, young and old. Everyone is thrilled when they see a fairly decent train on a fairly decent layout. But after 10-20 minutes, if they were not already pursuing the hobby themselves, their interest will wane.
Children are programmed explorers. They seek diversion and learning. They will enjoy most things that move you, but not necessarily justified by the expense that you envision. If other people’s children lose interest by New Years Day, the chances are high that your daughter will be no different. Of course, if you have already determined that she is gung-ho for model trains (have you exposed her to club layouts in the area? Has she asked you for trains, or does she spend time at another child’s layout? If not, you may be fooling yourself…as is our point.) the this advice is moot.
Good luck, however you proceed.
Start off with an inexpensive train set if it is for your daughter as you stated. If she has a growing interest in the hobby, then you can expand as dictated. But if she is not interested, as so many kids are today ,( too much candy in the candy store, so I don’t know which one I want ) then you will not have invested too much hard earned money.
Now dad, shhhhhhhh, if this is REALLY for you, then HO scale is the most common, therefore has more to offer in equipment than other scales like Z, N, ON3, O, S, G. N sclae is the next most common scale, and is an excellent choice if you do not have a lot of room for a layout.
Good luck dad,
Thanks for everyones replies so far, definately gives me some stuff to consider. I was a bit sketchy on the details, which was part of the reason I didn’t know much about the scale. I actually saw it in an ad, the wife saw it in the store [:I] I saw it after I wrote that post though and it is pretty good size, looks alot smaller in the ad [D)] I was leanin towards that specific brand and model as it was only $100 bucks at Tuesday Morning (store with the ad) and I thought that was a good dealas I always thought of trains as being super expensive. (was it a good deal?) My daughter is just 3 right now, but I guess if I were to be truthful I always wanted a train as a kid, wake up Christmas morning type thing and it’s going under the tree (bit corny I know) , and so was going to do it really for that reason, so that she had that experience. And just thought the 100 bucks was too good of a deal to pass up even though she is really young and we could probably hold off for a few years. But it does interest me, and the more I have been reading about it and thinking about all that goes into setting up scenery and what not, I started thinking, hey that’s something we could do together, bonding sort of thing for when she gets older. I went ahead and bought it as there were only two left when I got there. The size thing I like, especially after someone mentioned others having outside setups. I’m an outside sort of person [:D] So I might be posting here more than I originally thought, as maybe when the truth is told it is more for dad than daughter [:)] someone else did mention having a hard time findings stuff for larger models, how big of a hassle will that be in the future, also for adding onto the train?
sao
Welcome. Something you may be interested in doing is buying a couple of train magazines or books. Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Trains magazine, Continental Modeller(can be difficult to find in the US), Railway Modeller etc are all pretty good in my opinion. Filled with info about different scales, eras and railroads. Ah this is the greatest hobby. Would be great if you and your family could all enjoy it together.
That seems like a very good deal. hopefully you will get that bond, and i’m glad you got something you can also enjoy. However, heed the advice in the posts above. Welcome.
Hey I just bought one too!! It’s really for my 4 yr old son 
For $99 bucks I couldn’t pass it up. It’s very heavy and the construction looks ok. I just hope it runs on Christmas Day!
I will let you all know…
corny ??? do you have any idea how many of us here got into this obssesion , uh i mean hobby in exactly the same way , on a christmas morning many years ago ? [:D]
for $100 that looks like a really nice set , although i have no idea of the quality of the manufacturer . the bachmann big hauler set mentioned above at $365 is actually available for $180 and up from online discounters , and bachmann G scale is pretty good quality
you might also like to look into the bachmann On30 sets , smaller than G but still big enough to not be totally frustrating for children to deal with
http://www.internettrains.com/noname16.html
On30 is also fast becoming a very popular scale with lots of kits available , it’s small enough that you can build a layout on a 4x8 sheet of plywood (if you don’t have more room) which is pretty hard in G
another quick noob question for you all. I was going to hook the train up to make sure it worked, laid out two pieces of track, put the train on, plugged it in and turned the dial, it didn’t move. The instructions say the engine takes batteries which I haven’t put in, but I’m guessing those are just for the light and smoke. So does the track have to be complete? I can’t for the life of me think why it would, but I can’t think why else the train wouldn’t go either. I know this has to be obvious, but It isn’t coming to me…
thanks [:)]
sao
From what I have read on the Garden Railways magazine and other large scale forums, Buddy L is the cheapest of the cheap and is very poorly built. I have never even looked at one, but it sounds like you might have one with a bad motor. Look for an on/off switch on the locomotive. Like they say, when all else fails, read the instructions. You may have a defective power pack. If you have a voltmeter, measure the power pack’s output terminals and across the track to see if power is getting to the rail. An automobile light bulb and short pieces of wire can be used to perform this test, too, if you don’t have a meter. You’re right about the batteries – they should only be for the sound effects. As a last resort, you could hook a car battery to the track, or take the train out to your car and touch the wires to the battery terminals and see if the train runs. If it does, then the problem is with the power pack.
You’d be better off with a Bachmann Big Hauler set if you want to go with G scale, but it sounds like you’ve already made your choice and purchased the Buddy L. I run Bachmann steam engines on my outdoor layout and have been very satisfied with their appearance and performance, but mine are not the locomotives that come in a train set. Unfortunately, too many people consider only price when they buy a train set, get a bad one, and are then discouraged from ever trying another one.
If your daughter is only 3, a large scale train is certainly better than N or HO, because there are not so many small, fragile parts that can be broken off and swallowed. At her age, attention span is still only a few minutes, so don’t be surprised if she walks away from it and shows no further interest after the first day. Warnings on most train boxes, even G scale sets, say they are for ages 8 and up.
For sure read the instructions first. you may need to put together a loop of track or install the batteries to get it to work. For yourself, consider getting a copy of Playing With Trains by Sam Posey which gives you a great overview of the hobby as well as his experiences involving his kids (and even his wife). And besides it’s a good read. Good luck to you. J.R.
“I’m buying this train set for my kid” is one of those profound self-deceptions, like “I can quit smoking anytime I want” or “I’m only going to eat ONE chocolate bonbon.”
Which is just fine. It’s a necessary step. We want to provide that train-set-around-the-tree experience for our kid because it’s something WE wanted. If the kid plays along with the gag that’s nice, but very often the trains are a phase for the kid and a decades-long, highly satisfying obsession for Dad (and sometimes Mom.) But the kid will become susceptible to the same bug, once they have kids of their own and they start thinkig of you fondly instead of the awful tyrant you were when you wouldn’t let them borrow the car, and their fond memories of Dad’s trains brings another generation into the fold.
I don’t have kids. My trains are strictly for myself–although I have, so far, bought one train set for one of my nephews.