Thanks for the earlier post and replies about getting into model trains. My question is a little different. Yes, my 5 year old is bored with pushing his wooden Thomas around and his three year old brother is losing interest. Having grown up with a Lionel around our Christmas tree, I would like to do the same for our children. It has been about 30 years so I have no idea about what is even a good brand for my price range. We are looking at starting with an “0” gauge set. And our budget is about $200-$300. Any suggestions on brands/models? They would both be very happy to break away from Thomas but would probably like something with a Christmas theme. Thanks All!
If you plan on packing the trains away after Christmas (too bad), a Christmas set is OK. Why not get a year-'round set and put candy and other Holiday related items in the freight cars? Besides, the winter theme set-up is enough, in my opinion. After all, the railroads didn’t repaint trains for the Holidays. Joe
The Polar Express or NYC Flyer sets get my vote.
Jim
[#ditto] on the NYC Flyer. Pennsylvania Flyer looks pretty good also if you want to go a little cheaper. You can add action acccessories each year.
Enjoy
Paul
Sorry for any misconception. I should have known better than refer to it as a “Christmas-only toy” in this forum. 
No, while it will be used at Christmas, we hope to have them play with it the remainder of the year as well. So, I was looking for advice for a good brand/model in my price range ($200-300). Also, no it does not need to be Christmas themed. But, on that note, any comments on the Polar Express outfit, K-Line 1409 Santa’s Christmas Parade Train Set or Lionel’s 2006 North Pole Central or the Bachmann On30 Christmas Train Set w/2-6-0? Thank you all for your input!
We have the Polar Express set and all the add-on cars. We run the set year round. My kids are small and love the Polar Express movie, so the set seemed like a natural. But there was another reason for buying it. I wanted one of Lionel’s new Berkshires. By purchasing the set, everyone got what they wanted, and I got an entire set for the cost of just the Railsounds Berkshire. I’d recommend this set. The Berk is quite a bit bigger than a starter set 4-4-2 steamer and is a strong puller.
We also have the NYC Flyer set. Another great set and great value for the money. Believe it or not, the 4-4-2 locomotive in this set is a very good puller. Ours lugs 10-15 cars around our layout routinely. The Railsounds (now called Trainsounds) are very good. Needless to say, I’d recommend this set as well.
Jim
Great info on the Bershire. Thanks so much for the tips everyone!
I hate to start a brand controversy, but do check out the MTH starter sets. You will get a much better transformer than with a Lionel.
At this site hit (shop now) and then do a catagory search on (0&0-27 Gauge Train Sets.)
This will give you a nice cross section of what is available in both brands.
It seems to me that the Polar Express would fill the bill in theme and price. I was strumming through an Historic Rail catalog last night and saw where they have a Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer set for $189.00 Not in a Christmas theme but maybe for that price you might be able to add some theme.
Go with HO scale. you have a wide seliction to pick from and at www.walthers.com you can pick what set you would like, the price range, even the scale. I went there to day they have some great sets for under $75.
I use nickle sliver, Life-like, power-loc track. snaps together and it’s up off the carpet so if let’s say water is spilled next to it. the track will not be on wet carpet insted it’s on a plactic elivated roadbed. but stay away from Bachman power packs they get hot if you change the speed of the train often and use it for more than 20 minets, Atlas is a good brand. Train shows help if you are short on cash. I got a load of stuff for $18, and spent most of it in the first hour I was there.
Colby Miles
age 13
Maine
JusTrains has the K-line Santa Set for just $100 (without transformer). I just recieved mine and am very impressed!
Jim H
I suggest a lionel prewar starter set. A 1684,1688e type with the freight cars or pullmans. Easy to service, parts availability. made in the U.S.A with pride and should be around the 300 buck range for a nice set
Chris, you couldn’t have picked a better time for purchasing a starter set. Lionel is really putting out starter sets in several roadnames, and they are selling them in chain stores like Target. MTH had all but cornered the market in ready-to-run starter sets until Lionel’s resurgence in this endeavor. Both brands have their strong points.
MTH engines in starter sets are smooth runners with a lot of heft. The rolling stock will be sturdy and handsome. The transformers are plug and play, and the banana plugs are easy to hook up and get running.
On the Lionel side, their new FasTrack system is fabulous, and there are a lot of add-on sections available now. Something about that big orange box just grabs your attention.
Or, you can bite the bullet, purchase a top of the line transformer (Z4000) and a complete circle of O-54 Gargraves track, and top it off with whatever you want. (as was my choice a decade ago before all these snazzy starter sets became available [V])
I recently purchased the Lionel Spokane Portland & Seattle starter set. While opening the individual orange boxes, I kept saying wow! I hadn’t been that excited in quite some time. Would definetely recommend this set to others…
Lionel’s Union Pacific Fast Freight Set with Trainsounds is a good one. My son got the Santa Fe version they did last year for Christmas . The set has the nice berkshire loco and a dump car and the uncoupling track. You can find these sets for around $240 which I think is great value for what you get.
I added a few Christmas items like the operating egg nog car to add more play value.
Enjoy
Nick
I agree with Jim about that 4-4-2. Its really a darn good little loco, pulls like a…uh, train! Runs well at low speeds too and still has enough speed to shoot off the curves and is strong enough to survive it, the paint still looks like new a year later and several of those slides. Whats more, its gotten better, it now smokes better than it first did and you wouldnt believe the weight it will pull. We put the cat in a big Lego crate balanced on a flatcar and gave him a short ride, he actually put up with it too! I wish I had a picture, he’s a Garfield sized animal with a major attitude problem but oddly enough he’ll let our little girl do things that anyone else would get lacerated for!
I agree with JOHN, check this site out he’ll give you a fair shake. Good guy to deal with.
laz57
Sorry to correct you fifedog, but MTH never was close to having the market cornered on starter sets and they are further away from that now. Having worked in the retail end of this hobby for some time, MTH was third in starter set sales behind K-Line and Lionel. Lionel has always done the bulk of sales in the 3-rail hobby and the bulk of Lionel’s sales are from non-command starter sets and traditionally sized starter retaed items.
Lionel has the name recognition that gets folks to look for a train set. During their run, K-Line had some very decent starter sets and on many an occasion I witnessed not an MTH set sale, but a K-Line set sale to a customer who had started off looking for a Lionel set.
None of this is to say MTH hasn’t and doesn’t make a decent starter set. There are certainly instances on a comparison where the quality of an MTH set exceeds the others, but so does the initial asking price. And both train magazines have criticized MTH for being so cheap with the initial offering of track in the starter set, first with only a circle, then with 2 additonal straight sections, and then 4. In my opinion, the skimpy amount of track included with MTH sets hurt their sales. Remember, the purchaser of a starter set is probably not a die-hard train guy (yet) and is looking for the best over all value and the most bang for the buck. While MTH may have had the best quality locomotive, the lack of a decent sized starter layout was a concern to many first time buyers I have talked with. And when Mom is holding the purse strings and helping to make the final decision, locomotive quality can easily fall behind the amount of track included in a starter set.
In my opinion, the lack of a decent amount of track in MTH starter sets was a critical error and a huge mistake that they have not yet recovered from in the arena of starter set sales.
And it seems to me that MTH has conceed defeat in this area as their starter set selection has gone down over the years, and the Rugged Rails line h
Point well taken, brianelO27.[swg]
I purchased the MTH #30-4157-1 Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Ten Wheeler set that has Proto-Sound 2.0 for $272.99 from Trainworld. The old time look of the ten wheeler is very nice for the holidays. I think the set is an incredibly great deal. Has solid engine, tender, box, tank, and bobber caboose that are 19th century. Nice transformer. The small amount of track is ok for me since I prefer a different brand of track anyways, so a lot of $ isn’t used in the set for track I would not use any ways. Lionel Fast Track seems to be very popular now so maybe you would want to start buying that however it is not “inexpensive”.
In a starter set I think the most important part is the engine and cars. And these are top notch. Any one who buys a starter set should buy more track and turnouts with the set because a kid will get bored quickly just watching the train go around in a circle.
There is also a Christmas version but if you are going to use it year round it would be limiting.
A couple inexpensive buildings would be nice to throw in too. Bacman and K-Line have a lot, plus the Lionel prebuilt lighted houses and businesses are a deal at the $12 to $16 blow out prices.
Before you buy maybe you should buy a copy of CTT or OGR magazine to see what is available out there and what different options cost. All the companies have catalogues that only cost a few dollars at your local hobby shop… MTH has a seperate 2006 Ready to Run Sets and Accessories mini catalog. Both Lionel and MTH have web sights that you can check out.
Lionel Thomas, Polar Express, and Holiday theamed sets are also very atractive.
Personal preference should be your deciding factor,
Paul Goodness