Need some basic info on G scale set

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

My dad enjoys setting up a G-scale train “village” at Christmas time in the courtyard at his house. He has several buildings and a variety of other decorations to build a small town with a railroad station and a couple of trains running through it. Each year he gets 500-600 visitors in the days leading up to Christmas and between Christmas and New Years.

The two engines and rail cars that he has are getting a little run down and it becomes a little more difficult to keep them operating and keep the tracks in good repair each year. So I would like to buy a new engine and cars for him to replace the more worn out of the two sets that he has.

The problem is I have nearly -0- knowledge of model trains in general. He tried to order a replacement train out of a catalog last year but, when it arrived, he found that it was very cheaply made with plastic gears and the like and was just not good quality at all so he wound up returning it.

So I’m looking for some advice on a good quality, basic set. As I indicated, this is more of a seasonal hobby for him. He doesn’t leave it set up all year long so spending a lot of money on a really nice train isn’t worthwhile but, at the same time, I am interested in something that can run continuously and will not breakdown after a few uses.

One side-note: My granddad was an engineer for the Santa Fe railroad back around the 1940s and 50s so an older style engine with Santa Fe markings from that era would be a plus (but not a requirement).

Any pointers would be appreciated.

2

Not trying to give you the brush off here but if you go into the forum index, you’ll see a Garden Railway section. Those guys can probably answere your question better. This section is mostly smaller gauge trains.

3

Do you have any idea what the brand name was of the one that he purchased but didn’t like? Many brands of G-scale trains have a nylon drive gear instead of metal, and you’re going to be hard-pressed finding one that does use metal gears.

G-scale trains and train sets come in more varieties than some of the smaller scales. Do you really need to purchase an entire train set, or just a replacement locomotive? Even here, you need to know several things before deciding what to get.

For example, if you want to purchase only the locomotive, what type of couplers are on his existing trains? Unless you know this, you’re likely to get an engine that can’t couple to his existing rolling stock without having to change a coupler; i.e., an LGB locomotive will have a different type of coupler than the one that comes on a Bachmann.

If you want to purchase an entire set, be aware that it will also come with track and a power pack, which he probably will have no use for. The track that comes in a Bachmann train set cannot be used outdoors. Train sets, too, are likely to have couplers that are incompatible with his existing cars or are of the wrong size. G-scale trains come in various sizes, such as 1:20, 1:24, 1:32, etc.

Whatever route you decide to persue, it would be worth your time to get on the Internet and check out some of the dealers and manufacturers, paying particular attention to the scale of the product offerings.

For steam, one of the more popular train sets would be a Bachmann, which are priced in the range of $140 to $160 from a dealer such as St. Aubin for Trains at http://www.staubintrains.com/trainshop/default.asp

Also check out the topics posted on the Garden Railways Magazine forum.

I’m sorry my answer isn’t more helpful to you, but the situation you’re encountering here is like saying, "I need to buy a part for my