What is a good starter set for a newbie dad and his 3 year old son? Someone suggested Bachmann and someone else said they are cheap. Looking to buy an N Scale set. What about Spectrum? Atlas? Micro? Or Athearn? Also, is the Kato F7 starter set worth the higher price? What would be a good power pack (transformer) to go with it?
Any help would be appreciated.
Sorry, but almost no company sells a good starter kit, they tend to be Xmas toy sets. The Kato would be a good kit, it’s higher price reflects the quality. Your comment about higher price, and don’t take offense, is why there are few good quality starter sets. People balk at the higher prices and tend to buy the cheapest toys they can because “they are only toys.” It’s like RC cars, the $15 ones at walmart and the dollar store may basically look the same as the $200 ones at the RC store, but they don’t run the same and closer inspection reveal they also don’t look the same. All the names you dropped above are good quality, even the toy companies like Lifelike make toy and good ones, ie proto 2000. The difference is reflected in the price. FRED
I would caution that N scale may be a little delicate for 3 year old hands. Unless of course it is really for Dad 
Would you consider the Bachmann HO Thomas set, or do you want something a little more realistic?
You will probably be better off buying things separately, although you might buy a track kit - I have heard that the Kato Unitrack pack is good quality. You might end up with this in the Kato starter set.
Overall, if you go with a starter set, I think that you will need to budget a bit for expansion in the (near) future. Watching a train go round an oval, while soothing and hypnotizing, can get a little old.
Good luck, and good for you for sharing with your son. My daughter is two, and loves to watch my trains run. She yells “choo choo” and claps every time it makes a loop. She also like to drive it at full throttle…!
Andrew
N scale is a little bit small for a 3 year old. But 3 is the perfect train age (thweeee! It sounds like a “sick goose” air horn).
Best bet is a 3 rail O scale set with an engine that free wheels (wheels move w/o power). That way, your son can run trains when you’re not around.
You will hear that N scale isn’t suited for young kids; in fact, I was just re-reading a recent (last year or two) MR issue giving advise on layout scale sizes repeating this old mantra - HO or bigger is better for young kids. My response - horse hockey!
What size is Brio, Thomas the tank, Harry Potter, and the list goes on, trains for kids : they’re all designed to fit into the hand of a young tyke. If you go to Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc, you will find most toys designed to fit into the hands of a child, not an adult.
With N scale, you need to explain to your son that it is very special and expensive so he needs to look after it - I’m willing to bet he does. In fact, he’ll be better at re-railing cars and engines than you will, very quickly. Trust me, I learned this from experience.
As for a “set”, go to your local quality hobby shop, forthwith known as your LHS, and tell him you’d like to buy the works, engine, a couple of cars, track, a couple of turnouts, etc and ask him if he gives discounts when you buy like that (he does and if he doesn’t, it isn’t a good LHS). 10% is usually a “gimme” discount rate.
If you want to buy a scenery kit that will motivate you to get that layout up and quick (you’ll hear this often, trust me - “Dad, when’s the layout going to done?” - another version of - “are we there yet?”), I’d suggest you buy the Mountain Valley Scenery Kit by Woodland Scenics. Its a sleeper of a kit, designed for a 4 by 8, but so what if your layout is a bit smaller. This kit has everything you will need to get your scenery up, and I mean everything. About the only other thing you will need to buy are the structures.
By the way, about the only thing crappy about the kit, is the picture on the front box cover - the kit is way better than the picture implies.
JT (my 3 year old) totally enjoyed the n scale trains at our state fair (new mexico). One of the runners allowed him to hold his engine and JT did very well with it. The n scale is for both of us, he likes to help out and I have no doubt that he would be gentle with the cars.
I have my eye on a Kato F7 unitrack set ($105.00, no power pack). Is Kato and unitrack the way to go? What kind of power pack should we purchase?
R Wise
Edgewood, NM
If you have established that he can play with N-scale no problem - great! You will get a much more involved road in the space you have available.
My Local Train Shop (LTS) often has used power packs available. I got a MRC (Model Rectifier Corp.) Tech2 2400 in brand-new condition for under $50 CAN several years ago. You can probably find a better deal than that if you look a bit…
Andrew
Is Unitrack the way to go question is like saying you’ve just become Christian and what denomination do we recommend…lol. You will get lots of conflicting answers.
Unitrack is quality and will stand up to a lot of abuse. It is the easiest of most track to put together as you almost need zero electrical knowledge. The big limiting factor, or one of them is price - for track, very expensive.
What I would say is this: if you know for a fact you are into the hobby for the long haul, then consider learning about and using flex track and commercial (store bought) turnouts - it really isn’t that big a deal. If you really aren’t sure where you are in the hobby then get the Kato track. It will provide you and your youngster a quick entry into the hobby, with little commitment. If you are the type that moves a lot, Kato’s track is a good way to gol.
What is a good starter set for a newbie dad and his 3 year old son? Someone suggested Bachmann and someone else said they are cheap. Looking to buy an N Scale set. What about Spectrum? Atlas? Micro? Or Athearn? Also, is the Kato F7 starter set worth the higher price? What would be a good power pack (transformer) to go with it?
Any help would be appreciated.
Sorry, but almost no company sells a good starter kit, they tend to be Xmas toy sets. The Kato would be a good kit, it’s higher price reflects the quality. Your comment about higher price, and don’t take offense, is why there are few good quality starter sets. People balk at the higher prices and tend to buy the cheapest toys they can because “they are only toys.” It’s like RC cars, the $15 ones at walmart and the dollar store may basically look the same as the $200 ones at the RC store, but they don’t run the same and closer inspection reveal they also don’t look the same. All the names you dropped above are good quality, even the toy companies like Lifelike make toy and good ones, ie proto 2000. The difference is reflected in the price. FRED
I would caution that N scale may be a little delicate for 3 year old hands. Unless of course it is really for Dad Would you consider the Bachmann HO Thomas set, or do you want something a little more realistic?
You will probably be better off buying things separately, although you might buy a track kit - I have heard that the Kato Unitrack pack is good quality. You might end up with this in the Kato starter set.
Overall, if you go with a starter set, I think that you will need to budget a bit for expansion in the (near) future. Watching a train go round an oval, while soothing and hypnotizing, can get a little old.
Good luck, and good for you for sharing with your son. My daughter is two, and loves to watch my trains run. She yells “choo choo” and claps every time it makes a loop. She also like to drive it at full throttle…!
Andrew
N scale is a little bit small for a 3 year old. But 3 is the perfect train age (thweeee! It sounds like a “sick goose” air horn).
Best bet is a 3 rail O scale set with an engine that free wheels (wheels move w/o power). That way, your son can run trains when you’re not around.
You will hear that N scale isn’t suited for young kids; in fact, I was just re-reading a recent (last year or two) MR issue giving advise on layout scale sizes repeating this old mantra - HO or bigger is better for young kids. My response - horse hockey!
What size is Brio, Thomas the tank, Harry Potter, and the list goes on, trains for kids : they’re all designed to fit into the hand of a young tyke. If you go to Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc, you will find most toys designed to fit into the hands of a child, not an adult.
With N scale, you need to explain to your son that it is very special and expensive so he needs to look after it - I’m willing to bet he does. In fact, he’ll be better at re-railing cars and engines than you will, very quickly. Trust me, I learned this from experience.
As for a “set”, go to your local quality hobby shop, forthwith known as your LHS, and tell him you’d like to buy the works, engine, a couple of cars, track, a couple of turnouts, etc and ask him if he gives discounts when you buy like that (he does and if he doesn’t, it isn’t a good LHS). 10% is usually a “gimme” discount rate.
If you want to buy a scenery kit that will motivate you to get that layout up and quick (you’ll hear this often, trust me - “Dad, when’s the layout going to done?” - another version of - “are we there yet?”), I’d suggest you buy the Mountain Valley Scenery Kit by Woodland Scenics. Its a sleeper of a kit, designed for a 4 by 8, but so what if your layout is a bit smaller. This kit has everything you will need to get your scenery up, and I mean everything. About the only other thing you will need to buy are the structures.
By the way, about the only thing crappy about the kit, is the picture on the front box cover - the kit is way better than the picture implies.
JT (my 3 year old) totally enjoyed the n scale trains at our state fair (new mexico). One of the runners allowed him to hold his engine and JT did very well with it. The n scale is for both of us, he likes to help out and I have no doubt that he would be gentle with the cars.
I have my eye on a Kato F7 unitrack set ($105.00, no power pack). Is Kato and unitrack the way to go? What kind of power pack should we purchase?
R Wise
Edgewood, NM
If you have established that he can play with N-scale no problem - great! You will get a much more involved road in the space you have available.
My Local Train Shop (LTS) often has used power packs available. I got a MRC (Model Rectifier Corp.) Tech2 2400 in brand-new condition for under $50 CAN several years ago. You can probably find a better deal than that if you look a bit…
Andrew
Is Unitrack the way to go question is like saying you’ve just become Christian and what denomination do we recommend…lol. You will get lots of conflicting answers.
Unitrack is quality and will stand up to a lot of abuse. It is the easiest of most track to put together as you almost need zero electrical knowledge. The big limiting factor, or one of them is price - for track, very expensive.
What I would say is this: if you know for a fact you are into the hobby for the long haul, then consider learning about and using flex track and commercial (store bought) turnouts - it really isn’t that big a deal. If you really aren’t sure where you are in the hobby then get the Kato track. It will provide you and your youngster a quick entry into the hobby, with little commitment. If you are the type that moves a lot, Kato’s track is a good way to gol.