My 2 boys had been asking for a “Polar Express Choo Choo” all month long, and they were estatic when they woke up Christmas morning and found that Santa had left them a Polar Express train set under the tree.
I was surprised at how quickly they took to controling the train, especially the 2.5 year old. Without even telling him what to do, he took the red lever and slowly raised it until the train started up, and when he found the whistle button that’s all I heard all day long.
We also got them the Thomas the Train set as well. Mainly because we wanted to be able to have 2 sets for each one to run on their own. The Thomas set is great because even the youngest has no problem getting it on the track properly.
My wife and I are already looking into building a 4 x 8 table in their playroom, and putting down some O-27 track for them to run full time.
Without a doubt, this Christmas was a blast. [:)]
Some photos of the 2 of them. I had some video, but it was taken with my still camera since I ran out of tape with my camcorder.
My kids got a NYC Flyer set and a Thomas set 3 years ago and it led to a layout in the basement. We all enjoy the trains. Hope your kids continue to as well.
Like Jim, I started for my sons first Christmas in 1997, with a temporary Christmas 4x8 layout. Now, its a year round 8x16 basement layout. And I am getting ready to expand with another 8x12 section to make it L shaped. This will add more length to the outer loop and a big time yard in the middle for storage and staging.
Why not continue using the FasTrack? A 4x8 table has room to spare using the O36 curves…even 2 loops, using an appropriate size straight “spacer” on the outside loop curved sections. Joe
Thanks for the kind words guys. First thing this morning, my 4 year old was already firing the Polar Express back up.
ADX, thanks for the heads up on the O-27 combined with the PE. Like Joe suggested, I’ve thought about sticking with Fastrack, but wish that it had a tighter turn radius, and wasn’t as expensive as regular O track. For this 4x8 setup, I’d like to have a couple turnouts, and the price difference between Fasttrack turnouts versus regular O turnouts seems to be night and day. I’ve also thought about Atlas O track, as I really like the look of it.
Mntneer,
Fastrack is more costly, but is hard to beat in terms of operation and appearance. I built a 5 x10 layout for my nieces, and was considering using 027 track on a 4 x 8, but after trying the PE set on it I too found that it doesn’t work. The extra real estate required for the fastrack set up turned out to be worth it.
Any idea how it would handle O-31 turns? My problem is I don’t think I can fit a 5x10 layout in their playroom. We’re going to start building a new house in '08, and I’ll probably incorporate a much larger playroom/trainroom then, but in the meantime I thought a nice 4x8 layout would keep them plenty busy, and I may actually not break out the PE set much, and just allow them to really play with their Thomas stuff
Mntneer,
The PE set works a little better on 0-31, but IMO it runs best on Fastrack. You can still get quite a bit of action into a 4 x 8 with Fastrack, but continuous 2-train operation would take a bit more space. Do you have extra 0 or 027 track, or will you have to buy it?
It’s more cost effective if you can use everything you have from a starter set when you build a layout, and then buy the additional pieces you need from a mail order outlet (LHS tend to be a bit pricey when it comes to track). That layout I built uses track and transformers from two starter sets, and when they mount the other CW-80 they can run two trains on it simultaneously.
Why would you pack away such a nice train set as the PE? It has alot of play value, and is instantly recognizable by most kids 3-up. I built that layout for my nieces because they said “Mom (my sister) only lets us play with it at Christmas”-shame on her! My nieces got their PE two years ago, but it had only been played with a few times! There’s no way I would let that be the case, since I played with my trains as a kid all year long, even without having a permanent layout.
Thanks for the help Geno. I’ve been playing with RR Track trying to see what track would work best, and I may go 5 or 6 x 8 instead of 4 x 8.
I don’t plan on packing away the PE and solely use it a Christmas, I just want to keep it safely out of the kids hands unless I’m there to get it out with them.
Mntneer,
Glad I could help- even a 5 or 6 x 8 layout will still give you plenty of space for track, buildings and scenery. If make your layout freestanding you can avoid needing access hatches, but it does help having them.
Your boys look like they love their PE set- I’m sure in time they 'll be able to take care of it even when you’re not around. But it’s definitely a good idea to supervise them when they’re running trains- that Jr. berk sure has some small parts that could break off and sharp surfaces.
What kind of track are you planning to use for your layout?
Why not combine fastrak and 031 (or even better 027)? Use the outside loop for the fastrak and then 031 on inside loops, switches, and spurs. “modern low profile” K-line 027 switches were the best but may be very hard to find now. You can even get a transition piece if you decide to connect the two loops. It is actually somewhat prototypical because mainlines often look different from side yards.
I thought my PE engine ran great around O-27 curves. You just can’t run it slow around them or it would bogg down. Plus it was brand new when I was running it around those sharp curves, so it needed some run time to be broken in.
You can’t fit 2 loops of FasTrack on a 4x8 table unless one goes over another.
My layout has 2 loops and I had to go to 4’ 6" wide, and even that is almost right to the edge. Little more than an inch of table left on each side. 5x8 would be the way to go.
One thing to consider is that if you’re going to buy a significant amount of FasTrack, you can save up to 35% if you buy it off of the internet. A number of sites, Island Trains, Grzyboski’s Train Store , etc. carry it for a lot less than retail.
