Hello everyone,
My Uncle and I are just starting to N scale railroad. We are going to purchase a set. I would like to recive some info from the pros.[%-)]
Thanks,
Potato45[swg]
First off, WELCOME to the forum!
Next, train sets are probably not the way to go. They are generally just overpriced “toys” (i.e. low quality), and you don’t want that.
To help you better, we need some direction as to what you want to know. Could you be more specific? What exatly would you like tips on?
There is a wealth of information within the members of this forum, but for us to be able to help you the best way possible, you have to give us just a bit of direction.
Are you looking for info on quality products?
Do you need tips on track selection and laying?
Rolling stock questions? Benchwork questions? Wiring? DC vs DCC?
The list goes on.
If theres something you’d like to know about specifically, then maybe we can help you better.
Other then that, the best advice I can give is to read. Read everything you get your hands on. This forum is a great place to start. Getting a copy of “Track Planning For Reaistic Operation” by John Armstrong would be good too.
Welcome!
First of all, buying a set is rarely a good idea. There are exceptions, but there are so many factors going into make a good decidion that it is difficult to find that combination in a set. While it is possible to get a reasonable degree of quality in a set, what makes it uneconomical to buy even good quality set, is that it rarely fits the era, location and roadname that matches your ideal railroad.
So what happens is you buy the set, see what is wrong–either in quality or road name and it sits on the shelf while you buy what you really wanted in the first place,
What might help you decide is my beginner’s guide which you can get to in my signature. It’ll will take about 5 minutes to read.
Okay, show of hands, how many model railroaders here started off with a “train set?”
We all did it, so we all know it isn’t a good idea!
welcome!!! yes i strated with a set also lol the good things it dose is it gives you your basics. so you get some of the things you need and you get the feel of the trains and modle railroading. good luck! enjoy! and keep us posted!
-jake
Actually a set is a GOOD way to start. The cars will couple to the engine and you have track and transformer, everything you need to start running trains! I like Bachman sets, but Kato is really the best. Kato track is good enough to use in a permanent layout. Also, sets with Atlas track are better and you can use the Atlas track in a permanent layout too (take it OFF the base).
Go for it!
For the money, a train set is cheap. Just remember though, you get what you pay for.
If the set cost you $100 (a decent “deal”), and a few weeks after you got it you were so frustrated by the low quality that you throw in the towel (as often happens), did you really get a deal? I’d suggest that you’re out $100. You might as well have driven down the hiway and thrown the money out the window.
Why not spend a shade more and get quality stuff from the get-go? Stuff you’ll actually still use after years in the hobby.
No hand from me. My first trains were pieced together. I eventually got a set, but it is not how I started.
To the point of the thread. The deal with a set is you get everything needed to run a train around a loop of track. If you don’t mind doing a little bit of replacing things when you figure out what you really want it isn’t too bad a way to go. For example, you find the power supply that came with the set doesn’t give good train control so you replace it. You find you don’t really like that brand of track, so eventually it gets replaced. If you need everything to be exactly as it needs to be from the start than a set is not the way to go.
I would avoid Life-Like brand. I got excited when I saw some Micro-Train (whoo hoo) sets advertised, but when investigated I found out they had Life-Like (boo) locomotives. My father got a Bachmann 2-8-0 and thinks it is the best engine he has ever had, so if you could find a set with one of those. Other than that, since this is N-scale my knowledge is about 20 years out of date…so I am not much help.
Welcome!
I have never been in favour of start sets but if you must, there are some good ones to look and consider. Kato has a passenger start set which comes with their Unitrack, power supply, a good running Amtrak P42 and some passenger cars. This set is slightly pricey but it is quality.
Should you decide not to start off with a start set, you could consider Atlas, Kato and InterMountain for diesel engines, they are good running and well detailed.
You can select rolling stock from Atlas, Athearn, InterMountain, MT & Red Caboose.
Choose tracks from Peco, Atlas, Kato or Micro Engineering and couplers from MT.
Happy modelling,
Cheers,
Again, train sets may not be the best way to get started.
BUT, they’re darned convenient!
Therefore, I recommend either the Micro-Trains or Kato train sets. All of their stuff is top-of-the-line. Honestly, I would avoid any other brand of train set.
If you want to buy individual components (engines, cars, etc.), you can’t go wrong with Micro-Trains, Atlas, Red Caboose, Intermountain, and Kato. Bachmann Spectrum (not plain old Bachmann) is good too, as are some of the Life-Like Proto 1000 (not plain old Life-Like), now sold by Walthers. Model Power and Con-Cor now have some new high-end locomotives too. For buildings, Walthers and Atlas make great kits you can cut your teeth on, and then you can move up to Design Preservation Models. You can also find some gems among the older Model Power and Con-Cor kits, along with some others. Quality of structure kits is not as important as for rolling stock. You can paint over imperfections in a structure, but if a locomotive doesn’t work well… it won’t be much fun!
We have lots of options in track. Kato Unitrack is great and fool-proof. It’s a bit pricey though. Atlas makes Code 80 and 55 (the code 80 rail being taller, less realistic and the Code 55 being more realistic, but also “pickier,” i.e., somewhat harder to use). Peco also makes Code 80 and 55, although Peco’s track is more European looking and their Code 55 is really Code 80 buried in the ties. Peco switches are great; I use them almost exclusively. I think when painted and ballasted, my Peco Code 80 switches with Atlas Code 80 flex track looks decent:
Feel free to check out my webpage in my signature block to see what can be done in a small space in N scale. My layout is built on a 36"-wide door, yet I can capture scenes like this:
I started my N scale layout (currently just a loop of Kato Unitrack on the kitchen table) with a “set” I made…mainly buying a Life-Like SW900, caboose, a half-dozen coal hoppers from Bowser, and a loop of Atlas nickel-silver track. Later, I bought a Kato RDC set, and some cars from Atlas. Throw in the Atlas U25B and Kato E8, and my little loop is pretty busy 
Just get’em running. Buy some cork roadbed, tack down a loop, and watch’em run. Perhaps add a switch for future, but get’em running. Once you’re no longer satisfied with just running, then your journey down the Dark Side will continue…[;)]
My $0.02
I bought a ‘set’ about 1998. I think I spent about $100 or so on the Bachmann ‘Empire Builder’
I didn’t have a permanent place to set it up at the time, so I’d get it out of the box set it up, tear it down, etc.
The EZ Track they have was ok, but useless if you wanted to do anything more permanent (in my opinion, there will be others). So this leads you down another path.
The big question is this.
Do you want to run the trains, and have fun doing that? Or do you want to build a very cool scenery accessoriezed with ballas on the tracks and all that fun stuff. If so, usually the roadbed+track track isn’t for you, as it looks pretty un-realistic.
However if you want something you can put together rather quicklky, not require a ton of work, and let you just ‘play’ immediately the ez-track route is a better route. I’ve seen some setups that were made on a 3’x6’ board that was turned up on end and stuck behind the couch when they weren’t using it. Wasn’t those ornate front cover scenery layouts but it worked for what they wanted to do.
Going that route, I’d probably pick Kato’s Uni-track. Mainly because they sell it in sets to where if you have the oval, and then you buy this add on, you can do something pretty quickly without a lot of planning to get that oval into a oval with two sidings, or two sidings and a small yard, or an over and under, lots of things.
Talk to your local hobby guys, see if you can find one that is helpful and reasonably priced. Don’t go ask them a lot of questions and then buy off the internet. i know we all like to save a buck but sometimes you’re paying them for the free knowledge they handed out when you pay a bit more than the net.
I think you’d be better served by this:
http://kalmbachcatalog.stores.yahoo.net/12205.html
or
http://kalmbachcatalog.stores.yahoo.net/mrpdf019.html
or the N Scale Primer (you can find it used on Amazon)
than a set. Though there were some decent sets brought into the discussion.
Do some reading, then have at it. One of the door layouts might be a good place to start.
Personally, I think a cheap train set is exactly the way to “begin”. That begets all sorts of other things.
Most books would say to get interest quickly (especially for younger folks), is to get a loop on a table ASAP. Too much time in any area begins to degrade the desire to continue.
This is where I think the experts need to step back and realize that while you know what you’re doing “NOW”, you didn’t know that much when you started and as others pointed out you most likely started with a cheap set.
If I had digested every bit of data and did all sorts of research, etc. frankly, for most, what “fun” is that. For some I’d guess it is fun but I’d propose a lot of folks do not desire the book reading, the proto building, real life emu, etc. Let alone that my anti-realistic layout would still be getting chewed up and spit out by the experts. I’d propose that nearly everyone that enjoys this hobby started with a DC loop, added some turnouts, added some toggles, added some yards, etc. grow grow grow, then BANG, redesign, rebuild with the knowledge you’ve now gained.
My advice to any beginer would be to get a “set”, start cheap, keep in mind where you may want to go with the hobby, understand that the hobby may not be for you (hence my advice to not go “big” in the begining). Know that whatever you put down today will not be what you want tomorrow. As time goes on you’ll determine your direction. Because of these opinions of mine, don’t nail stuff down (less you have to), know that flexibility and change is often a constant and/or recurring theme in the hobby.
I’m no expert but buying a 100.00 set and get it down to “watch” that train, generally is more enjoyment than weeks of research, design, costs, etc.
If you or your Uncle are pre-exsiting enthusiasts and/or not really “new” to the hobby, my advice would
And you can follow it up with a set, if that’s the way you want to go, but you’ll know what you are going to do with it, rather than opening it up and saying, 'Now what"?
I think a good quality set would be a great way to start. Either Bachmann Spectrum or Kato.
You can’t do too much too quickly, you’ll burn yourself out. I say, start with a set, then after getting that running, slowly expand, and then evolve that into a timeframe and era and start being nit-picky over things.
Unless y’all are like me, and don’t care what you run…Freelancing or Protolancing, instead of being true to the prototype.
All in all, I’d have to say that I’m very happy with my decision to make a Kato F3A set my first N scale purchase. It got me a DCC ready Kato F3a, and caboose that fit my line and era…a line independent tanker that fit my era…plus a loop of Unitrack that is the same track I would get if I bought the pieces separately. Yes there were a couple out-of-era hopper cars, but they give me something to play with (coupler and truck changing practice) and something to run while I’m investing a little bit a month towards the “official” layout and eventually better and more appropriate rolling stock.
A set is a good and relatively inexpensive way to get your feet wet.
Spending $100 on a set and learning that MR is not your cup of tea is a LOT less expensive than going hog-wild on Kato locos, Micro-trains cars, Peco track, and the Super-Chief DCC system only to find out that you don’t have the time/energy/interest to invest in it.
While it is true that most sets won’t “survive” long; they are a good way to develop modeling skills with minimal initial investment.
Just keep in mind that a set is not a long-term investment in track or equipment; but is an investment in developing skills and interest.