I had my first electric train at the age of 5; a few years later I got my first Lionel set. If you have a choice of sets, buy one with some open cars (gondolas, hoppers) that can carry something.
If he’s careful, HO should be fine. The track will take up about 40" for a loop, then extra straight tracks will add to the length.
You know your son better than we do. There are books of cutout villages and such that will give more buildings for the buck than the plastic offerings – and more hobby time.
Lionel are the Cadillac of the toy train system - expensive but sturdy. There are compatible and cheaper trains in the same size.
This may be long-winded, so…
Do not start with N scale. It’s nearly microscopic…hehe. Seriously, it is small. I recommend HO to start with.
Start with Athearn. Walthers is good, but Athearn is tough. I would have suggested Atlas, but they haven’t produced a starter set in years.
If it has the option of EZ Track or Atlas track, go with the EZ Track.
As for figuring out how to connect(powerpack to track, etc.)everything, ask your local hobby shop to help you. Hopefully you have a good local hobby shop.
Shop your local hobby shop first, just to get an idea of what’s what.
If you can get your local hobby shop to help with the connections, try finding a better price on eBay. You’ll have the knowledge of how to hook up everything without the price of the local hobby shop.
Good luck, and welcome to the forums!
Oh…
As for G Scale, it’s pretty big. You can trip over it though. G Scale items have left me on the floor before.
If you’ve wondered…Lionel is O scale. HO means "Half-O.
I don’t know what you mean by cutout villages?
As far as being careful, I can say that he is far more careful than most 8 year old boys, and more responsible, but he is still eight.
The more I learn, the more confused I get! Ha ha. But knowledge is power, right?
Thanks guys!
What do you all think of this set? It SEEMS like a deal…so far. No telling how high the price will go, I guess?
It’s G Scale all right. Bachmann G is great, and is tough as well. That looks like a deal to me.
mom,
Often, 8 year olds have passing fancies. What appeals to them today will be forgotten tomorrow, even trains! Trains do, however, offer more interest than some other toys.
For an 8 year old, he will not care much if the trains are larger or smaller than some of his other toys. Toys are toys, and kids will put together some of the most interesting combinations! It would be nice if he wanted everything to be the same scale sizes, but right now it shouldn’t be a significant concern for you.
You have received good advice as far as buying a starter set is concerned. I recommend that you pay attention to the track included in the set. There are several different brands of track and they don’t match up with each other. I would use the Bachmann track (or something similar) that looks like it has the rocks (called ‘ballast’) under the rails. Your son will be able to assemble this style of track with only a little help from you at first. A good starter set will have an oval of track and you can purchase a few extra pieces if you want to and can afford to. You will have to use the same brand of track if you want to expand later.
Since your son expressed an interest in the Polar Express set, that maybe a good choice if it’s within your budget. You already KNOW he will love it! This website has it for about $250. http://search.ehobbies.com/?int=1&ext=1&text=Polar+Express&x=13&y=8 Check other websites and you might find it cheaper. It looks like a nice set, it’s big enough for him to work with without a lot of help from you, you can purchase extra items for it later and your daughter will like it, too.
I would like to help if I can. E-mail me and we can discuss what we might be able to do for your son. I’d like to see him have a really nice Christmas. Maybe other modelers on the forum would help out, too. Send me a note. After we discuss it, maybe we can enlist the aid of other modelers.
Darrell, "Santy Claus
I spent the day at a train flea market. I was helping a friend do an estate sale. We had some really nice stuff for an 8 year old and a few things I saved for my 11 yr old grandson. If you are in an area large enough for a flea market or swap meet, there are usually some good large train deals but having someone familiar with the hobby is important. My friend sought me out to help her because she knew I played with trains. She was in my church. Do you have access to some old guy like me who could be helpful. At 8, with out some help he could get lost. The hobby can get fragile and complicated for an 8 yr old with out help. I wish you good luck. I got started avout 8 and am stll at it. I still thank my mom for helping in the early years.
The problem with a cheap set is it comes with a cheap power unit and locomotive. Remember, these parts are important to the proper operation of the set. Cheap locos will not run as smoothly because of issues with power pickups and “sticky” motors. Cheap track makes it more difficult to pick up power. The power unit may have bad spots or otherwise not operate very well. I had several cheap sets when I was a kid. I knew two words over fun, derailment and nonoperational.
My first good set had a good Athearn lococ that costed $40 itself. It had several Athearn cars too. The track was nickle silver sectional track. It was bought at a local hobby show by my mother and with the help of an employee that we met at a local hobby club. The cheap sets I had before didn’t work well and derailed so much it’s wan’t very fun. This good set was expensive (A bit over $100) and required a bit of assembly. It not only looked better, it was a lot more fun to operate.
Now I won’t buy Athearn locos because it doesn’t have the slow speed operation I enjoy. Katos and Proto 2000 are my locos of choice. They are out of your price range unless you pinch everything else. I think Athearn is good quality for what you are using it for. I don’t know about the set, but it raises a quality red flag for me. Athearn has decent locos but they are known for having burrs in gears and poorly oiled motors. It’s probably a good Idea to see it run especially slowly.
There are 3 things you should have to maintain the track and wheels of the locomotive to keep smooth operation. A bright boy (eraser with abrasives molded in) or any eraser will work but will take more effort with really dirty track, a cloth and some rubbing alcohol. The eraser will be used to clean the actual track, then the cloth with alcohol will clean up anything left. To clean the loco wheels, place an alcohol damp cloth over the rails. Power up to full power. Place the front truck on the rag and the rear truck on the track to get power. Holding on
Hi Newbietrainmom
The advise you are getting for the small scales on this forum is good.
Some have mentioned The Bachmann Big Haulers and LGB
My suggestion for the “G” scale trains is LGB it is reliable good quality
and LGB do make US outline trains.
If it ends up out side no harm done as it is made to be able to run in the garden as a garden railway which is a bit different to a model railway
Mom gets to share the fun that way[:D]
I would suggest if you wi***o find out about the "G’ scale trains
post the same question on the general discussion listing for Garden Railways
which is the forum on this site I normally inhabit
A word of warning the large scale trains can get very expensive as can the small scale trains so learning to make things for a model railway is a good idea if the serious interest is there
regards John
By the time I looked at it the auction had ended… I know a friend of mine (with 4 young kids) sets one of these up around the tree every year and has been using the same one for about 12 years… The $100 it ended at Looks like a decent price but I would be careful about buying from a seller who’s feedback is over 900 and 98% positive (means he’s upset quite a few people). Even though there’s a LOT of play value with the G scale stuff, I would recommend sticking with the smaller HO scale… Adding track to G scale can get Very expensive. As mentioned several times, the Athearn stuff is pretty solid and will take a lot of (light) abuse… Even us fumble fingered veterans have accidents at times and I know my Athearn trains have survived a lot of “handling”… IF you have a decent hobby shop nearby, the train guy may put together a set For you… Just tell him what you want… At age 8, sonny can probably put together simple train cars… The trains will run on ANY HO track but the EZ-Track components will probably work best for a “floor” based layout.
Which ever way you go, we all commend you for getting another model rail into the hobby… Maybe mom will have some fun with it too… [:D]… Like others, I’ll invite you to write offline and discuss whatever you need to talk about… Just hit the email link below…
Good luck,
Jeff
Mom…I think you are asking all the right questions, and getting good answers. If you need to, you can call or email me at the link in my sig, and Ill try to walk ya through whatever questions you have.
Rotor
While the G-scale and Lionel O-gauge are bigger size wise than HO, they are specifically engineered to negotiate much smaller curves. A “standard” HO curve is 18" radius so it takes 36" to make a complete circle. A “standard” O gauge curve makes a 27" or 32" circle! An LGB G-gauge small curve is 1200cm or umm about 47" circle (did that in my head so don’t quote me).
As a result the G and O trains are much more toy like in apperance. Most model railroaders consider them Toy Trains rather than Scale models. Children won’t notice the difference, until they really start getting into it. Some adults don’t either. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade before I started noticing my HO plasticville buildings had doors that were different sizes.
Without asking the person holding the auction a lot of questions - it is hard to tell. Some of the early versions of this locomotive had some serious problems (like wheels falling off - I have one like this). They have supposedly fixed that problem but one cannot tell by looking at the pictures. It would take research and finding out when this specific set was made.
The other problem with the Bachmann sets is their track is really poor quality. The Bachmann curve size makes a 5 foot circle.
I think you really, really, need to find a hobby store that has some of each size that you can go and look at. I believe it is very hard comprehending the information being given without at least seeing some in real life to get a frame of reference.
Hi Texas Zepher
Try 4’ diameter for the large scale trains.
Some do look toy like just the thing for a child others however are just as good in the model stakes and some are even better depending on what is bought and what bits and modifications are added just like the small scales.
I will not go into why the large scale garden boys and girls leave some things off
this is not the topic to do so.
MIS Quote “model trains a hobby for children from 9 to 99”
Miss quoted from an old Hornby add from before I was born.
That makes us all a big bunch of children that never quite grew up[:D] and long may it be so
I got my first train when I was 4 , 42 years later I am still playing with trains they just
got larger and in some cases more toy like[:D]
regards John
Seriously, who posts at 4AM?
People in Austraila where it isn’t 4 a.m.
I don’t disagree, that message has to be taken in context of all my prior posts. esp. As I was the one that suggesting G instead of HO.
Now, now, boys…let’s not fuss! 
Seriously, you guys are fabulous. All the wonderful information, kind words, and even offers to assist me in any way…I truly appreciate each and every one of you!!!
OOPs! sorry Mom[:D]
I saw your earlier post on the Bachmann "G"set with picture.
Looks good some one said the train controllers that come in sets are not that great true
but something to deal with at a later date after it is seen if your son takes to it the way I did.
However looking at it from my perspective as an adult the track in Bachmann “G” sets
is well I cannot use my usual terms for it addressing a lady.
that would need to be addressed quickly.
Cardboard cut out buildings mentioned from another post are buildings that are printed on
good quality card which have to be cut out folded up and glued together just the same as the geometric shapes you possibly did at school.
These can also be home made with cereal boxes and the like and poster paints
If you can find a Model Railroad Book from the 1950’s or 60’s.
Try your local library or second hand book store there will be in it how to make buildings from card and some very good ones at that.
Just be wary of some of the other things that may be found in those era books as some would not be allowed today.
regards John