Hello & thanks for allowing me to join your group.
I was finally able to expand my Christmas village last year with enough room to add a train! I was so excited, and after a ton of research ended up buying one, and then another Bauchmann On30 train set. The first one was listed as "new" on Ebay and turned out to be a complete disaster (lol-my fault I know). I actually spent about three weeks trying to get it up and running before finally just taking the loss and giving up. I then bought a much more updated On30 on Amazon, that ended up not being much better. This train was unusually loud but worked great for about 5minutes until it slowed down to a crawl and then would barely move. The engire was screeching by this time. Sigh. I troubleshooted it for a few days before returning it, so I didn't have a train after all.
I'm now ready to try again and get one set up for next year, but I'm pretty hesitant to invest in a Bauchmann again. I'm honestly not sure what to get, and was hoping to get some advice here.
My houses and accessories are all Dept 56 and Lemax, so I know I need to get either an O or On30. I was wondering if the Lionel O gauge trains have less issues than the Bauchmann On30's? Are they easier to operate and keep on the track? I know that they're more expensive, but honestly it'll be worth it if it actually works, doesn't fall off the track every 30 seconds, & I don't have to worry about trying to fix it or sending it back. I also looked into battery operated "ready to use" train sets, but the only ones I can find are close to G gauge....which would be too big for the village.
I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but I just don't want to fail again at what should be a very simple task....finding a train.
Thanks so much for any help you can offer,
I was finally able to expand my Christmas village last year with enough room to add a train! I was so excited, and after a ton of research ended up buying one, and then another Bauchmann On30 train set. The first one was listed as "new" on Ebay and turned out to be a complete disaster (lol-my fault I know). I actually spent about three weeks trying to get it up and running before finally just taking the loss and giving up. I then bought a much more updated On30 on Amazon, that ended up not being much better. This train was unusually loud but worked great for about 5minutes until it slowed down to a crawl and then would barely move. The engire was screeching by this time. Sigh. I troubleshooted it for a few days before returning it, so I didn't have a train after all.
I'm now ready to try again and get one set up for next year, but I'm pretty hesitant to invest in a Bauchmann again. I'm honestly not sure what to get, and was hoping to get some advice here.
My houses and accessories are all Dept 56 and Lemax, so I know I need to get either an O or On30. I was wondering if the Lionel O gauge trains have less issues than the Bauchmann On30's? Are they easier to operate and keep on the track? I know that they're more expensive, but honestly it'll be worth it if it actually works, doesn't fall off the track every 30 seconds, & I don't have to worry about trying to fix it or sending it back. I also looked into battery operated "ready to use" train sets, but the only ones I can find are close to G gauge....which would be too big for the village.
I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but I just don't want to fail again at what should be a very simple task....finding a train.
Thanks so much for any help you can offer,