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I have been having problems with the railroad we have under our Christmas tree for the past couple of Christmases and I’ve decided to pony up and get a new one. As a complete beginner, and only running this a few weeks a year, I’d like something that doesn’t break easily (the train tracks on our current set up do this), and isn’t too hard to assemble. I would like to make a circle around the bottom of our tree that is roughly 5 feet in diameter, maybe a bit more. I was thinking of just going on amazon and looking at reviews, but I think I’d like a bit more guidance on this one. I’d like to stay in the $50-100 price range as well. Is there a brand that can do this for me?
Check out the train sets at
http://www.hobbylinc.com/hotrainsets.htm. There are a wide variety available. Any of the Bachmann sets with E-Z track are easy to set up, durable, and should serve you well for Christmas use.
Thanks for the link. I also saw some Thomas Train sets by Bachman with EZ track. Many are well within my price range. This is what I was looking for--a bit of direction. Much obliged and merry Christmas.
Also try cleaning the tracks and wheels. Your problems might just be dirty track. For the track use a brightboy cleaner followed by isopropyl alcohol. If you don't have a brightboy handy use 600 grit sandpaper the first time then maintain it with alcohol. Then thoroughly clean the wheels with alcohol
Since the train sets come with steel track, you need ones like the track at
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44411.htm. The nickel silver track with the gray roadbed is slightly different in height and doesn't mate up well.
Since the train sets come with steel track, you need ones like the track at
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44411.htm. The nickel silver track with the gray roadbed is slightly different in height and doesn't mate up well.
That's right, I just noticed that the track in my link is not HO, but N scale. Thanks for your link.
All the Bachmann EZ Trak will work together, even the black roadbed will fit the grey roadbed, but I would not recommend mixing for several reasons.
No, it won't. I have both and the height on the NS track roadbed is higher than the black steel roadbed. Obviously, you can shim the steel track, but there's no use in confusing someone who wants to just set up his train once a year.
PRR, Bachmann makes the black and gray roadbed tracks in N and HO scale. For your purposes, stick to the roadbed color track that comes in your train set.
My bad, as the kids say. I know the roadbed fits, but I had not tried it myself, so I did not know the track height was different. My lesson for the day!
Yeah, I got caught on that one when I picked up up some NS E-Z track to expand my original train set that came with the black roadbed steel rails. As you say, the connectors will mate up but the NS track is a couple of millimeters higher than the steel. I finally ended up doing a combination of shaving and shiming to get things right, since I was connecting the NS curved track to the steel straight track. Much better to stick with one kind of track if you're only going to put the set together once a year.
OK it appears that HO is the most common scale.... but I did see some G trains on sale today, and I didn't think they were obscenely big... I might be able to use them around the tree or some other area instead of an HO set.
They were Lionel sets that cost 80-100 USD, with 4 cars and several feet of track. Additional track was fairly cheap--some 10-15 feet for another 20.
Is a train this big rather awkward to use around a tree? Would it be tough trying to get the larger track into a curve? Honestly I don't think the size in and of itself is a negative here....
I'd personally love to use a G scale train under the tree. The circle of track is bigger but the engine and cars have really neat details, especially the Christmas set. Many of them also have sound and smoke, something kids really like. G scale trains are durable and hold up well to handling and hard knocks. HO scale is much more prevelant for scale modelrs but you're not trying to build a scale model under a tree - you want something big enough to be seen and enjoyed. HO scale is pretty small and much more subject to damage from handling or things like kids or pets knocking them over. The cheap Lionel sets are just that - cheap. They aren't well built and look pretty crummy. You can get a nice G scale set for about the same price and the track isn't much more expensive. Bachmann makes a nice selection of sets and the quality is much better than the cheap Lionel sets.
Yikes. I just looked at the page you linked to at hobbylinc, as well as on amazon. Bachman does sell G scale trains, but they are all over 200 bucks. Well the difference would be worth it in my opinion. Anyways, thanks to all who have given me answers here.
You might try Hobby Lobby (store locater here:
http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/store_locations_search.cfm )
They usually carry G scale train sets and have decent pricing. They used to have 40% off coupons online but I wasn't able to locate any coupons on their website. Getting 40% off should bring the price down below $200.
Darrell, quiet...for now
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