Registered to get ideas for 9 year old son


J

JoeH

New Member
So, my nine year old son has been wanting a "real" model train for a few years now. I joined to see if anyone could point me in the right direction. We have a large, cheap plastic toy one that he has outgrown. Any ideas or tips are much appreciated. Thanks!
 
JoeH, here is a link to the starting point for trains sets of all scales....at M.B. Klein.....AKA.......ModelTrainStuff. This is a great place to order from with good prices and selection. There is also a thread on this forum called Best Vendors....or something like that. Welcome to the forum and best of luck!

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Train-Sets-s/179.htm



Mike
 
I recommend HO for the kid and probably the least expensive rolling stock you can get and a Bachmann 8WD locomotive. The snap together EZ track doesn't seem like a bad idea either for a youngster especially.

My thinking is, the locomotive has to be reliable or else you both will be frustrated. The cheaper Tyco units drove me nuts. Still you don't need to go overboard and the longer locomotives need more gentle curves and better track work.

Rolling stock all seems to need properly weighted and couplered so you may as well buy cheap. The cheapies don't have the dainty fine detail pieces some of the more expensive "prototypical" stuff does. Its also interesting to watch a PanzerMKIV roll down the tracks on a flatcar or other semi-ridiculous set ups like I have going on.

Good track work is important. I'm not entirely certain how much time I spend screwing down my old school track and road bed. It woks nice and I can use flex track with it but I have been itching to try one of the plastic roadbed track systems and see how easy set up and dis-assembly is.

And Ebay has been my friend, like a trainshow every night.

Have fun man, I can't wait until my 2 year old is older.
 
Thank you all for the tips. My son has already been looking at Bachmann online and when I asked him what size he wanted he said HO, so it's good to get both confirmed here!
 
Hey Joe, pay no attention to the prices listed on the Bachmann site too, those are highly inflated MSRP, street prices on Bachmann stuff is much lower. Don't limit yourself to just Bachmann either, I find a good mix is best.
 
Thanks, Tom. It actually appears that both the Amazon and Ebay listings are by the same company, The Favorite Spot. I went to their website and it appears that has their best deals.
 
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