We are building a house and are planning to put a train around the top of my son's room. He is four years old and absolutely loves trains however we know almost nothing about model trains. The questions are: 1. What scale would be best and 2. Any suggestions about particular sets- he would probably want a steam engine. Would appreciate any suggestions or advice!!
Please advise
- Thread starter Nicholas
- Start date
Welcome to The Gauge, Nicholas. I myself would go with LGB G scale. It's built to take a beating, large enough to be seen and appreciated and, I do beleive Thomas is available in that scale. Hope that helps.
Here's the link>>> www.lgb.com
Here's the link>>> www.lgb.com
F
Fred_M
I agree with Shay, the Thomas set is made in G gauge by Lionel. I purchased one almost two years ago for my grandson and it's ran in the garage by him and his sister. They are built kid tough. He was 4 at the time and she was 6. Only thing is the Lionel track can be hard to find at times, but lately it's been more avalible. Thomas will run on other brand of track fine, but the Lionel track will not connect to other brands. If I were building an around the room layout I would use another brand BTW as the Lionel track is a bit pricey. Fred
I'm partial to O scale myself, as it's still pretty large, yet (sometimes) less expensive than G. But if you're looking for ease of putting a circle of track on a shelf around a room, the larger scale of G would probably be an advantage. I think it'd be simpler.
Before you plunk down any money, I do suggest going to the library and seeing if they have any books on model railroading. Most libraries do. A lot of the focus will be on smaller scales like HO and N, or on classic sets of the '50s like O scale Lionel and S scale American Flyer. G scale is a relatively recent phenomenon. But you might get lucky.
Check the different hobby shops in your area, definitely. Here in St. Louis there are four that I've visited more than once. One is super, super helpful, so I tend to visit him first even though he keeps the oddest hours. Two others try, but they deal in lots of other hobbies too so it's kind of the luck of the draw what kind of train help I can get. If you run into that situation find out when their train expert is working and try to talk to him. A fourth shop isn't interested in helping you if you have less than $1,000 to spend, so I don't go there much. Sadly, those shops exist.
Forums like this can be very helpful too. And since we're not paid on commission...
I guess I ought to ask you a couple of questions. First, of course, is what are the dimensions of the room and how high up do you want the track? Second, do you have a price range you've decided on?
Before you plunk down any money, I do suggest going to the library and seeing if they have any books on model railroading. Most libraries do. A lot of the focus will be on smaller scales like HO and N, or on classic sets of the '50s like O scale Lionel and S scale American Flyer. G scale is a relatively recent phenomenon. But you might get lucky.
Check the different hobby shops in your area, definitely. Here in St. Louis there are four that I've visited more than once. One is super, super helpful, so I tend to visit him first even though he keeps the oddest hours. Two others try, but they deal in lots of other hobbies too so it's kind of the luck of the draw what kind of train help I can get. If you run into that situation find out when their train expert is working and try to talk to him. A fourth shop isn't interested in helping you if you have less than $1,000 to spend, so I don't go there much. Sadly, those shops exist.
Forums like this can be very helpful too. And since we're not paid on commission...
I guess I ought to ask you a couple of questions. First, of course, is what are the dimensions of the room and how high up do you want the track? Second, do you have a price range you've decided on?