Hi New2, and welcome to the gauge!
I think both of the other responses are saying not to buy a prepackaged "set". What Chris means by LHS is local hobby shop. If you have an LHS, you could stop in and see what they say too. If you don't have an LHS, there are several on-line hobby shops you can order from at bargain prices. The drawback of on-line is they usually don't give any advice. If you choose to go that route, be sure and post a question here asking if the on-line shop is honest and if what you intend to buy is of good quality. You may also want to go with a gift certificate.
I have had good experiances with
Trainworld and
1st Place .
If he's into diesel, here would be my shopping list:
Alco S-1 (trainworld) $25ish (Bargain, $60 to $70 elsewhere).
Inexpensive, quality rollin stock (rail cars) $3 to $8 each (see my response to
this thread). Add $20 if you buy the tool shown in my response and the smaller kadee bulk pack, which would be avery nice addition.
5 or 6 3 ft sections of Atlas code 83 flextrack from trainworld, about $2 each
An MRC power pack. I believe any MRC is of reasonable quality, and he can always use it for a test loop if he moves up to something bigger/better/b-b-b-badder. You can see their website and buy anywhere, trainworld and 1st place both carry them; shop around
2 or 3 code 83 turnouts, Atlas is cheapest, but some folks have trouble with them. $7 to $15
Cork roadbed.
A subscription to
RMC $30ish
Membership in the-gauge FREE!
If it's getting too expensive, just start at the top of the list and work your way down until you've had enough. Even just the S-1 should be enough to spark the fire! This is all high quality stuff, which is important. If he's into Steam, you can just substitute a steam engine for the S-1 and go from there. Please ask someone for a good steam recomendation.