So I want to buy a model train for a toddler/child for Christmas. Based on cursory internet research O gauge is what I am thinking.
Anyone know anything? Brands other than Lionel?
For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
No. My dad has his train set still (which has not been taken out in decades) but I want to buy that type of enduring gift not some cheesy cartoon character flavor of the day.
For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
X2 for Thomas the train…but I would actually look at the wooden ones with wooden tracks. Hours and hours and hours of entertainment for a toddler.
For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
No. My dad has his train set still (which has not been taken out in decades) but I want to buy that type of enduring gift not some cheesy cartoon character flavor of the day.
If you want a train set for yourself that’s a different topic, but if you want something for a kid to play with wait until they are at least 8 or get Thomas.
How old is the kid? O gauge is great for under 8 (to adults). Other scales can be too small for tiny hands. The smaller scales are good because you can do more with them in a smaller space. If you are in an apt. O scale is prob too big. Historically people’s qualms with o scales is they are not detailed enough. (Kids won’t care)
Lionel makes great o scale products. If this is a starter train what I would recommend a battery powered train. All the scales are powered by electricity to the track. Opposed to putting d batteries into the engine.
They function almost identically. The battery powered ones are typically plastic opposed to die cast. But a shit ton cheaper. If you amazon polar express trains. You will see two versions. One is an oscale for around 300. One will be a battery powered one for 90. They operate exactly the same.
If the kids is 4-5ish and doesn’t have too many trains. I would recommend starting out with a kick ass brio set (with extra tracks). Most kids love making the tracks. The problem with all the scales is that they are hard for a kid to rearrange. They get pretty awesome later with being able to reconstruct cities, the electronics involved with the switches, and learning about the mechanics of how the trains work. (Older kids this is great for)
But most younger kids just want to make elaborate tracks that are easy to connect and disconnect. All wooden tracks run on together. So I would recommend getting a brio set + 100 extra tracks off eBay or something because they are all the same.
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For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
No. My dad has his train set still (which has not been taken out in decades) but I want to buy that type of enduring gift not some cheesy cartoon character flavor of the day.
Yes! You can get a good O-scale set now, and add to it later (if you want). Smaller scales are more for the “serious modeler” person and they won’t be as visually stimulating for a toddler.
A toddler won’t be able to set up an O-scale kit, but that’s something you can do. Then you’ll have something to do together when you (and eventually the toddler when they are old enough) run the train(s). I’ve got lots of fond memories doing this with my grandfather, father, and brother.
The cheesy Thomas trains got more use than my dad’s Lionels. Go with Thomas or whatever your dad has.
http://www.lionel.com/products/thomas-friends-o-gauge-train-set-loco-1-6-30069/
Not sure why the hate. There is also scale Thomas engines. Toy Thomas has its place. If you go to any train convention. There will be people who paint trains like Star Wars, cartoons, really everything.
I mean George Carlin and Alex Baldwin narrated Sodor. Thomas the show though is kinda silly.
The cheesy Thomas trains got more use than my dad’s Lionels. Go with Thomas or whatever your dad has.
My kid plays with the Thomas set every day. And the older child loved building different tracks when he was old enough. I suspect that boy #2 will enjoy that part of it too.
Thomas wooden train toys. Get them used for a fraction of the price.
So I went with the G gauge i.e. huge freaking (relatively speaking) Polar Express plastic train set. Was a huge hit at Christmas.
Maybe in a few years my child can get one of the more expensive metal ones that I will continually need to help set up and run for hours at a time.
Just so you know, the lionel series in “READY TO PLAY” has add on tracks / switches / interchanges/ etc. that you can get.
These are def the way to go for kids.
So I went with the G gauge i.e. huge freaking (relatively speaking) Polar Express plastic train set. Was a huge hit at Christmas.
Maybe in a few years my child can get one of the more expensive metal ones that I will continually need to help set up and run for hours at a time.
Two months later and my 2 year old still plays trains every day.
Just so you know, the lionel series in “READY TO PLAY” has add on tracks / switches / interchanges/ etc. that you can get.
These are def the way to go for kids.
I think that’s what I got. Additional track not my responsibility though 
So I went with the G gauge i.e. huge freaking (relatively speaking) Polar Express plastic train set. Was a huge hit at Christmas.
Maybe in a few years my child can get one of the more expensive metal ones that I will continually need to help set up and run for hours at a time.
Two months later and my 2 year old still plays trains every day.
I would too if I could
I was gonna be a smartass and ask about graffiti on scale train sets, but apparently there IS such a thing, and it can be quite a discussion
I was gonna be a smartass and ask about graffiti on scale train sets, but apparently there IS such a thing, and it can be quite a discussion
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/262159.aspx
Now that’s funny. I was bored so I went ahead and read some of the thread from the link. Apparently the topic of graffiti on models is highly controversial in the community and the topic is banned on that site. lol. I wasn’t bored enough to try to figure out the controversy, but I assume it’s because the graffiti is a crime and causes costly property damage–and they don’t want to glorify it.
Yeah, I’m guessing it was something like that; the perpetual Art vs. Vandalism argument
A bit of history about the forum rules, in case anyone newish is interested:
About ten years ago, the forums were moderated by one staff member at trains.com. It was one of his secondary duties, and it was slowly getting past him because of a small number of posters who seemed to enjoy being ‘contrarian’, and a few of those could charitably be called mean-spirited and on-line bullies. Our hosts eventually decided to trial member-moderators who made it their task to attempt to improve the quality of discourse. It seemed reasonable, due to repeated locked threads, to prohibit discussions about hobos, graffiti, and some others I forget. Yes, it really was quite bad.
For a toddler just get an electric Thomas the Train.
No. My dad has his train set still (which has not been taken out in decades) but I want to buy that type of enduring gift not some cheesy cartoon character flavor of the day.
15, 10 and 7+ years after my three boys played with the Thomas the Train set, we have it saved in a box. The “clickety clack” track is the real track to acquire.
Even before my father sold off all the Lionel from when he was a boy, I tried to introduce them to O guage. They really were not into it. I might recommend you take him to a model railroad show or to a railroad museum to see if he has an interest.