All of the recent model railroad threads have me thinking about setting up a Christmas Train and Village this year.
The current plan is for an L shaped table, four feet on each leg and two feet deep. That should provide enough depth for an HO scale to turn around.
This will be my first real train set up and I don't know much about the brands available. I'd like to keep initial cost reasonable (to keep the wife happy), and the Bachmann kits look like a good starting point. Is it, or shoud I be looking at Hornby or Lionel (at double or triple the cost)?
Are most HO scale tracks compatible? My goal is to set up a figure 8 with the cross over at the bend of the L, so I assume I'll need additional track to make that work.
Thanks
Hmmm. I've got a lot of pieces laying around in O, HO, and N gauge. I might need to set up something in time for Christmas, since it seems to be all the rage nowadays.... 
Bachmann's Spectrum series is a good compromise between cost and quality. Although out of production. Life-Like's Proto 2000 is another good one.
I ended up ordering the Bachmann Jingle Bell Express. Weirdly enough, Macy's ended up having the lowest price. It was $119 there, and Amazon wanted about $160. It was definitely worth checking Google for prices instead of assuming Amazon would be the best. Also got free shipping and a 25% off the next item I order; which could be handy w/ the holidays coming up.
I'll try to snap pictures of the build if anyone is interested.
(not my picture)
To through gas on the fire, Shopgoodwill has a bunch of HO RR stuff on it right now.
I don't think you can turn an HO radius in two feet. You'll need at least 3 for smooth transition and allow longer engines and cars.
In reply to Aaron_King :
Came to say the same thing. Serch "train." Look carefully, because there might be hidden jems under a generic title.
