Model Trains

My boy is in love with trains. It runs in the family as I had a pretty sweet HO setup when I was a kid and my uncle was a model train dealer. He had trains worth way more than my car by a long shot.

My wife would like to get him a train that he can add to over time, he's almost 3 years old so as you can imagine he gets pretty excited. My wife is thinking O-scale but I'm thinking HO despite its fragility. To me O scale (Lionel or otherwise) will be hard to add to due to the expense. I mean I could see it if we could spend $250 and have an engine with some track to run around but I don't think that will happen given the prices I've seen.

I remember Bachmann trains being a good way to go but what advice do you have GRM?

I got this for my friend's kids for Christmas, $149 plus shipping from Trainworld. They have cars from about $20.00, and sometimes they are on ebay for even less. It comes with an oval of fast track and a transformer. They had it up and running in no time and so far his 3 and 8 year old boys haven't broken it.

http://www.trainworldonline.com/catalog/lionel-trains/starter-train-sets-wtrack-power-pack/the-scout-freight-starter-set-online-price-only-30127

Name: The Scout Freight Starter Set

LIONEL TRAINS

^^ That's a good starter set. With a child that young I would definitely stick to toy trains like Lionel. I would wait a few years before getting them into smaller scales.

^What he said. Even the junky Bachmann HO starter sets with very little detail have small pieces that can create a choking hazard (wheel sets, track joiners, screws, etc.). Plus, they aren't all that durable compared to a Lionel set.

Eight and up is a good guideline for HO and smaller scales (N, Z), though it's ultimately up to you. I had a Bachmann HO starter set when I was five-ish and it didn't last long in my hands. I got a second set at 7 that I treated with greater care.

3 years old? He will smash a Lionel to bits. I know I did when I was 3. Save the real set for when he's 5-6-7 years old.

I'd get him one of those wooden sets that you have to pull the train around. We had Brio. I'm not sure if they're still around, but I've seen sets that are very similar. They are tough.

If you insist on locomotion, no pun intended, I'd go for those plastic, battery powered Thomas the Tank Engine sets that you can find just about anywhere. My nephews have them, and haven't broken one yet. They are 5 and 2.

We bought this for Christmas:

www.lionelstore.com/the-polar-express/the-polar-express-g-gauge.html

And my four year old and three year old love it. My 18 month old is a bit rough with it, but it's not too bad. It's battery powered, so no wires or plugs, which is pretty good.