A little assistance! Odd Train.

Hello awesome trainboard members! I am currently... really new to trains. So new as a mater of fact, im looking at purchasing a set soon! I just had a very wonderful son and cost is a big factor at the moment. Im the kind of guy who does alot of research before i do anything, so even though im new, ive already learned alot! (and im loving it!). Anyway I came across a weird train Id never seen and I was just looking to see if anyone had any info on it. Its on the local CL for probably way more then its worth, but the guy has no information about it and knows nothing about trains! I highly doubt ill be purchasing it, but I was just curious if anyone had seen it before?

So any information on brand, quality etc would be nice. and even if its to any scale at all(looks HO, but can be deceiving).




Thanks!:startled:

 

That's probably the Model Power set which isn't to desirable. I've moved beyond them but Bachmann, Atlas, and Athearn make (or made) some decent starter sets. Mind you most starter sets are just that, a starting point. Eagle2 has some really good advice, go check out your local hobby store.

 

I did a bit of snooping and it's an HO scale collector's set sponsored by Chevrolet about 10-15 years ago. It sold about $120 new, and was made in China - but there is no indication about the manufacturer. Judging by the level of detail on the engine, it looks like old Bachmann/Tyco train set tooling. In fact, the first thing that came to mind when I saw that F3 was an old Tyco engine I had as a kid back in the 1970s.

It's worth more to a Chevy collector than to a model railroader...

 

There have been many commemorative train sets manufactured over the years, Chevy set, NFL Super bowl set and others. They are mostly for collectors and are overvalued and have poor running characteristics. Probably the best thing to get for a child is a Lionel set that is robust enough for him with the abuse it will get until he is old enough to migrate to HO or N gauges. Hopefully he will get and stay interested in trains, but the video game bug may be a stronger and more expensive draw to him. Good luck.

 

Just beware. Anytime a model railroad item is called "collectable" usually means that it is not worth much except to the party trying to sell it. Advice? Get a LIONEL train for the boy and have fun. HO & N trains are way too fiddly and fragile for even the most careful child, big old O gauge is the way to go and there are many cool accessories to keep him interested. Sounds like he's still a baby...are you sure this is for him, or you!
Have fun and run a train today.

Woodie

 

hahaha! the train set is mainly for me. The only reason I brought him up was because I need to be cost conscious. But the idea is to have the track go around his room on a platform against the walls. Thanks for all the info!

 

I'm curious about this setup, you mean literally around the walls like on a 4" shelf or on a wall-mount tabletop something akin to the size of a Christmas tree track? If the former, I'd e worried about him getting inot it. Maybe not now... but later. Loose, wild hands, standing on the bed, you know the types of accidents. A Mobile-type train layout could be really cool, and I had one when I was a young kid that sat on the flroor and was hand-powered HO, but I also had a Bachmann 440 that I loved and cherished and dropped when I was young.

 

I had a 4x5 plywood layout in N scale when I was much younger. N scale F units are tougher then you'd think. It was BN based but it's not like I had any say in the matter. That's why I have steamers and heavyweight passenger cars now, because 'I wasn't allowed to' when I was younger. N scale is a lot smaller then HO, but at the same time you can do A LOT with a small amount of room. O gauge by comparison is huge and the cost is huge too.

 

crude drawing I just did.. But this is sorta the idea. Acrylic covering the tracks for safety. Probably about 4 foot high. Landscaping is not drawn in of course haha.

What's the smallest size u can make with an ho track making the turn/circles on the end?




Sent from my Nokia Lumia using Tapatalk

 

Depends on the loco and the cars. A lot of your 4 axel diesels and boxcars are happy with a 8-10" radius but I wouldn't ever go under 18" for mainlines. Your bigger locos won't run on anything under 18-24" radius and the same goes for your bigger freight cars and most heavyweight passenger cars. Switchers are the most forgiving because they are the smallest diesels used and are meant for tight spots in yards and spurs. Steam is where it gets tricky. Some 4-8-4 Northerns and up (like 4-6-6-4 challengers) require as much as a 38-42" radius, but 4-4-0 Americans are about as forgiving as a diesel switcher. For anyone to really help you we'd need to know the track dimensions.

 

First is a Branchline Heavyweight Passenger car. This needs 18" plus to operate.

Next we have a BLI SW9 Switcher with a Roundhouse 2-4-0. Both do good on tight layouts.

This is the same SW9 with a Bachmann 4-4-0. Again, both do fine on tight layouts.

Newer Boxcar with the SW9. Both do alright with tight layouts, but it's best to test the cars over the layout first before making it permanent.

Same SW9 with a 89'4" flatcar Trailer car. It needs 24" radius minimum to run.

Mantua old time passenger car with old style MTH refrigerator car. Both do pretty good on 18".

This is a BLI AC6000 locomotive. It's one of the largest diesel locos at work today along with the 4400s. This and my Dash 9 seem to run better with a 22" radius.

This is a Athearn SW1500 (about the same size as the SW9) next to the AC6000 for size comparison.

The old style refer car in front of the AC6000 and SW1500 for comparison again.


Even with a small and tight layout you should have some options. The 2 switchers-the SW9 and SW1500 won't pull a huge train, but they will work in tight spaces. The 2 boxcars will almost follow the switchers anywhere but that flat car won't and nether will the heavyweight passenger car, but the old time one will too. Hope it helps and sorry about the photo quality. This is just to give you an idea of what the range is on what can and can't run on small layouts. I have a lot more, but I think you get the idea. Good luck!

 

Wrong about the Heavyweight, that needs 24" minimum and 28" to be safe.

 

So, basically for the space you have, look at either the recent Athern or Atlas starter sets. Those are robust cars that can fairly easily be made to look even better with a few details and interior kits. Walthers coaches should be avoided at most costs, they say "24" but they lie. Also, Rivarossi makes some beautiful commuter sized shorty heavyweights kind of in proportion to the cars in the Polar Express movie.

The Bachmann coaches arenot horrible, but the swingatm that allows the couplerbox to pivot (cuts down the min. Radius) can be temperamental.

You mention steam, the current Bachmann and Roundhouse locos will be right at home on that size. Dont go too much bigger than a Consolidation though.

Lastly, are you gonna do a full monty layout with flex track and cork or start with plastic based track?

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk