What type of trains should i buy?

[gregtca]

Hi guys, well my son is nearly 8 & we are thinking of getting electric trains sets/ stuff. I dont know anytghing about this , so can anyone advise me , you should know i'm not rich, so a $200 engine is not gunna happen. I see on the net , there seems to be 3 sizes of tracks?.

Greg

[SkyFire]

I have a Hornby digital trainset, which is fairly good. The one I have is the Virgin Pendolino set, comes with track and a mat that you can put the track on.

You can get some quite good starter sets from Hornby or maybe some of the other model railway places. If your budget is limited, I weould go for a beginners set and expand it as funds allow. They come with train (steam or diesel), track and a controller. Non digital would be cheaper, but digital has more operating possibilities.

Try http://www.hornby.com/ and a place I have found very useful over the years. http://www.walthers.com/

[gregtca]

Thanks for info , will let you know how we go

[gregtca]

just 1 other thing , what gauge - size would you recon ?

[SkyFire]

For someone small the Ho/OO would be the best size, N is too fragile, (even for an 8 year old) and On30 while nice and big, (O gauge running on Ho track) could be a bit expensive for you. Also no sets, so you would have to buy each part individually.

[benhall]

Hello gregtca, I agree with Skyfire, a Hornby ''Railroad" set would be a good choice. The only thing, here in Oz, choice may be limited and a lot more expensive than (say)the UK.
Over there, there is a fare bit of discounting, over here, you gets robbed blind!!, ie, I have recently returned from Scotland, I bought 2 locos, an example of Oz pricing goes like this....I bought a new Backmann Loco, (a model of a 2008  'brand new steam loco' named 'Tornado') The RSP was 136 UK pounds, discounted to 116 (VAT was further taken off, cost to me 100 pounds leaving the shop!
I'll give you an example, most Australian dealers do not discount on UK available locos and sets, so the price may go as follows, the RSP is doubled, then about 130-150 added for import etc etc, that equates to the simple mathematical choice that is way cheaper to actually get your stuff direct from the UK!!
 Postage in the UK is not cheap,( not cheap here either!!) so that can add a fare bit, but you wouldn't go for 'sets', you'd buy 'stuff' individually to save on postage, in most cases though, the VAT (same as our GST) deduction is usually re-applied to cover the postage cost, so it can be a 'win win' situation for you, I know it is for me!!
So, Gregtca, look around, go online (I'd forget Ebay, you get robbed on that, well, the gullable do, I personally can spot a bargain, but generally, I'll buy straight from the UK)
It also might be cheaper to buy Australian 00/HO outline models as they MAY work out cheaper for you and there might even be discounting in local model shops, but another problem is your locality, you still might have to have your chose items posted!!   So, it's your choice, it can be a great hobby,  I've been collecting since my dad bought me my first 'train set'way back in 1954!!...........Happy hunting Gregtca!!.............Dave............(P/S, I'm a British Railways man)

[SkyFire]

Also exchange rates are good for buying from the Uk and the US right now.