How much for a train set?

[paul miller]

Originally Posted by Shed Cat

I think the thing to do is to buy a Railway Modeller magazine and read the adverts and find the on-line retaillers. Sometimes they sell un-boxed starter sets for bargain prices. i.e. it is the normal starter set, but for some reason it is not in its fancy packaging.

As for gauges - I think OO is the place to start.

I think you are right Shed Cat. Read the magazines first. Dont rush into anything. I model in OO, because I cannot see N gauge properly, and my fingers dont work like they used to.
I wish you all the luck Dawn Rider, it is a great hobby.
Paul.

[Dawnrider]

Tanks guys, I need to find some pics showing 00 and N guage side by side. I'm ok putting stuff together but tend to be all thumbs if things get small!

[John H-T]

I find N gauge too small and fiddly for me, so I have 00 gauge.

I'm going DCC but it will be more expensive.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[Tony]

Hi Dawnrider,
If you are starting from scratch, go for a "OO" gauge DCC starter set. They usually come with two small locos and make a good basis for a layout. There is an enormous difference between the "old" 12v DC and DCC. DCC requires far less wiring on a layout and the control of trains is far better. Most DCC control units come with all sorts of bits and pieces built in for future expansion of your layout (such as sound and signal/point control). After trying DCC, you would never revert to the "old" system.
I have tried every size from "Z" to "G"; as a hobby, you can't beat it.

[Dawnrider]

Thanks Tony!

[david1943]

If you just want to run trains and be in control don't worry about DCC, on the other hand if you like to programme things in a digital way go for DCC, I myself like to keep things simple and use DC, there are advantages to DCC and I have seen it demonstrated many times but I don't think for a minute that it is the be all and end all of model railways, we did OK for over 60 years without it.

[davat]

Why not visit some of the model railway exhibitions and see what others have done and watch the various layouts and don't be afraid to ask the people controlling the layouts about thatr particular scale etc.
If you google model railway exhibitions (U.K.) you will be able to browse for any exhibitions near you.
Enjoy the search and any exhibitions you attend most people involved are as friendly as the people on this forum.
Good Luck

[ROUGH TOR]

I don,t know if they have any still but Woolworth,s were selling Midland Flyer sets for £40.00 a pop.
This is quite a nice set, it has a 0-4-0 Saddle tank, 3 wagons, a coach, power controller and an oval of track plus track pack A.
Not bad.
I will see if any are left in our local one tomorrow out of interest.
We bought one for our little boy to put away for Christmas.

[Trev]

That's pretty good value Rough Tor. Sounds like a pretty good starting point to me. Your little boy is going to have a good Christmas!

[ROUGH TOR]

Oh Yes !
He /We have a 10 x 7 ft "train set" so really the track will not get used as has happened several times before.
In fact there is probably enough track lurking around in boxes to recreate the big set twice over, but at that price it would be silly to knock it back.
I popped down to our local Woolies this morning and there are several sets still there so I should think they will still be available elsewhere.