Anyone out there buying trains for a child this christmas?

Good thoughts, John.   I think that as important as giving such a set is selecting the recipient.   My priority in deciding would be based on 1) their assumed ability to appreciate & take care of it;  2) The odds that the certain recipient would soon lose interest; & 3) if their parent/guardian approves the idea & will support/encourage usage & care of the set.    Merry Christmas!     

There's a train set all wrapped up under our tree waiting for a child to open on the big day

There is a train set wrapped under our tree waiting for our grandson to open on Christmas day.

Karl

Got Thomas and Percy LionChief engines for my 4 and 2 year olds this year because they were constrained by conventional transformers  - it is hard to stop the train in the correct place at an accessory from the other side of the layout and they, "want a remote control engine like that guy at the train show"  and have been informing me of such regularly since the first show we visited this year.

My oldest had his first Christmas when he was 9 months old.  He surprised us by crawling over to the CW-80 and running the train under the tree, quite adeptly. He is train obsessed.  My 4 month old gets very excited whenever myself or his brothers run the trains. 

Trains are for kids of all ages!  Conventional or LionChief I think most 2 year olds can run the trains with a little instruction and without much trouble. 

Polar Express (old school) under my tree,  LionChief versions for the grandkids in Orlando and Baltimore. Both dads already crowding out the youngins'.  SUCCESS

Well Santa has been asked by our youngest for a Lionel NYC   Dreyfuss Hudson. Will just have to see if Mr C comes through....

Nick

I bought a MTH PS3 2-8-0 rail king for my great nephew. Of course I had to test it thoroughly over the few months I had it. I had to. I didn't want him to get a defective Christmas present. It worked so well, he almost got socks instead.

Was trying to find a train set for my cousins, only to find out the cheapest O gauge set is along the lines of $350.

Got a great deal on a MTH Wabash Hudson P1 engine for my son. I'm going to have track laid out all the way to his room from the tree. When he wakes up, he can follow the track backwards and it will be sitting under the tree for him with some Lionel PW passenger cars.

We already have the trains for our 5 and 2 year old. I would agree with Andy B. Once they are 3 a lion chief remote is super easy to use. Trust me the horn whistle button is very kid friendly!!!!

JGL,

   You bet almost every Christmas we gift an Active Duty Military Family or Military Veteran's family with Children, a RTR Train set.   Most times it's a remote control starter set.  Modern kids like modern toy trains.   This is a two fold Christmas operation, passing our Hobby on to the next generation, and making sure at least one US Military family has a fantastic Christmas for their Children.  This year Santa is bringing a US Navy Active Duty family, with a couple young boys a real nice Jack Frost Christmas Train.  I am already starting to look for another RTR Christmas Train for next year.

Merry Christmas everybody,

PCRR/Dave 

The cousin seen here at the Lionel layout at F.A.O. Schwarz , NYC, in the blue coat, and in the green-n-black shirt, in his kitchen, running his remote-controlled vehicle into his brother's leg, is getting a set of scale Lionel extruded-aluminum, rib-sided NYC passenger cars.  He'll flip out.

FrankM.

Is that a Traxxas I spy???   Those things are the bomb - we have two of them.   Fair or not, I sometimes gauge our hobby by what I can buy for the same money in the RC world.   It's not apples to apples, but it's crazy to think that you can get an ready to run 4wd RC vehicle that will handle water, mud, snow, dirt, and travel at speeds up to 250 scale MPH (with the right batteries) for a couple of hundred bucks.  We literally TRY to break them sometimes and have yet to have success....

I bought the Imperial GE GEVO for the kids - I knew they would get a big kick out of the flashing lights.   It's unlike anything else I run, and I figured that even though I personally prefer CSX/NS/UP/PRR, they would really enjoy the "bling".   It's been running of a couple of weeks now, so it's kind of an early "psuedo-gift"  

Brian Liesberg posted:

Was trying to find a train set for my cousins, only to find out the cheapest O gauge set is along the lines of $350.

I'm sorry its too late to help you with this Christmas but Trainworld has Lionchief RC sets starting at $99.99.  For $136.99 you can get a nice UP docksider set. 

If you have an older kid on your list who isn't hung up on wanting the remote control, the Williams Santa Fe Flyer is a heck of a deal.  You get a FA with dual vertical motors with flywheels, 3 passenger cars a loop of track and an 80 Watt transformer (a real transformer not a power pack) for $249.99.  I have this set in Santa Fe and Pennsylvania and they are great runners. 

There is also a couple of Scout sets out there one steam one diesel that can be had for under $200 if you shop around.  If the Santa Fe diesel scout set came with an e unit I would have probably bought it for my self.  I still may next time I catch it on sale.

Garfield posted:

Brian Liesberg posted:

Was trying to find a train set for my cousins, only to find out the cheapest O gauge set is along the lines of $350.

I'm sorry its too late to help you with this Christmas but Trainworld has Lionchief RC sets starting at $99.99.  For $136.99 you can get a nice UP docksider set. 

I was going to say that, Garfield..... I don't know where Brian was looking when he found that the cheapest set he saw was $350!   

I think a catalog from the manufacterurer. Last time I gave a trains as a Christmas present, the kid opened the box to find a Marx 4205 outfit, and a tank car I had added to go with the NYC engine and cars. He was in heaven! Haven't been able to find enough equipment to make another go for a certain other kid we know, though...

Remote Thomas set under the tree for my two and a half year old son.  I can't wait for him to open it tomorrow.

RadioRon posted:

Garfield posted:

Brian Liesberg posted:

Was trying to find a train set for my cousins, only to find out the cheapest O gauge set is along the lines of $350.

I'm sorry its too late to help you with this Christmas but Trainworld has Lionchief RC sets starting at $99.99.  For $136.99 you can get a nice UP docksider set. 

I was going to say that, Garfield..... I don't know where Brian was looking when he found that the cheapest set he saw was $350!   

I haven't seen any brand new sets for $100, not even HO. I saw the dockside switcher set and was unimpressed... I think the Marx I gave them last year is probably better

The local Hobby shop was selling the 2 sets I liked the Pensy Flyer for $290, and the Polar express for $420. I saw similar prices online. I started looking for a locomotive after I decided to just make a hodgepodge of a set but couldn't find one that I wanted (Lionchief something or another) for under $180, so I'm just going to give them a Postwar Hudson with some scale O cars. It looks weird but it's better than Marx

Had ordered four freight cars from Menard’s a week ago, to give out over Christmas. To date, have still not received them and having sent several e-mails since there is no phone number on their website to contact directly, have not received any follow-up from them.  Just don’t understand the lack of customer response when a purchase has been made....

Got my son a real nice set of postwar Lionel 2353 F3's with reproduction boxes. Nice set up.

Matt

Well Santa has been...

Well we have a happy lad!

Merry Christmas 

Nick

Karl Reichenbach posted:

There is a train set wrapped under our tree waiting for our grandson to open on Christmas day.

Karl

 Same here, A remote controlled Thomas, I can't wait.....

Every year, I give my grand niece and nephew a different piece of rolling stock. This year, the collection having grown, my wife and I decided on enough track for a 6' X 10' oval of Atlas track, a post war engine and tender, and a transformer. Now they can run the trains. I have also been giving our former neighbor's son and daughter rolling stock for many years. The daughter is now 16, and still likes her trains, as does her 11 year old brother. I have also been giving them trains for their birthdays. This Christmas, they have two loops set up. My wife and kind of helped raise the two of them from infancy, so they are quite special.

I began giving my grand nephews, (my sister's grand sons), trains several years ago, but neither showed any interest. They were both heavily into Thomas, but that didn't last either. If that changes, I will again give them trains for Christmas.

Don

Granddaughter loves pink so Santa brought her this