new dilemma with new locomotive.

Buy another and then decide who gets which when you see the second one.

You can run without traction tires but it will not pull as well. My gut tells me you will end up giving your son the engine you bought for him. Get another for yourself if you like. I don't think you can have too big a roster. Enjoy. 

Sorry but I vote to give it to your son. It will be a his cherished memory from the moment you give it to him. You can always take care of yourself at a later date.

Joe

I'm with Joe, let him keep it, you'll break his heart even if you give him another (been there done that). If this is his first real locomotive it is special to him and another will never take it's place. Besides it will give you an excuse to get another train, possibly something a little grander then originally planned.

Jerry

That's why they come off!  

If you try to pull too much of a load, or grades, they will stretch.  You can simply hold the locomotive back or try to move it without power on the track and stretch them as well.  After that happens a few times, they tend to come off.

That's the spirit!

Glad that you are giving it to your son.

These are available in Protosounds 2.0 also, if you find one at a decent price, there are quite a few roadnames, then you and he can share both of them. Nice that he is interested in trains! Encourage him.

You are a good Santa Claus.

You give it to him, but let him run it on your layout sometimes!  Its a win/win!

Groundhogslayer:  "The son becomes the father; and the father becomes the son". If you are good and ask nicely, your son may let you run the train!  Dennis M.

$80 well spent, your SON will be very happy

Buy your wife an engine and if she doesn't want it tell her you'll take it off her hands to relieve her of the guilty felling she must have

It doesn't appear that you have given it to your son yet and I highly doubt you wouldn't have gotten a replacement for him before Christmas so he would have been none  the wiser when he opened his cherised gift on Christmas, but your conscience was your guide.

You can always make a deal with him like my uncle did with me. This is how it works, have him promise to let you use "his" engine whenever you want. In exchange for his doing this you will buy him a more elaborate engine where you make the deal that you get to use the new engine whenever you want also. The result will be that you have two engines to use when you want and he gets to use them as well. It worked well for awhile, until I got tired of sharing my stuff with my uncle. Never mind, just buy your own engine and leave his alone.