New Member

Hi,Paul. If you want a floor layout O gauge is the best way to go. As for running from floor to a table that might be more than you want to take on to start with. If you mean a childs play table (1 to 2 feet tall) that could be done if you have the room. I don't know how big your loft is. A 3% to 5% grade is the steepest you will want to run. That means for a one foot table you will need a grade at least 10-15 feet long for each side. Depending on what set you buy you will get either Realtrax (MTH) or Fastrack (Lionel),both are good for floor layouts but if you want to take it apart and put it together frequently I would go with Fastrack. If you get an MTH set see if your dealer will swap out the track. Most dealers will. I am partial to MTH because their starter sets come with DCS equipped engines (command control)with sound. You can run them conventionally and if you decide to upgrade to command in the future all your engines will be ready. Either track system will be loud on a bare wood floor, I would recommend getting some indoor/outdoor carpet and cutting into strips to place under the track. That should cut down on track noise.
If you will move this to the main forum (3-rail o gauge trains) you will get a lot more responses. You can e-mail Allan Miller or Rich Melvin (OGR Webmaster) and they can move it for you. Welcome to the forum,Mike

Mike

Thanks for the information. I was pretty sure the uphill idea would not work because of limited space. How do I email Allan Miller or Rich Melvin.

Is there a beginner set you can recommend?

At the hobby shop I was told a rule of thumb is the smaller the child, the larger the train.

Thanks Again

Paul

You can reach Allan here editor@ogaugerr.com
I think any MTH starter set would be fine. Most kids prefer steam over diesel,but if your LHS has a good selection you can let her pick out what she likes best.