New Member

Welcome!!

Welcome Kirk I grew up in West Chester, PA. Many moons ago lol. welcome to the new age of trains. 

Not trying to confuse you but there is basically two different control system, You have Lionel's Command control and You have MTH Proto Sound system. I'm not that familiar with Proto Sound so will let some of the other chime in on that. 

Your friend for train items to me is the big train shops like Charlesroe.com and trainworld.com . theres others but that two of them. There probably a lot more manufactures than you remember from when you where younger.  As stated you still have Lionel and there is Mike Train House ( MTH ) but if your looking for conventional take a look at Williams ( but not from the themselves ( you get a lot better deal from the big train stores ) 

You come to the right place though, as there is bundles of info on this site. 

If you click on my name in the upper left corner it will show you a email address to me if you want to contact me.  

Howdy! 

Thanks guys!

RTRAINCOLLECTOR thanks for the comments.  Yes, as a newbie you see DCC, DCS, TMCC, Legacy, ProtoSound, etc. and it's quite confusing until you get one-on-one (which I have not as yet).  Hopefully that'll clarify things.  The simplicity of the pre- and post-war is intriguing, but so is the digital realm.  We'll see.

Kirk R.

Welcome.  it sounds like you will be very busy with your layout.  Enjoy.

Kirk,

   Welcome to the OGR, lots of good knowledgable people here who will help you with any layout information and train education you desire to acquire.

Have fun with you kids and the trains.

PCRR/Dave

Welcome aboard Kirk!  You'll like riding this train!!  

Welcome aboard Kirk.  I see your from Chester County.  I am just across the state line in Cecil County Maryland.  I have a large high rail layout that you would be welcome to visit.  E-mail in profile.

Karl

welcome to the site. you didn't say what brand your steamers are, but the old trains Lionel,Flyer,Marx are usually hard to kill)

Karl,

I will likely take you up on that offer!  Is the Train Show in Oaks, PA something you'll attend this weekend?

As a newbie I think I have a (brief) period of time to ask stupid questions... such as 1) what is a high rail vs. others?, 2) is an O-72 curve 72" diameter or radius (planning for my Big Boy purchase!)?, 3) most my current inventory is pre-2000 so need system/layout to run all current inventory but also need to plan for the time when I want to drop $500-$1,500 on a single engine - how is electrical different and how backward compatible are current power and control systems?, and, my favorite question, 4) how is it that Menard's, an OK hardware store I've patronized, has pretty cool train stuff?

That's it, will be in contact.

Kirk

Have a good time and keep it under control. 

Steamer,

Mine (6 total) are all Lionel but one Marx that is shipping now.  Some need TLC (one Adriatic is missing a gear and drive wheels are detached), another S2 turbine runs but tender makes weird noises and an AmerFlyer 5640 4-6-4 lacking a trailing truck support post.  All turn on (lights, hum, etc.), but hey, I'm batting .500 which ain't bad!

Kirk

half of the fun of this hobby is bringing back dead trains.

a great parts supply

http://www.ttender.com/

Welcome Kirk, I've learned a lot in the last year just reading the threads posted here.

Rusty

Welcome to the OGR family of hobbyists.  This is a fun hobby of great folks from all over and whatever you are looking for in O gauge can be found here,  industry trends, layout building info, for sale items, technical tips, new product info , events and the list goes on.