That's right a child would get bored pretty quickly running trains in a circle. Better make sure they have all the bells and whistles command control offers to keep their interest. 
--Greg
Thought I'd add my two cents on track. When I was 11 years old I was forever tearing down and redoing my track (my Mother was a saint as the track snaked though the house). Anyhow, I'd recommend tubular track since I'm convinced it will stand up better to this sort of use. And switches are mandatory! Were it my kid I'd try for the old Lionel O22 switches: bulletproof.
I had Realtrax on my test loop at home, I tired of not being able to utilize my Magnetraction locos to their full advantage, so I switched to Lionel tubular. What a difference! It is much quieter than REaltrax, and you don't have to problem of new versus old Realtrax, and no electrical isolation problems with Marx locos. FWIW.
Allan,
Check out the four larger companies for prices of sets; Lionel, MTH, Atlas, and Williams.
I think I would narrow that down to three possibles: Lionel, MTH, and Williams by Bachmann.
I don't know why you would exclude Atlas? 
They do offer the Industrial Rail sets - conventional steam engine with cars, and 80 watt transformer, and track set in a molded roadbed. Quite often these sets can be found under $200.
If someone was looking for a traditional style train set, this is one that they should also consider.
Jim
p.s. I think Ace's comments are spot on. Most kids (including me when I was 9) need more than just a simple oval. A couple of switches to add a passing siding or a freight siding adds a lot of play value to a set.
First thing I did with my circa early 50s Lionel was take the oval apart and see how much of a grade it would climb. I tried tons of configurations since I got quite a bit of track, but not a lot of switches and never enough curves. I was able to do a figure 8, but not a loop to loop. I have to admit that RealTrax is a bit difficult for me to assemble sometimes, but it looks nice on the carpet. Not sure how much trouble smaller hands will have. Trouble with the old tracks was it didn't take long for them to loosen up considering how often I took them apart.
