Steam engine suggestions for a 4 year old

If you are looking for something that can be pushed along the track as well as being powered down the track, what you need to look for is something that is SPUR GEAR driven, rather than WORM GEAR driven.

 Spur gears allow the motor to free wheel, where as a Worm gear will lock the drive train.

 Lionel's ubiquitous starter set 4-4-2 would be an EXCELLENT choice, they are Spur Gear driven, and typically have rugged, mostly cast in detailing, with little to break off.

These can often be found relatively cheap, watch the for sale/trade board, the bay, train shows and some shops sell used and/or do set break ups.

 With a little patience you should be able to find one in good shape for a decent price.

Doug

Contact me via the e-mail on my profile...if interested. I can donate a Marx electrically powered plastic era steam freight set. Pretty rugged..two axle cars. Could always be de-motored. I think I have enough track etc. 

You just pay postage.

Thanks for your reply Doug. So basically something like a 2056 Hudson is pushable and a 736 Berkshire is not. I thought my 671 Turbine was pushable but its worm gear driven. I could be mistaken since I run my trains.

Matt,

 The only post war Lionel locomotive that I have ever had was a 736 I am not familiar with the drive train of the 2056, but if it is a spur gear drive, it should be fine.

 Good Luck

Doug

Matt,

  If you want to stick with Lionel with great linkage, smoke and whistle, I recommend a postwar 2035.  The only drawback would be the marker lights on the boiler front.  These will often break if the loco falls on it's side.  A replacement boiler front is available for those days when he's a little older and learns what it is to be careful.    The 2035 can be found on e-bay at a reasonable price and some will already have the markers missing.  The other plus is the magnatraction it has to help keep this engine on the track.  This particular model has earned a reputation of being a great runner.  My twins are 18 now so I have a feel for where you are.

Chris

Matt,

My 4 year old uses a Lionel CNW 4-4-2 item number 6-18612. It is perfect for pushing on the rails. The loco is metal while the tender is plastic. I added metal sprung trucks to the tender to give it better rail adhesion with some weight.

When powered up on the track it is not geared for very slow operations, but it can haul around, fall off the rails, not break anything and get back in the game. No harm, no foul!!

I have not found a better powered steamer for pushing.

Enjoy the trains!

Maybe just take the motor out of a Thomas engine.Little kids love pushing Thomas around my Dad's G scale outdoor layout.

Dan

Check a Lionel postwar 2065 hudson steamer!

675/2025/2035.

I did not want to frustrate my grandchildren with the train sets I gave have them because the locomotive would be too hard to re-rail. The solution was to give them the MTH Rail King 0-4-0 B&O Dockside. This it is very rugged and has stood up to the rigors of the little folks. The MTH 0-4-0 is available decorated in several schemes, and its price is reasonable.