CJ,
My advice would be start with scale and stick with scale as in the long run it will save you money. For me I had traditional Lionel as a kid once I started to see scale equipment such as a scale Alco FA i would wonder where is the rest of my engine was. Eventually I either sold or gave away all of my traditional equipment. If space is an issue stick with smaller steam engines (Atlantics, Consolidations, Ten Wheelers, Moguls etc and four wheel truck diesels.
The savings are incurred as whatever you invested in semi-scale equipment either sits in your closet or you end up selling and it is never a good return on your investment.
JohnB
