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Reply to "Seeking recommendations on additional items for starter set gift"

I think the way to address the small available space would be to build a "door" sized layout on casters so the train set can be easily stored, and rolled out by the child then put away. Hollow doors are light enough, spray foam cuts the noise, OR glue green or tan low-pile carpet to the base - even mix colors to simulate grass and dirt, or roads (black).   

Kids tend to play with something for a time, put it away, then want it back out over and over.

Add a manual turnout and siding.  Manual = "play value" (JL Cohen term).  Screwing the track to the base adds to reliability.  And if/when more space is available, then the door layout is a start.  Accessories especially electrically-operated ones cost a lot of money.  A Plug and Play Yard tower is $65.  A Gateman is close to $100.  A Lion Chief Diesel (to add a second loco) starts at  $120, to add to a set that was in the mid-$200s.

And don't forget the limitations of the power pack from a set- it might be 50 or so watts, more electrical accessories = more draw, and eventually: a $100 or more transformer with no place to put it. (Lionel also has a 70-something wall pack available.)

Regarding door layouts: the starter set might be O36 curves;  a circle of track w/ O36 will not fit an actual door; O31, yes.  When I did this for a grandson, I had to scrap the O36 from the PA Flyer LC set and replace w/ O31, and also to buy a different bedframe (about $100) to get the height underneath.

That basic roll-around layout sets up the addition of accessories limited only by the imagination:

- A "mountain" (remember the height limit under a bed!)  You could even create a mountain that is light (foam) and could be lifted and moved around to different corners of the layout.

-  some crossings w/ lights (use Lemax battery-operated ones- inexpensive, simple)  The imagination adds the "distant" highways.

- a town on one end/ side of the layout.  Build the structures with the child = (grand)parent/child joint activity.  Plasticville buildings are inexpensive and simple enough. After the child goes to bed do the gluing if desired.  But re-assembling them over and over is fun in itself.  Remember the height limitation under a bed- no six-story buildings!

- An industry and/or various buildings as later gifts  that could removed, then rotated on and off: including a beverage plant (soda only!), an auto plant (add car carriers and such for his model cars), a small power plant (but remember that he cannot likely relate to coal), etc.  Ditto on the after hours gluing .

And above all: don't ruin the play value of the train by turning off the sound and smoke!  A model train that goes in circles might be a necessity for a limited space.  But a train going in circles WITH a whistle, crew talk, and smoke is three times as much fun.

Last edited by Mike Wyatt

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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