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Reply to "Starter set advice needed"

"I've heard that you can get by with hooking up just 2 wires to a loop of the brands of "Fast Track" ; is that correct?"

Correct.  Lionchief is essentially command control. Fixed voltage.  Operable by the enclosed handheld remote in the set or the Bluetooth Lionel app (free in whichever store you use). The app, as you may know, requires a tablet or smartphone to operate.  For very young children, the handheld remote makes more sense, IMO. LionChief locos from sets are compatible with for side by side operation of any new Lionel Lionchief, LionChief +, Legacy loco since these are all operable using the app or the Universal Remote (about $40) and fixed voltage (wall wart included with the set).  You may need more power (larger wall wart or transformer) for operating more than one train.  Can operate two locos or more independently on separate or larger loops if they aren't identical LionChief locos (identical locos will both respond to one remote at the same time).  This is the beauty of the LionChief system in that it is relatively inexpensive as a way to get command control.

Fastrack is Lionel's contribution to starter sets and nice carpet layouts as it protects the floor from any lubricant or debris.  Not inexpensive, some find it noisy, but it's very adaptable and robust.  Some folks use it for permanent layouts instead of tubular or Gargraves/Ross as it has built in roadbed.

I wouldn't worry about the plastic gears.  LionChief locos in sets are not meant to last forever, true, but it's not the plastic gearing. Somewhere between the old Scout locos and something more robust like the Lionel standard O gauge locos of the 1950s in durability.  But they can be fixed relatively inexpensively and are sufficiently inexpensive that younger children can be allowed to play with them.

These kids are very young and might be best off with some Brio (wooden trains) or other similar trains to start, or Lionel's battery powered Ready to Play sets which can be had for as little as $70 at many hobby shops and Amazon (no household current to worry about).

One LionChief option that lots of smaller children enjoy is Thomas, and those sets can be had for as little as $150 or so from some sources at certain times of the year. I've bought some as inexpensively as $100 just after Christmas.  That might interest toddlers and slightly older children more than prototypical accuracy.

 

Last edited by Landsteiner

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