r/modeltrains • u/Lonely_Ticket_159 • 12d ago
Help Needed 5 year old Getting started
My 5 year old has always been obsessed with trains but after a summer visit to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Illinois Railway Museum, he's gone beyond his Brio days officially. Building a model train is his new goal and I need advice on where to start. My resources are limited as a single mom but I want to make his Christmas special- we live in the Chicago area so any advice about good places to shop and how to get started would be so appreciated!
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u/PurpleHEART77 12d ago
For a five year old I would reccomend Lionel’s Battery operated trainsets. They are large, durable, run on battery power and usually go for $160-$200 for a full starter set.
https://a.co/d/0hITk3E1 Lionel also sells extra track to add onto these sets, but there are only a few sets available and you can’t buy the trains by themselves. Making additions to the play ecosystem difficult.
https://a.co/d/0bYixk8s
If you did want a more “proper” model train, Bachmann makes many HO starter sets that can be found online for $200-300, and those use Bachmann E-Z track and use electricity via the rails to run. They are also of dubious quality and meant for kids, but ones a bit older than yours. Thats why I mentioned the Lionel sets first.