# Looking Ahead



## JoeElder (Dec 4, 2010)

I joined this forum late last year and have really enjoyed reading some of the posts. 

My son will be two years old this coming X-mas, and while I feel that is still much too young for us to get into a layout and train, I think that we'll get started within a couple of years.

Our little boy loves wheels, vehicles, and of course trains. Last year my wife got him a G gauge battery powered Polar Express and he loves it. Just this week he sat with me, ate crackers, and watched it go around in circles for 30 minutes, laughed and clapped.

During a trip to the metrolink station, he watched a diesel engine move rolling stock around in the yard and was really keen on it.

Our little family actually uses trains for some of our regional travel. My wife takes the coaster to Salinas to see her folks and I use the Southwest Chief for travel for work when air travel is not a practical option.

I grew up in Northern Arizona in that last decade before Santa Fe merged with Burlington Northern. I can remember watching the Santa Fe freights roll in through Flagstaff and you couldn't drive I-40 without seeing them. I have an affection for that line and Santa Fe's history.

I think it would be fun for us to have an O Gauge Santa Fe.

I like to plan slowly, but I would be interested in hearing thoughts on which of the big O Gauge suppliers (MTH, Lionel) have the better Santa Fe sets. Thinking of starting with steam.

Thanks!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Joe,

Welcome (again!). Nice bio. I'll defer to others for tips on O diesels / Santa Fe's, but I'll offer a couple of quick points ...

If you are considering getting into O, you should begin to think about a couple of decision forks in the road:

Old stock / equipment vs. new stock equipment.

Traditional AC, block-wired track setup, or modern digital controlled setup.

Personally, I'm a fan of the older locos and cars, but Lionel and MTH are both making some fine new equipment, much of it geared towards digital control systems. Newer systems have the exciting features of incredibly realistic audio sounds, smooth speed control, etc.

As far as steam vs. diesel ... it depends upon what era / theme you're looking to model. No right/wrong answer there. That said, I think I'd offer a big thumbs-up for at least one nice steamer ... a reminder of the past for your son.

Cheers,

TJ


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

JoeElder said:


> I joined this forum late last year and have really enjoyed reading some of the posts. My son will be two years old this coming X-mas, and while I feel that is still much too young for us to get into a layout and train, I think that we'll get started within a couple of years. Our little boy loves wheels, vehicles, and of course trains. Last year my wife got him a G gauge battery powered Polar Express and he loves it. Just this week he sat with me, ate crackers, and watched it go around in circles for 30 minutes, laughed and clapped. During a trip to the metrolink station, he watched a diesel engine move rolling stock around in the yard and was really keen on it. I grew up in Northern Arizona in that last decade before Santa Fe merged with Burlington Northern. I can remember watching the Santa Fe freights roll in through Flagstaff and you couldn't drive I-40 without seeing them. I have an affection for that line and Santa Fe's history. I think it would be fun for us to have an O Gauge Santa Fe.


Your post brought back some fond memories. When my oldest son was three we lived in Los Angeles, about a hundred yards from our back yard there was a place that Santa Fe would come and change out their cars. When they'd blow their horns, we'd both run out back and sit and watch them switch the cars. I think we were both equally facinated with those big blue engines with the yellow war bonnets. Nowadays during family get togethers my boy and I will sometimes sit and reminisce together about those wonderful days of long ago. 

I loved Santa Fe. I remember when they merged with Burlington Northern. When they became BNSF, it was sad, as it was like saying a final good bye to an old friend. To me, they were never quite the same after that, as the specialness was all but gone. Another line I loved and hated to see go was Rio Grande. 

I've had several HO layouts but I never had one in O scale. I once went to a hobby shop and they had A Santa Fe engine in G scale sitting on the counter. I think it was an SD40. I fell in love with it immediately. But alas, at that time I neither had the funds nor the room to start a G scale layout. 

When I was 5, my older brother had an O scale layout with two trains in the basement of our house. I remember the track was three rail. One train was a freight pulled by a late model black steam engine and the other was a Santa Fe Chief passenger train. I would sneak down to the basement and run the trains. I would get punished for it, but I didn't care. Because as soon as I got another chance I'd be back down there running them again, especially that Santa Fe Chief. 

Sorry, but since I've never really owned an O scale train myself, I can't answer your question about the suppliers.  

Routerman


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