Full Speed Diesels Test the Track: Ride Along! 

Thanks!

@@jrrailroad7631 Your're welcome. They look very realistic as does your whole layout.

Hey thanks. They are USA Trains.

@@jrrailroad7631 They're super nice! Keep up the great content!

Your homework is mostly correct. Thanks for researching a bit before asking. USA Trains has a lot of back ordered items right now...they make their stuff in batches and sell it till it runs out (they may have done a run of 1000 Southern Pacific locos like mine and may not make any more again for years). I don’t know why they aren’t making more starter sets right now, but they are made in China so who knows. Piko has some sets that you could check out too. All my track is LGB. Yes, the starter track sets come with tight curved track that is worthless unless your layout space is really tight and you commit to only running small engines. So, you can make your own starter set that will allow for future expansion. Get 16 pieces of LGB R3 curved track. It makes an 8 foot diameter circle when put together. Then get a box of straight track. So, you can make an ‘oval’ with that. R3 is the tightest I run in my layout...most trains can run on that. My bigger curves are hand bent track, about 12 to 15 ft diameter. Then, get a basic power supply from USA trains or MRC or Bridgeworks, doesn’t really matter. Then get any basic g scale engine you like and a couple cars. I recommend picking a theme and time era so that the engine and cars make sense together. And there is your custom advanced starter set. All together that will be creeping up near $1K, but you will have a real solid start and room to expand with some realistic R5 curves and other track later on. Thanks.

@@jrrailroad7631 thank you very much for the info! I guess you are using DCC for your locos as well? No train/hobby stores within a couple hours from where I live, any suggestions for a good online supplier? Thanks again for the info! Keep the vids coming!! Great inspiration!

These locos I converted to battery power and radio dcc control using a system called Airwire. As far as online retailers: reindeerpass.com rldhobbies.com onlytrains.com RLD is the most popular, but I am partial to reindeer pass because I met the owners, Mike and Renee in person and they are great people. But these are the Big 3 and the only websites that I trust. Prices are competitive among the 3. Check out Garden Railways magazine as well...They have how-to articles and a variety of railroad styles to pull inspiration from. Thanks.