I'm beyond confused!
In an effort to get back into model railroading and give the kids something fun and interesting to play with we picked up a couple of the Menards/Target sets this year when they went on clearance. So now I have a decent amount of strait and curved fastrack, two smaller amperage transformers and two trains. All of the stuff that came in those sets.
Coincidentally last weekend there was a big train show close by, so we took the kids and I picked up some odds and ends, some O guage track, some fastrack adapters, and it turns out I now have a couple O-27 switches and a cross. One of the dealers at the show told me the Menards/Target sets are cheap entry level sets, the engines are junk and the transformers lack enough power to do much of anything beyond their basic layouts.
Now to make things even more confusing I just talked to a local dealer who said the track that comes with those sets I got will not be able to operate the larger more powerful engines from older eras or "decent" sets. I just measured, and the fastrack curves I have are a 36" diameter. This dealer said the larger engines are going to need at least a 42" or larger, otherwise they will keep derailing and will short out.
Help! I've got my eye on an old postwar engine that I think we used to have when I was a kid, a 2026 from 1948, the older one with the two wheels in back not four. But now I'm concerned that this won't work on the O36 fastrack curves and switches!
Can someone explain this all simply? Thanks!
In an effort to get back into model railroading and give the kids something fun and interesting to play with we picked up a couple of the Menards/Target sets this year when they went on clearance. So now I have a decent amount of strait and curved fastrack, two smaller amperage transformers and two trains. All of the stuff that came in those sets.
Coincidentally last weekend there was a big train show close by, so we took the kids and I picked up some odds and ends, some O guage track, some fastrack adapters, and it turns out I now have a couple O-27 switches and a cross. One of the dealers at the show told me the Menards/Target sets are cheap entry level sets, the engines are junk and the transformers lack enough power to do much of anything beyond their basic layouts.
Now to make things even more confusing I just talked to a local dealer who said the track that comes with those sets I got will not be able to operate the larger more powerful engines from older eras or "decent" sets. I just measured, and the fastrack curves I have are a 36" diameter. This dealer said the larger engines are going to need at least a 42" or larger, otherwise they will keep derailing and will short out.
Help! I've got my eye on an old postwar engine that I think we used to have when I was a kid, a 2026 from 1948, the older one with the two wheels in back not four. But now I'm concerned that this won't work on the O36 fastrack curves and switches!
Can someone explain this all simply? Thanks!
