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Our little 7 year old, Josiah, is slowly getting into trains as well. We bought him his very own set for Christmas 2005. He was so excited and I'm sure we'll expand the set with future Christmas gifts. My first choice was a Lionel starter set, but I had second thoughts and swapped that one out for an MTH starter set instead. I figured since my set is using the MTH DCS system, his should too. That way, not only does he have a set like daddy's, but he'll also be able to run his train on my big layout when he gets a little older.
For Josiah's first set, we gave him an MTH 30-4136-1 Ready-to-Run Pennsylvania 2-8-0 Steam R-T-R Train Set w/Proto-Sound 2.0! It's not a diesel like most of daddy's engines, but I figured it was a more traditional starting point for him. It's the perfect starter set and came with everything he needed. The train, track, transformer and dvd are all included for a reasonable price of $329.00. This is a high quality set and I'm sure it will last him many years. He may even be able to pass it on to HIS kids! The engine itself is all die-cast metal and, I'm telling you, that thing is heavy! Both the engine and tender are painted and detailed very well for a starter set. Not only does the engine look great, but it also runs great. This little beast has some serious pulling power...especially for a starter set. I've pulled 26 cars behind it without any trouble at all. All of the freight cars have quality metal sprung trucks and are constructed of high-grade ABS plastic. This set looks and runs so much better than anything the Postwar Lionel era ever put out and beat the pants off the slightly less expensive starter sets that Lionel is putting out. I think it was very smart business decision on MTH's part to put out start sets of such high quality. Since this set includes Proto-Sound 2.0, it will interface seamlessly with my big set. When he gets a little older, I can let him put this train on the big layout. The DCS system will allow me to configure his very own remote control that will give him exclusive control of his train, and his train alone. The DCS system will even allow me to set a speed limit on his train so that he can't run it too fast and derail it! He's going to have a blast!
Here's a picture from the MTH catalog!
OK, so Christmas 2005 came and went and Josiah now has his very own set. Check out the pics below. We built the 4x5 table for him in about 3 hours on Christmas eve after he fell asleep. Not bad for a few hours work! We had to dimantle the table and layout when we moved into our new house in early 2007. I haven't built him a new layout of his own yet, but we have taken the engine out and we routinely run it on the large layout that's currently in development. I've also put an oval of track in his playroom for now. You can check out video of the engine from this set in action right here.
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Christmas 2005. The layout is finished. |
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Another Christmas 2005 layout shot |
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The whole Christmas scenem 2005. |
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Josiah on Christmas day with his new train set! |
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The glamour shot of the engine. |
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Josiah runs his engine on the new layout at our house, October 2007. |
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The carpet layout in Josiah's playroom, July 2008. |
You can find all the details of Josiah's new set on MTH's site at this address:
http://www.mth-railking.com/search3.asp?item=30-4136-1
Josiah's Real Train Pictures
Josiah is usually with us when we chase trains, so here are some special pictures of Josiah getting up close and personal with some real-life trains...
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Josiah enjoying a GE B36-7 in Lawrenceburg, TN
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Relaxing on the tracks at the Norfolk Southern Inman Yard (Downtown Atlanta). By the way, that red mark on his forehead is NOT a cut. It's a Harry Potter scar that was drawn there for him.
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Josiah and daddy next to a gigantic SD70-2 at the Inman Yard! |
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Checking out some trains on Amelia Island, FL in May of 2008. |
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