SOOOOOO LOST

[kdladyaly]

Ok, so a little background: I am a mother of an autistic 5 year old who has been OBSESSED with Thomas since he came out of the womb. Like literally, he reached for a stuffed Thomas before he reached for family members, same stuffed Thomas got his first smile, he said Thomas before he said Mommy...you get the picture. Anyway, we have I don't know 500 miles of that cheap plastic Fisher Price TrackMaster track and about 50 of the battery trains....HE LOVES THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING EVER. So, to my actual problem, I recently remarried and we moved, while decorating the new house I came up with this idea. I have this old antique window about 3x4 feet and I thought hey you know I know a guy that could take that and make a shadow box style coffee table with that on the top and I could totally put a real Thomas Train in there! Rowan would flip the heck out! The problem? I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about model trains and I have to say after reading over some basics it seems a lot more complicated than I had assumed. I'm pretty crafty, and not awful with most standard tools so I'm still thinking this is possible. I guess my question would be can someone tell me is there a Thomas Train that comes in a whole set where I would really just need to pick a layout and master putting the thing together that would fit and look nice in that kind of space???

[Cheeky_ULP]

Bachmanns Thomas sets do come with a loop of track that's 36". That should fit just fine in your 3x4 space.
There's many sets here: http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=258_259_263

Bachmann even has videos to show how to get them set up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqOl7sZa_uE

(of curious note Bachmann, there's two versions of that web page, with one not listing the Whistle & Chuff set: http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=756_772_776  )

[Jacob Wilson]

You could buy a Bachamnn Thomas & Friends HO Gauge Train Set, which starts you off with a Locomotve, Rolling Stock, Track and a Controller. The choices are:

00642 Thomas with Annie & Clarabel
00644 Thomas & Friends Special
00683 Thomas' Fun with Freight Set
00684 Emily's Passenger Set
00692 Salty's Dockside Delivery
00721 Thomas' Christmas Express
00739 Whistle & Chuff Thomas!

[kdladyaly]

Bachmanns Thomas sets do come with a loop of track that's 36". That should fit just fine in your 3x4 space.
There's many sets here: http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=258_259_263


Thank you!!! I had no idea what size I should be looking at.

[jward]

bear in mind that 18 radius curves are measured from the centerline of the track, so the actual circle diameter is more like 38" than 36".......if 36" is all the room you have then you have a problem.

[Jacob Wilson]

bear in mind that 18 radius curves are measured from the centerline of the track, so the actual circle diameter is more like 38" than 36".......if 36" is all the room you have then you have a problem.

You do nothave to use all of the track tha comes in a Train Set. You iust keep a few pieces out if it is too big for the space you have, too set it up.

[jward]

interesting concept Jacob, but how do you squeeze 18 r curves onto a 36" wide table? without the curves you do not have a continuous loop.

[Jacob Wilson]

interesting concept Jacob, but how do you squeeze 18 r curves onto a 36" wide table? without the curves you do not have a continuous loop.

Leave out one or two straight track pieces, or down grade the 3rd radius curved to 2nd.

[jward]

obviously you know nothing of what you are talking about here. how is leaving out a couple of pieces of straight track going to reduce the radius of the curves? they are already, even without straight track, wider than the available space. have you ever actually BUILT a layout?

[Kemptown Branch]

bear in mind that 18 radius curves are measured from the centerline of the track, so the actual circle diameter is more like 38" than 36".......if 36" is all the room you have then you have a problem.

Last time I checked, 18 +18 = 36. So she should just have a problem with the track being extremely close to the edges and wall.

[jward]

as was mentioned earlier in this thread, track radius is measured from the center of the track so to get the actual overall dimension you have to account for the width of the track in addition to the radius. there is a reason bachmann lists layout sizes as 38" by 47" instead of 36" by 45"

don't believe me? try it yourself, either by using actual ez track components and a tape measure, or on computer using layout planning software such as anyrail.

[Jacob Wilson]

as was mentioned earlier in this thread, track radius is measured from the center of the track so to get the actual overall dimension you have to account for the width of the track in addition to the radius. there is a reason bachmann lists layout sizes as 38" by 47" instead of 36" by 45"

don't believe me? try it yourself, either by using actual ez track components and a tape measure, or on computer using layout planning software such as anyrail.

I do believe you, but it is easier said than done trying it with Bachmann E-Z Track, as I live in the United Kindgom, so getting hold of it is not easy for me. I do know roughly what I am talking about, as well.

[Kemptown Branch]

as was mentioned earlier in this thread, track radius is measured from the center of the track so to get the actual overall dimension you have to account for the width of the track in addition to the radius. there is a reason bachmann lists layout sizes as 38" by 47" instead of 36" by 45"

don't believe me? try it yourself, either by using actual ez track components and a tape measure, or on computer using layout planning software such as anyrail.

Oh, I thought it included the roadbed as well. Sorry about that, I guess you are right.