Help with Train for Dickens Village

[shoparoundthecorner]

A few years ago, my parents inherited my grandfather's Dickens village and the Marklin HO train that he set up to go around it (he had attached the track so that it traveled in an oval along the perimeter of an 8x4ft piece of plywood). The train was by that point not in great shape, and last year it finally stopped working. They are looking to replace the train and track and asked me to help.

I'd like to purchase an HO train that doesn't look out of place with a Dickens village. I'm hoping to spend under $400 in total. I've looked online but am having some difficulty figuring out what I need. I'd like something that's easy for beginners to set up but will last, since we hope to use this for Christmas for many years to come. Is my best bet to buy a starter set, or to buy pieces individually? If I buy the pieces individually, I would need the cars, the locomotive, the tracks, and a power pack--am I missing something?

I think I'd prefer to use passenger cars vs. freight. So far, I like the look of these silver series coach cars from Bachmann--https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Bachmann-Silver-Series-HO-13405-1860-1880-Coach-Unlettered/ If I get these, any ideas of what locomotive would work best? I'm not attached to those particular cars though, so if anyone can recommend either a set or individual pieces that have a similar look, I'd appreciate it!

Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

[jonathan]

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=487_672&products_id=6664

This the set I would get.  It's On3 (narrow gage).

Regards,

Jonathan

[trainman203]

On3 is too big for this village