spirit of 76 controller and tracks

[buzz1]

Hello,  I am new to the and want to say hello to everyone.  I have bought a set of 'Spirit of 76' train and cars,but it came with no controller or tracks.  I'm totally new to the train hobby and have no experience as to what came with this set or what would work. Can someone share some advise as to get started on getting up and running.  Thanks


















   

[Jerrys HO]

buzz

You answered your question. You need  tracks of the scale of train that you purchased and a controller. Your local hobby shop is a good place to purchase these along with other places such as e-bay and on-line sellers such as the Favorite Spot.
https://www.thefavoritespot.com/default.aspx

Jerry

[buzz1]

Hey Jerry,
  Thanks for your reply.  So any HO track will work with this train?  I've looked on another site but there were tracks that  they said were for HO but looked different from each other, does that make a difference?  Also will any controller work or are controllers rated with different strengths and if so which is appropate for the 'Sprit of 76'?   thanks

[jward]

any dc controller with an output of 12 volts will work on HO.

that said, the bachmann controllers have a proprietary plug that only works with bachmann track and accessories. it is an easy matter to cut off the plug if you use other brands of track and accessories.

with some modifications is is also possible to use different brands of track together, as well. HO guage has certain standards pretaining to things like wheels and track which ensure that any HO trains will operate on any HO track.

may i suggest when you buy your track and controller, that you also pick up one of the plan books by atlas or bachmann? there is alot of good information on basic model railroading in these books, and plenty of ideas for your track layout as well.