HO train sets put a locomotive, a few freight cars, a loop of track and a power pack in one box. That’s why they’re the usual first purchase in the hobby. HO is 1:87 scale, so a 50 foot boxcar comes out about seven inches long. If you’re choosing your first set, the decision comes down to three things. The first is how big an oval you have room for, the second is which track system you want to build on later, and the third is whether the locomotive runs on plain DC or on digital DCC.
The seven HO train sets below come from Bachmann, Walthers and Kato, and every spec was read from the maker’s own product page. That means you can check any number against its source. Bachmann fills most of the shelf for beginner sets, so most of the list is Bachmann. Atlas appears in the track section instead, because its starter sets are track only. When you’re ready to build, our beginner’s guide to building a model train layout picks up where the box ends.
Bachmann Yard Master, a Steam Switcher on a 36 Inch Circle
The Yard Master is the smallest of these HO train sets, with a 36 inch circle of snap-fit E-Z Track built from 11 curved pieces and one curved terminal rerailer. It holds a USRA 0-6-0 steam locomotive in Union Pacific’s greyhound colors, a slope tender, a 40 foot gondola and an offset cupola caboose. The engine has an operating headlight and smoke. Bachmann lists it as model 00761, so that’s the number to search for.
A circle this small suits a shelf, a coffee table or a first weekend of testing. Short engines take tight curves more easily than long ones, and a switcher is about as short as a locomotive gets. The product page names a power pack and speed controller and no digital system, so plan on plain DC. If you want a bigger oval, the Walthers Flyer Express is next at 38 by 45 inches.
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Walthers Flyer Express, a Set With Metal Wheels and Knuckle Couplers
Walthers sells the Flyer Express in its Trainline range, with metal wheels and Proto MAX metal knuckle couplers on all three cars. That makes it the best fit among these HO train sets if you plan to buy cars from other makers soon. The CSX version is part 931-1212, and the set has a powered GP15-1 diesel with a working headlight, plus a wide vision caboose, a 53 foot Norfolk Southern gondola and a 50 foot Conrail insulated boxcar.
The Power-Loc track has nickel silver rail, brown ties and gray roadbed, and its 14 sections make a 38 by 45 inch oval. Walthers packs in a Getting Started Guide for new modelers, which helps if this is your first box. The page tells you to expand with matching track, so decide on a track system before you buy extras. It doesn’t mention digital control, so treat it as a DC set run from the included power pack and speed and direction controller. If you’d rather have a plain diesel freight on E-Z Track, the Bachmann Track King comes next.
Bachmann Track King, a Diesel Freight on a 47 by 38 Inch Oval
The Track King puts an EMD GP40 in Union Pacific Armour Yellow at the head of a four car freight on a 47 by 38 inch oval. The cars are a single-dome tank car, a 40 foot boxcar with opening doors, a 52 foot flatcar and an offset cupola caboose. Up front, the GP40 has an operating headlight. The track is made from 12 curves of 18 inch radius, one straight and one terminal rerailer, and the catalog number is 00766.
Among beginner HO train sets, this is the plain, sensible first pick. You get a full loop, a diesel that looks like the real thing and a mix of car types. At 38 inches wide, the oval leaves about ten inches spare on a four foot table, so it can start a 4×8 HO layout, which is the usual next step. If you’d rather run passenger trains, Kato’s set is next, and the Digital Commander and Thunder Chief after it add DCC.
Kato HO Starter Set, an Amtrak P42 on Unitrack
Kato’s HO train sets take a passenger approach, since each starter set holds an Amtrak P42 locomotive, a Viewliner II baggage car and two Superliner cars, plus a Power Pack SX. The oval is Kato Unitrack, made from 16 curves of 670 mm radius, six 246 mm straights, a feeder track, a rerailer and a road crossing. Kato lists the oval as 7.7 by 4.5 with no unit, but the track lengths confirm it is feet. Kato notes that the exact selection and look may vary, so check the listing before you order.
Superliners are long cars, so the wide 26 3/8 inch curve helps them run smoothly, though it also makes the oval large. At 4.5 feet across, it’s wider than a 4×8 table, which means you should measure your space first. Kato describes its power pack as simple to use, with keyed and color-coded connectors, so hooking it up shouldn’t be a puzzle. The listing doesn’t mention DCC, so don’t count on it. If digital control is what you’re after, the Bachmann Digital Commander is next.
Bachmann Digital Commander, Two DCC Locomotives in One Box
Among HO train sets, the Digital Commander is the one to buy if you already know you want digital control, because it ships with two DCC equipped locomotives, an EMD GP40 and an EMD FT-A, both with operating headlights. The E-Z Command Plus Control Center runs from a wall pack, and it lets you control the speed, direction and lighting of each locomotive on its own. The cars are a 50 foot plug-door boxcar, a 40 foot quad hopper with a removable coal load and a 36 foot wide-vision caboose, and you’ll find it listed as catalog number 00501.
A nickel silver E-Z Track oval, 56 by 38 inches, comes in the box. It has 12 curves, 4 straights, a terminal rerailer, a manual left turnout, an under-track magnet with a brakeman figure and a Hayes bumper. Two engines need somewhere to wait, so the turnout and bumper let you build a short siding where one engine can sit while the other runs. If you’d like sound on top of DCC, the Thunder Chief uses the same size oval.
Bachmann Thunder Chief, a DCC Sound Set With an F7 Diesel
The Thunder Chief adds sound, because its DCC sound equipped F7-A comes with a prime mover, three air horns and a bell in polyphonic 16-bit sound, according to Bachmann. That F7-A also has all-wheel drive. Its train is a 40 foot box car, a three-dome tank car and an offset cupola caboose. E-Z Command Plus runs it from a wall pack, so the control system matches the Digital Commander’s. Look for model 00826 when you shop.
The nickel silver oval is 56 by 38 inches, with 12 curves, 3 straights and a terminal rerailer, so it takes the same table space as the Digital Commander. Sound is the feature people notice first. If you prefer steam, the sibling Echo Valley Express (model 00825) has a DCC sound equipped Alco 2-6-0 with chuff, whistles, bell, air compressor and blower on the same size oval. Sound-equipped HO train sets suit someone who wants the full show on day one and is happy to learn DCC as they go. If you want the longest train of all, the Overland Limited is next.
Bachmann Overland Limited, a Big 4-8-4 With Nine Cars
The Overland Limited is the big one, with a Union Pacific 4-8-4 steam locomotive that has operating smoke and a headlight and pulls nine cars. The cars are a 4-bay cylindrical grain hopper, a three-dome tank car, a flat car with removable logs, a 56 foot ACF center-flow covered hopper, a 40 foot quad hopper with a removable coal load, two 50 foot plug-door boxcars, a 40 foot stock car and a 36 foot wide-vision caboose. Its number is 00614.
The track is 16 curves of 22 inch radius, five straights and a terminal rerailer. Bachmann gives the oval as 63 by 54 inches, although that width doesn’t follow from the pieces, so measure your table before you order. A long steam engine looks right on the wider curve, and nine cars make a train worth watching. It’s still more than most first-time buyers of HO train sets need. If you want something this size, look at the bigger plans in our HO train layouts before you commit to a table. The next section compares every oval side by side.
How Big Is the Oval in HO Train Sets
The smallest oval in these HO train sets is a 36 inch circle. Most of the others are 38 inches wide and between 45 and 56 inches long. Kato’s oval is 4.5 feet across and Bachmann lists the Overland Limited at 63 by 54 inches, so those two need the most table. A 4×8 sheet is 48 inches wide, so the 38 inch ovals leave about ten inches of spare table. That ten inches is where a siding goes later.
Curve radius matters as much as size, because it decides which trains look right on the oval. The basic E-Z Track curve has an 18 inch radius. Bachmann says its 22 inch radius curve suits longer locomotives and rolling stock and allows faster mainline running. That’s why long passenger cars and big steam engines look better on the wider curve. Most of the HO train sets above ship with three or four cars, while only the Overland Limited ships with nine. Whichever oval fits your table, the track system you choose decides how easily you can add to it, so that comes next.
E-Z Track, Unitrack, Atlas and Power-Loc Compared
Bachmann E-Z Track snaps together without tools and has a ballasted roadbed already attached, so laying the first oval takes no tools at all. Bachmann says the roadbed lifts trains to a mainline ride height and keeps them clear of dust and carpet. It comes in steel alloy with black roadbed or nickel silver with gray roadbed. The basic curve is the 18 inch radius piece, 44501, and four pieces make one third of a circle 36 inches across. The 22 inch curve is 44503, and the 9 inch straight is 44511. Our Bachmann E-Z Track layouts page shows what the pieces can build.
Kato Unitrack is nickel silver alloy, and Kato says that means less rail cleaning. Its Unijoiner clips can be removed and replaced if one breaks, and the same Unitrack system covers N and HO. Atlas’s HO starter sets are track only, so you buy the trains and a power pack separately. Item 0088 is Code 100 Snap-Track and item 0488 is Code 83 True-Track. Each builds a 38 by 56 inch oval with a passing siding, from 16 track pieces and two manual switches. Walthers’ Power-Loc track has nickel silver rail and gray roadbed and ships inside the Flyer Express, so you get it with that set. Whichever track you pick, the locomotive is the next decision.
DC, DCC and Sound: Choosing the Locomotive
When you compare HO train sets, look at the locomotive first, because it decides how you’ll control the train. Unless a page says otherwise, Bachmann models run on standard 12 volt DC power. DCC adds a decoder in the locomotive, which lets you run several trains independently, with lights and sound on each one. Bachmann sells three kinds, and the base level, DCC On Board, has a dual-mode decoder and directional lighting. Next comes DCC Sound Value, which adds a speaker and sounds such as a horn or whistle and a bell. At the top is DCC Sound On Board, with extra lights and extra sounds on select models.
Bachmann says every DCC-equipped model has a dual-mode decoder, so it also runs on a DC layout. A DCC locomotive is therefore a safe buy even if you start on a power pack. The E-Z Command system can run one non-DCC locomotive next to your DCC ones. Atlas uses a different ladder, and Trainman is its budget line, with the same drive train as its other lines and less shell detail. Master Silver has no sound and no decoder, though most carry an 8 pin DCC plug, while Master Gold has sound and a dual-mode decoder.
Couplers matter once you add cars, because cars only run together if their couplers join. Bachmann says its E-Z Mate couplers join with knuckle couplers from most other makers. Walthers fits metal knuckle couplers to the cars in the Flyer Express. Once the locomotive and couplers are settled, the last question is where the set goes next.
What to Add After the First Oval
After the first oval, the simplest upgrade is more track, because every one of these HO train sets is a start, not an end. Bachmann’s Expander Set, 44494, adds four 9 inch straights, four 18 inch radius curves, a left and a right manual turnout and two Hayes bumpers. Bachmann says it is meant to extend the track in its train sets. Analog turnouts need a 16 volt AC or DC accessory supply, so budget for that before you add switches. The larger First Railroad Track Pack, 44497, holds twenty 18 inch curves and two of each turnout.
Your next real decision is the table, and our best HO model train layouts show what other builders did with a first set. Expand with the same track system you started with, so every piece matches. Add scenery last, once the trains run well.
HO Train Sets FAQ
What is the best HO train set?
For a first set, choose a Bachmann ready-to-run set with E-Z Track, such as the Track King, because it has a full oval, a diesel with a headlight and four cars. Pick the Digital Commander if you want DCC, or the Walthers Flyer Express for metal wheels. Whatever you pick, the best set is the one that fits your table.
What does HO stand for in train sets?
HO means half O, because the scale is half the size of O gauge. Models are built at 1:87, so a 50 foot boxcar comes out at about seven inches long. That size is large enough for good detail and small enough to fit a loop on a table.
Do they still make HO scale trains?
Yes. Bachmann’s online store lists dozens of ready-to-run HO train sets, from a small loop for a shelf to a nine-car steam freight, so there’s a size for most tables. Walthers and Kato also list HO starter sets, while Atlas sells HO track starter sets without trains, so check that a box includes a locomotive before you buy.
Can I run a DCC locomotive on a basic power pack?
Yes. Bachmann says all of its DCC-equipped models come with dual-mode decoders, so they run on DCC and on standard DC. Kept on a power pack, a DCC locomotive works like any other, and you can switch to DCC later, which means buying DCC now doesn’t lock you into a controller.
Will other brands run on E-Z Track?
Mostly yes. Bachmann says E-Z Track follows National Model Railroad Association standards and works with most trains of the same scale, whatever the maker. Its E-Z Mate couplers also join with knuckle couplers from most other makers of North American models, so mixing brands usually works.