Starting my first layout

Well this is it, i've decided to upgrade from my wooden railway to a Plarail/Trackmaster layout.

I have chucked my lot of wooden trains on eBay and hopefully the money I get from them I will start to build my blue (and brown, maybe even a little grey) track empire!

The thing is I have no clue where to start! What tracks should I buy first? Should I keep it simple and not buy stations, windmills, and other bits in the beginning? What shape should it be and what sets/parts should I avoid?

I have known about Trackmaster and Tomy for a while because I bought the some trains and track in a bag at a car boot sale a few years ago...

[Super]

Welcome to our world TubeTrain. The easiest way to start is how you finished with your wooden system...Ebay. By keeping an eye out you can find large, bulk, listings that have tons of tracks and go from there. Once you start increasing the size of your layout you can then start to choose specific items that you have seen here and in YouTube videos to add to your layout. Its how I got started years ago. Wanting to increase the size of my Grandsons layout I had found a large listing for track for what I thought was very inexpensive and the rest is history so to speak. Personally we like the Tomy blue track because there is so much more to offer in track and accessories but either way is cool. Enjoy as it is fun and we are always here to lend a helping hand.

Super, thank you for your advice, much appreciated!

like super, i prefer the blue track because it offers more of a free build. its also been around a lot longer, so easier to find used for not much money. theres also more track pieces, like auto switching points, to bring variety to a layout.

trackmaster, in particular the current range, is very restrictive. if you buy a set, thats almost all it can be used for... that set and nothing else. some of the components are incompatible with older engines, too.
similaraly with some of the later original trackmaster sets, like castle quest, zip zoom and logging adventure etc. they have some curves that are twisted slightly so will only work in that configuration.

dont get me wrong, some early trackmaster stuff can be incorportated, like the tidmouth turntable and such, and most of it looks really good. you just have be careful and check what it is you are buying. if you arent sure, check here and we can advise you. nothing worse than spending good money on a set thats near impossible to use.

you can buy tomy to trackmaster adapters, but they arent overly common or cheap, either. maybe spend some time on google, check out different sets and special track pieces from each range and decide from there. if you decide to bite the bullet and start buying from japan, blue track is cheap there, its the fees and shipping that bump the overall price right up.

I think most people have already said what I would suggest, but if i were starting out I would definitely go for Tomy blue track. As already said it has the largest range of accessories/scenery parts, is the most compatible with most engines and is the most flexible being compatible with many things Trackmaster is not including PlaRail Advance - something you should consider if you like 'real world' trains as opposed to just Thomas.

The other advantage is that you can often pick up nice job lots or bargains on eBay or from charity/thrift stores or car boots/garage sales as often evidenced on here. You'll also find the older Tomy engines are built with a far greater level of detail and realism than the Trackmaster ones and that there is ultimatelly a much larger range of models available - doubly so if you go outside of Thomas only.

But the most important thing is HAVE FUN!!

the first blue plastic tracks I would get is the R-15 double crossover. They are extremely rare nowadays. If you buy the adaptors you can connect your wooden tracks to your new blue plastic tracks or trackmaster tracks.

the first blue plastic tracks I would get is the R-15 double crossover. They are extremely rare nowadays. If you buy the adaptors you can connect your wooden tracks to your new blue plastic tracks or trackmaster tracks.

Yes I have seen the adapters online but I'm looking to go full blue track for my layout