Have fun with your trains
Truth: (just my 1/2 cents) Buddy L not a wise choice in G Scale.
William
I certainly agree that the best way to break into G guage on a budget is to go with Bachmann, not Buddy L. I don't like the Buddy L locos, they are OK for when you have kids over and you know the railroad will be trashed, but they are not so good for everyday use. Get a Big Hauler or one of the very nice Shays from B'mann for a good start. Check out Heartland locos also, made in USA and extremely well built and run great for a competative price.
OTOH, I love the Buddy L cars, they have passable detail, are nice and durable, and very, very inexpensive. I think from Ridge Road I paid $40 for a set of 4 cars, a box, a gondola, a caboose and a flat. At that price you can bash, paint and detail the cars at will. I would never consider repainting my Dogfish Brewery limited edition box car (horrors upon horrors!), but repainting a $10 Buddy L box into the Dixie D SL colors and logos?, dude I'm there! Put on a set of Kadees and you are rolling with the best of them. Luckily the Buddy L's are the same scale as the Bachmann Big Hauler locos, so off you go!
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Buy Bachmann. The locomotives are waaaaaay better than Buddy L. If you want to go outdoors, then you must replace the Bach track with a better quality track such as brass, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, or nickel silver.
Ok, true Aristo track is better than Bachmann. But, you will have to replace EVERY railjoiner as they will rust and then you will have to replace them anyway. Save time and money, buy LGB track, they last much longer.
Aristo is ok for just running trains, but try to take a Aristo C-16 up a 25 yard 2% grade with 15-20 cars, it can't, I repeat CANNOT, do it. A Bach 2-8-0 will, I repeat WILL, do it. Now, I am speaking from personal experience as it was my own 2-8-0 pulling up a hill.
If you want a good layout to last. Buy a Bach or LGB locomotive and LGB track. I would stay away from starters sets as they are a little ify. Some are great, and other just are just plain crap.
James,
Stay away from Buddy L. The cars are ok and that it. You might want to check into your local SAM's club and see if they have any of the Chritmas sets left. Very good price on a Bachmann starter set. You would need to buy Atristo, USA or LGB track for outdoors.
You should also try and think ahead a bit. I built my layout with 6 feet diameter curves and now wish I had gone to 8. At the time I was only interested in running the smaller engines, but my interst changed and found out I was now limited by my curves.
Good luck and have fun. Get something down as soon as you can. That is the hardest part.
Regards,
Mark
M. Gilger - President and Chief Engineer MM&G web
Web Site: http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/
Snoq pass,
I've had Aristo track down for 5 years, how much longer before my rail joiners rust away? I just checked them a few minutes ago and they are black, but show no evidence of rust.
Ok, I am sorry for being a little flip about the Aristo track. The guys in my model train club all told me about how much they disliked Aristo track because the railjoiners will rust. Now true, this may only happen in certion areas. I live in the Pacific Northwest and no one, that I know of, uses Aristo track, heck even the hobby store doesn't have them in their personal stock. I was told that LGB was a better option than Aristo.
Again, I am sorry for being flip about the quality of the Aristo track.
No problem, Snoqpass, just being flip myself
I live in Virginia Beach with sun, salt and rain, very similar to the PNW only warmer. I've yet to see any problems with Aristo track. BUT with that being said, every area has it's own unique conditions and what works in one area may or may not work somewhere else. It's always best to see what the local railroaders are doing before making a big purchase.
I was also wondering about the comment on the Aristo rail joiners rusting away. I do not see any rust on the joiners or the rails. I'm in Northern Ohio, so not subject to the salt associated with living on the coast, so guess I'll have many years of reliable opperations.
Having fun in Ohio.
My Aristo switcher, and my bachmann big hauler, have both been back to the shops for repair. The Buddy L is still going, no problems.
I'm not saying that the Buddy L train is better quality, but not everyone has had a problem with them. Mine only has about 120 hrs. total run time, but light, smoke, sounds all still work, nothing is broken, and it pulls the 8 cars I have hooked to it just fine. It has never derailed, even over the 3 turnouts that it traverses every round on my layout.
The set came with Engine, tender (with sound), box car, gondola, and caboose. Plus track and controller.
The track is similar to Bachmann, and not for use outdoors. I've used the transformer that came with the set. It works ok, but I've updated with bigger power supply and TE control.
Guess what I'm saying is, for $99, it has served me well. I will admit that I am the only one running the train. My kids have grown up and off on their own. So, the Buddy L might not stand up to the rigors of kids play. Still for someone on a tight budget, I wouldn't rule it out completely.
OkieRRr
I would like to know how many of you guys have Buddy L Trains. I have been running one in my restaurant for 2 years, and other than occasionally oiling the moving parts it has been trouble free. The weight of the metal boiler enables it to pull as many cars as I want it to pull. My opinion is Buddy L Trains are better than Bachmann, (and I have many trains from both manufactures) and the cars look as if they are made in the same factory as Bachmann, And the Track is nearly the same except the connectors are on the opposite sides. Both Sets have small trim items that can be broken off by children, but so does LGB and Aristo-Craft. My Buddy L has ALL WHEELS picking up power from the track, with brass bushings for long wear life. Lets compare the sound tenders of both Manufacturers, Bachmann's Chugging gets a little monotonous, where as the Buddy has Steam Sounds on start up, Chugging, and random Whistle and Bells.
I would highly recommend Buddy L Trains. They are now being manufactured under the "Keystone" name.
Walt
Don't hit me...I know there a lot of bachman ten wheeler fans out there. I bought a bachman suwanee special ten wheeler off ebay a year ago....a gear was cracked. I fixed it but I can't keep it from derailing on r3 LGB track. I probally need to spend some time working on the drive wheels. They may have fixed these problems on earlier models but..
I can't say that it is anywhere near the quality of the many 20 year old LGBs or the one RS3 aristrocraft that I have. I have never had the problems like I had with this ten wheeler. I can't see the quality there on the bachman.
Do you have a model number for the Budddy L that you are running?
looe_caboose_cafe wrote: I would like to know how many of you guys have Buddy L Trains. I have been running one in my restaurant for 2 years, and other than occasionally oiling the moving parts it has been trouble free. The weight of the metal boiler enables it to pull as many cars as I want it to pull. My opinion is Buddy L Trains are better than Bachmann, (and I have many trains from both manufactures) and the cars look as if they are made in the same factory as Bachmann, And the Track is nearly the same except the connectors are on the opposite sides. Both Sets have small trim items that can be broken off by children, but so does LGB and Aristo-Craft. My Buddy L has ALL WHEELS picking up power from the track, with brass bushings for long wear life. Lets compare the sound tenders of both Manufacturers, Bachmann's Chugging gets a little monotonous, where as the Buddy has Steam Sounds on start up, Chugging, and random Whistle and Bells. I would highly recommend Buddy L Trains. They are now being manufactured under the "Keystone" name. Walt
Put it on any kind of a grade and just see what happens.
My wife has a Keystone circus set, the engine can barely pull one bobber caboose up my grades, where my single dismal F-40PH will pull every car in the set plus some around the layout. The older Buddy L version I had hit a spot on the track that lifted the drivers up just barely, but that was enough for them to just sit there and spin. The engine is just plain weak out of the box. Its OK for absolutely dead level track, but on any kind of realistic layout with grades and just forget it.
vsmith wrote: looe_caboose_cafe wrote: I would like to know how many of you guys have Buddy L Trains. I have been running one in my restaurant for 2 years, and other than occasionally oiling the moving parts it has been trouble free. The weight of the metal boiler enables it to pull as many cars as I want it to pull. My opinion is Buddy L Trains are better than Bachmann, (and I have many trains from both manufactures) and the cars look as if they are made in the same factory as Bachmann, And the Track is nearly the same except the connectors are on the opposite sides. Both Sets have small trim items that can be broken off by children, but so does LGB and Aristo-Craft. My Buddy L has ALL WHEELS picking up power from the track, with brass bushings for long wear life. Lets compare the sound tenders of both Manufacturers, Bachmann's Chugging gets a little monotonous, where as the Buddy has Steam Sounds on start up, Chugging, and random Whistle and Bells. I would highly recommend Buddy L Trains. They are now being manufactured under the "Keystone" name. WaltPut it on any kind of a grade and just see what happens. My wife has a Keystone circus set, the engine can barely pull one bobber caboose up my grades, where my single dismal F-40PH will pull every car in the set plus some around the layout. The older Buddy L version I had hit a spot on the track that lifted the drivers up just barely, but that was enough for them to just sit there and spin. The engine is just plain weak out of the box. Its OK for absolutely dead level track, but on any kind of realistic layout with grades and just forget it.
Byron C.
EMPIRE II LINE wrote: vsmith wrote: looe_caboose_cafe wrote: I would like to know how many of you guys have Buddy L Trains. I have been running one in my restaurant for 2 years, and other than occasionally oiling the moving parts it has been trouble free. The weight of the metal boiler enables it to pull as many cars as I want it to pull. My opinion is Buddy L Trains are better than Bachmann, (and I have many trains from both manufactures) and the cars look as if they are made in the same factory as Bachmann, And the Track is nearly the same except the connectors are on the opposite sides. Both Sets have small trim items that can be broken off by children, but so does LGB and Aristo-Craft. My Buddy L has ALL WHEELS picking up power from the track, with brass bushings for long wear life. Lets compare the sound tenders of both Manufacturers, Bachmann's Chugging gets a little monotonous, where as the Buddy has Steam Sounds on start up, Chugging, and random Whistle and Bells. I would highly recommend Buddy L Trains. They are now being manufactured under the "Keystone" name. WaltPut it on any kind of a grade and just see what happens. My wife has a Keystone circus set, the engine can barely pull one bobber caboose up my grades, where my single dismal F-40PH will pull every car in the set plus some around the layout. The older Buddy L version I had hit a spot on the track that lifted the drivers up just barely, but that was enough for them to just sit there and spin. The engine is just plain weak out of the box. Its OK for absolutely dead level track, but on any kind of realistic layout with grades and just forget it.Time for the BUTCHER !!!!!Byron C.
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