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I have about 20 N-Scale steam locos. Some are straight-from-the-box good runners, but most are massively modified with new motors and/or gears and/or extra power pickups, flywheels, etc. Since I assume you really don't want to get into that headache, here are my suggestions from personal experience. The Con-Cor 4-6-4 Hudson, made from the last 1970s on, is almost always a very consistent and smooth runner. I have 3 of these from various vintages (none older than about 1985), and they all run fabulously right out of the box (these were made by Kato). The Kato 2-8-2 Mikado. I had one from the first run, and I have one I bought last year. They both run superbly. Make sure to spend the extra $8 and get the replacement driver set with the traction tire on it. The engine will pull 20-25 cars with it, only about 8 without it. Looks and runs GRRRREAT. Bachmann 2-8-0 Spectrum. Runs very nice. I haven't put many miles on the one I own yet, just ran it on my test bench, but it's a good runner... very smooth, good low-speed operation. I haven't tried the Model Power all-metal steam locos that came out last year. I've seen them at a few swap meets, and they look pretty good (detail-wise), but I have no idea how they run.
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