Economy Locomotives

[AggroJones]

Bachmann and LifeLife standard lines don't even count in the real model world. Athearn rules for economy.

[Roadtrp]

You mean some people model in something other than 'N' scale?

Whodathunkit?

[:D]

[CBQ_Guy]

I've found the most dependable, well running and economical locos, by far, are Dummy Units!!!

Sure helps the budget! Ours not the manufacturers. I guess they finally figured that out!

Too bad...[:(]

[Anonymous]

Bachmann steamers are pretty god. My 0-6-0 is quieter than my Spectrum 4-8-2!!!

[BRAKIE]

Ok,I also thought we was talking HO..The Life Like N scale units isn't all that bad..The LL GP20 is one fine unit that can take its rightful place next to a Atlas or Kato locomotive.

Let me call your attention to this shop.I have dealt with this company when I started my short but ill fated trip back into N scale.

http://www.buynscale.com/Locomotives.htm

[Anonymous]

Bachmann and life like don't come close to Athearn. IMO (in my opinion) Bachmann is better than Life like, i have found that the end with the wheels that turn is higher than the other end. Also the cars don't go over switch tracks very well, but with a wheel change this problem is fixed.
On thing that anoys me with Bachmann and Life like is that at high speeds the light llights the body not just the head light and the windows.

As for steam, IHC makes farly cheap locos. I have a IHC 2-8-2 Mikado for $140(can), it worked fine until i stored it for a few months while we were developing our basement, and now it goes slow a makes grinding noises.

Are we talking about N or HO?
Bigboy: Bachmann steam engines are god are they?[:p]lol

[Anonymous]

I'll restate the obvious: "Athearn Blue Box hands down."
------------------------------
CB&Q rules!!!![;)]
Wabash RR rules![;)]
EVERYWHERE WEST/WAY of the ZEPHYRS!!!![8D]

[Budliner]

I go sucked in to the life like double header set 21607 gp-38 high nose w dummy
and that is my all time low loco but I love the sd-9 p2k
I say AHM is a good cheep unit

[mikebonellisr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Mehano (IHC) makes a good Steam Engine providing you're not overly concerned with accuracy

It's a good place to start.Remove the cast-on detail and apply cary,cal scale or psc parts. You can end up with a decent looking model

[BentnoseWillie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Roadtrp

You mean some people model in something other than 'N' scale?

Whodathunkit?

Don't you start...[:P]

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE


Let me call your attention to this shop.I have dealt with this company when I started my short but ill fated trip back into N scale.

http://www.buynscale.com/Locomotives.htm

Thanks for the link -- that is a great site! [:)]

QUOTE: Originally posted by t3488g
[br
Are we talking about N or HO?
Bigboy: Bachmann steam engines are god are they?[:p]lol

Sorry about that. I was too much a rookie to know that there would be a difference between a company's HO product and their N product. I figured quality would be similar in both scales. I really learned something today. I also did not know that Blue Box kits were available only in HO scale. Oh well... the thread has been informative anyway. [:I]

[dharmon]

As thick as the plastic is on blue box shells, if they were made in N scale, there'd be no room for a motor. [:)]

[Anonymous]

I like Atheans better that Bachamm better quality

[Anonymous]

Sticking to the HO side of the discussion, Athearn's 'blue box' engines can all be improved, at least older ones (since I am just returning to the hobby after about 10 years doing other stuff-just got a basement finally!), by improving the power pickup on top of the motor housing to the trucks- that long stamped flat steel? strip that clips on top of the motor. "Model Railroading" (not Model Railroader) magazine published a book re: Improving Athearn blah blah blah-can't remember exact title-it is a great source of simple, inexpensive mods to improve most all Athearn products. Only problem with their GP7/9? and SD7/9? was the body shell is too wide due to width of Athearn's motor; don't know about other later diesels since I'm stuck in the early 50's. Remember when that kind of thing went unnoticed? I believe the W althers' Alco FA units were once upon a time tooled by now defunct Train-Miniature- the first decent rival to Athearn 30 years ago but they never went beyond the FA units when they went out of business, Model Power made a couple of decent low cost diesels a while back-very smooth running and powerful Alco FAs and Baldwin Sharks-and at a time when FAs weren't available from anyone except in brass, and Sharks still aren't. Lets forget the forgettable TYCO/Mantua Sharks-they never even counted. As far as cost is concerned , a little judicious shopping at train shows and mail order shopping enables one to get earlier releases of Proto 1000 /2000 or Spectrum stuff at just a few $$ more than Athearn Blue Box. Frankly, Athearn had not kept pace with their competitors who have been able to offer a lot more accuracy, better paint /markings and performance for a little more money. I was shocked at the price for Athearn Genesis F units but also amazed at the differance in a side by side comparo with a Blue Box F unit. The lattter looked just fine until I saw their Genesis piece! Best bang for the buck, in my opinion, are the Proto 1000/2000 and Spectrum offerings

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bill mathewson

Model Power made a couple of decent low cost diesels a while back-very smooth running and powerful Alco FAs and Baldwin Sharks-and at a time when FAs weren't available from anyone except in brass, and Sharks still aren't.

You can find ANYTHING on the internet...

E-R Models has an HO Baldwin Shark. It is available directly from ER Models:
http://www.ermodels.com/productsbymanuf.htm?Category=TR_HO_040&PrevProduct=&NextProduct=040-4011-1&NBReset=4

Or from Lucky Irishman Discount Hobbies:
http://www.luckyirishmandiscounthobbies.com/Trainproducts8.html

I have no experience with either vendor, so I can't give any recommendation about their service.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for correcting my momentary brain fade re E-R Models; I (now) recall that they are a re-release of the Model Power 'Sharks' and that's a good thing. Bowser had some neat upgrade stuff awhile back for those modeling PRR's 'Sharks' - may be still available. The sideframes on the former MP 'Sharks' and possibly on E-R Models' are slightly incorrect-for economy they used the same side frames as they used on their Alco FAs which are similar; only a diehard Baldwin fan would notice however. Just weather the daylights-no pun intended -out of them since prototypes were often used in coal hauling drags and were filthy most of the time(except D&H which ran a couple of 2nd hand units and kept them shiny usually). . .Also, don't mu w/ other than Baldwin units since prototype couldn't if I remember correctly; please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Roadtrp]

Bill,

I had no idea I would find anything -- I just thought it would be fun to do an internet search for Baldwin Shark models. I also found that E-R produces the Shark in N scale, which is very tempting for me... I love the looks of that loco. Sadly, none of the RR's being offered ever came near Minnesota. I'm also modeling the 80's-90's, and the appearance of a Shark would be a little difficult to explain.

Hey... I've got an idea. They offer a demo model Shark carrying the Baldwin Locomotive Works logo. My story could be that Baldwin sent a demo unit to Minnesota, and somehow it got forgotten about in a locomotive shed that was abandoned years ago. An enterprising railfan happened upon the old shed and found the Shark. He decided to restore the loco and start up an Excursion train!

That's not TOO unbelievable, is it?? [:P][(-D][:P]

[Anonymous]

Roadtrip, You may or may not know that the Delaware & Hudson RR purchased the last surviving pair of second hand RF16 Sharks in the early 70's (not sure of date) and ran them in freight service for a few years. I think they got them from the Monongahela RR which I (again) think was 'part of' NYC. Unlike other former owners of Sharks, the D&H kept them quite clean. As an aside, around the same time, the D&H purchased two pairs of traded in ex-ATSF Alco PAs and reinstated passenger service between Albany and Montreal; remember this was in the early years of Amtrak and almost all other roads had bailed-out of the passenger business by then, gladly turning it over to Amtrak. The D&H Alco PAs retained the ATSF's 'war bonnet' paint scheme on the sides-the stainless (natural metal) finish remained as it was on ATSF and what had been red on the forward part of the ATSF body sides and nose was now D&H blue. The striping on the side that separated the natural metal from the painted portion retained the yellow stripe from the ATSF and replaced the red part, again with D&H blue. There was a yellow D&H herald and a v'd stripe on the nose extending down the side to the leading edge of the cab door (halfway up the carbody). Now picture exactly the same paint treatment on an RF16 Shark and that is how the D&H repainted their Sharks! The PAs were joint - leased out to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority/Boston & Maine RR for commuter service in the Boston area in the late 70s and I believe retired after that. I don't know what happened to the pair of Sharks (most of my reference material is still unpacked-I just moved intoa new house. If no one tells you anything else as to the fate of the Sharks, I guess it could be feasible that your RR rescued one from the scrap heap! I dare you to retain a semblence of the ATSF/D&H paint scheme: just substitute your rr's primary color for the D&H blue. Check out the ER unit-they may offer a D&H paint scheme. Model Power offered the HO version of their Shark in the absolutely incorrect ATSF paint scheme (ATSF never had any Sharks), and the paint work was awful. Athearn offered the PAs in the D&H scheme and it was very nicely done. Go for it!

[Roadtrp]

Bill,

Great information!!

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Roadtrip, Just got back from a GATS in Knoxville and was looking thru a Fall '91 issue of "Trains illustrated" I acquired and there's more info an the D&H's PAs and Sharks. The D&H acquired the PA1s from ATSF in 1967. There is a photo of one of the PAs running in D&H paint in 1969 on the Montreal-New York 'Laurentan' . Apparantly sometime shortly after this the New York-Montreal service was idled due to Amtrak gobligoop and financial woos at D&H. The PAs were utilized elsewhere on the D&H system however, and if memory serves me right, in freight service too. Not sure about this-just memory. . .In 1974 the Alco PA1s and D&H passenger equipment was refurbished as stated in my earlier post, and the PAs were upgraded from PA1s to PA4s. The Baldwin RF16s were acquired from the Monongahela Railway in 1974 and immediately repainted and pressed into freight service. Now the good part for your hypothetical acquisition of one of the D&H Sharks: the Sharks were retired in late 1977, along with the forced retirement of the D&H president, and the PAs followed suit in 1978. Without digging into this any deeper right now, I am certain that the PAs ended up in Mexico in 1978 and according to "Trains illustrated", the Sharks may have gone 'south of the border' in 1977; article, as is my memory, a little vague-intentionally? Business is 'conducted' a little differently at times in Mexico, so you've got all kinds of creative scenarios as to how you got one to Minnesota. . .