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Atlas, Kato, or Athearn
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Understand that there are different "levels" of quality within most of these makers: <br /> <br />My "take", in order of "best" (in HO, and for diesels, not steamers) <br /> <br />Top tier <br /> <br />1. Atlas Masters (now Silver and Gold) - best overall, detail, paint, drive, DCC <br />2. Kato - better drive than Atlas (esp if you run them everyday, all day like the MSI, but who does that ???), some problems with paint color, must install handgrabs, avoid the SD40-2s (electrical problem). <br />3. Life-like Proto 2000 (P2K) - not as good a drive, great detail <br />4. Athearn Genesis - the first ones had probems (esp the SD70M "kits"), but are doing better now. <br /> <br />Middle tier <br /> <br />5. Stewarts - great drive (almost Kato quality), not as good detail as P2K <br />6. Atlas Classic - good drives, not as detailed as the Masters <br />7. Some Athearn RTRs (those with improved drives) <br /> <br />Lower tier <br /> <br />8. Life-like Proto 1000 (good runners, less detail) <br />9. The "non-improved" Athearn RTRs and Blue box kits <br /> <br />Unknown: BLI diesels (the SD40-2 was poor, detail-wise, but their recent switcher was well received. They BETTER improve, now that Atlas and P2K locos have sound !!!) <br /> <br />10. Bachmann Spectrum diesels (less quality detail and drive than found in any of the above) <br /> <br /> <br />Avoid: <br /> <br />Bachmann non- spectrum (worse than Spectrum!) <br />Generic Life-like (buy for kids) <br />Model Power (don't even buy for kids!) <br /> <br />As far as steamers go, the best are: <br /> <br />1. BLI <br />2. P2K <br />3. Bachmann (why they make good steamers but poor diesels is a major mystery!) <br /> <br />Avoid Athearn steamers (repair issues, running problems - I know this the hard way!) <br /> <br />BTW - with the exception of BLI, generic LL and Model Power, I have recent (within the last five years) locos from all of these makers - makes it easier to compare ! <br />Older locos (over 5-10 years old) can not be fairly compaired to more recent ones !! <br /> <br />In reality, you will buy from several companies, as only certain locos and/or roads are made by certain makers (why else would I have a diesel Bachmann ??!!). But hopefully the above will help you decide when you have a choice !!! <br /> <br />Good luck and happy shopping !!!!!!!! <br />
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