Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
YOU!
Teditor.
Teditor
Phoebe Vet wrote: cndash9 wrote: I am very fond of T55, Kato and Atlas for locomotives. I have a couple of Protos and they seem to jerk, so I will not be buying any more. For rolling stock, it all depends on what you are looking for. Different companies produce different things for the hobbyist. I'm not very fusy here, I purchase what I need for the industries. After purchasing what I need, I make sure that there are metal wheelsets on everything and everything gets Kadee couplers. I enoy Intermountain, Atlas, Walthers, Athearn...... When something that is supposed to run smootly "jerks", it usually means something is either bent or pinched.
cndash9 wrote: I am very fond of T55, Kato and Atlas for locomotives. I have a couple of Protos and they seem to jerk, so I will not be buying any more. For rolling stock, it all depends on what you are looking for. Different companies produce different things for the hobbyist. I'm not very fusy here, I purchase what I need for the industries. After purchasing what I need, I make sure that there are metal wheelsets on everything and everything gets Kadee couplers. I enoy Intermountain, Atlas, Walthers, Athearn......
I am very fond of T55, Kato and Atlas for locomotives. I have a couple of Protos and they seem to jerk, so I will not be buying any more.
For rolling stock, it all depends on what you are looking for. Different companies produce different things for the hobbyist. I'm not very fusy here, I purchase what I need for the industries. After purchasing what I need, I make sure that there are metal wheelsets on everything and everything gets Kadee couplers. I enoy Intermountain, Atlas, Walthers, Athearn......
When something that is supposed to run smootly "jerks", it usually means something is either bent or pinched.
The Protos may be suffering from the infamous cracked gear problem. I purchased a P2K GP7 and a P2K GP9 and they both had cracked gears and ran jerky and had that thumping noise at higher speeds. I replaced the suspect wheelsets (thank you Athearn), and now they run like champs. I know I could have gotten them free, but I only needed two, and the Athearn replacements were about $2 a piece at the LTS.
Hi Peobe Vet,
It was doing that from the get-go. I have since retired them from the layout and they now collect dust on the shelf. My friends in the group that affilliate myself with also have some Protos and they are not happy with them. That's OK , no harm done, I just won't be bying any anymore.
Spongebob,
I think Patrick makes the best HO engines, except he seems to drool on them alot.
Hey Sponge
All the above I agree with as far as Reliability and how they appear are top factors for me but also Warrenty has a big decision on what I buy, I tend to support the companies that have Life time warrenties as opposed to those who offer 60 days to 1 Year, I have had to send a couple engines back that I have run for years and had a part wear out or break and it has been fixed wih no questions asked, all I paid for was the shipping, In fact with the Spectrum line they no longer made that part for my engine so they sent my engine back unrepaired and sent me a new undecorated engine to replace it, those are the things that are important when I make and engine purchase, as far as rolling stock I stick with the Atlas RTR,Rapido,Intermountain and Trueline trains as they offer great detail for a fair price and I don't have to switch out wheels or couplers...
Thats my..
Mike..
spongebob wrote: Who makes the most Reliable and Detailed product?
When comparing "BEST" products, the differences become "Best" -at what? (differences become small).
Reliability translates into 'cosistancy Good over time' + Good drives cost more. Cheap drives cut corners. (Every Co. has had correctable mistakes. Every auto has had recalls).
What you should ask is "Who makes 'POOR' BRODUCTS?
Detail is a matter of mould tooling and hand application = expense. Each newer product out ups the competition (and costs more). Too much detail, and there is more to fall off.
It really boils down to 'How much you want - or are willing to pay for? (IE: personal opinion). More to the point, 'how much is enough' before it becomes 'too much'?
MY EXPERIENCE is when something is 'best' in everything, it becomes unaffordable. Conversely, there is a saying: "when something be comes 'Idiot Proof' - only 'idiots' will buy it".
I try to stay within those parameters. Currently I find much to like in INTERMOUNTAIN products.
Can of worms here.
I prefer Factory QSI engines as I can generally make them run well.
I dont like MRC Equippted engines and prefer to buy them DCC ready and drop a Decoder into them myself.
Athearn Blue Box engines were for me the standard in analog for a long time. Atlas had some of the finest analog engines I have ever seen under 12 volts.
Atlas, Proto, and BLI as long they were equippted with QSI.
Rolling Stock.
Atlas and Intermountain.
Athearn blue boxes recieve metal wheels and kadee couplers.
Everything else is on a case by case basis. Right now Im buying some Walthers Gold line and they seem to do ok.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Subjective question.
That's like asking who makes the best car.
If one size fit all, there would be only one size.
It kind of depends on what you're looking for.
In my experience with diesels, my ratings for reliability and detail on a 1-10 scale would be:Atlas, R=10, D=10Athearn Genesis, R=8, D=10Athearn Blue-Box, R=8, D=6Proto 2000, R=9, D=9Proto 1000, R=9, D=6Bachmann Spectrum (new), R=9, D=8Bachmann Spectrum (old), R=8, D=6Bachmann Standard (new), R=8, D=6Kato, R=10, D=7IHC, R=7, D=4Rivarossi, R=7, D=7Stewart, R=9, D=9
For steam:
Rivarossi (new), R=9, D=10Rivarossi (old), R=6, D=8Bachmann Spectrum, R=9, D=10Bachmann Standard, R=6, D=8IHC, R=9, D=6Bowser kits, R=9, D=9Mantua kits, R=8, D=7
For freight cars:
Athearn Genesis, R=9, D=10Athearn Blue-Box, R=10, D=7Stewart, R=9, D=8Atlas Trainman, R=10, D=8Accurail, R=9, D=7MDC/Roundhouse, R=8, D=7IHC, R=7, D=5Proto 2000, R=9, D=9Proto 1000, R=9, D=6Life-Like, R=6, D=4Tyco, R=7, D=5Bachmann Standard, R=7, D=6Rivarossi (old), R=8, D=7
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For rolling stock, it all depends on what you are looking for. Different companies produce different things for the hobbyist. I'm not very fusy here, I purchase what I need for the industries. After purchasing what I need, I make sure that there are metal wheelsets on everything and everything gets Kadee couplers. I enoy Intermountain, Atlas, Walthers, Athearn, Genesis......
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
SB,
In all honesty, it really depends on the individual locomotive. Reliability and detailing don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. However, generally here are the better choices on reliability and/or detailing:
If there is a particular locomotive you are interested or an era that you are wanting to model, that would be helpful for us to know as to making more specific recommendations for you. Are you also wanting recommendation for rolling stock, too?
Hope that helps...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Iam looking to get into HO scale trains.
Who makes the most Reliable and Detailed product?
Tks