Before I buy this "War Bonnet GP-40"

[Bergie]

Wow... this took a nice turn to the dumpster.

Let's move on. [Locked]

Bergie

[cudaken]

 Jess, your Athearns F 7's are shipping today. I did not read all of the postings, but if you have not bought the engine K-10 has a Athearn in GP-40 in freigh colors.

 

                    Ken

[Autobus Prime]

{Individual x} probably makes $120,000 a year. drive a new car. own a nice house (Not neccicarily big just nice) have a couple kids that are the joy of your life, and the $135.00 Kato wants for their new BNSF SD40-2 just doesn't seem like that much money does it.

MBSB:

Well, I make a good deal less than half that, drive a secondhand Taurus, own a nice house (not necessarily post-1920, but nice, or it will be with the addition of much effort), have a couple kids that are the joy of my life, and the $135 Kato wants for their new BNSF SD40-2 seems like too much for a *powered boxcar*, but I /might/ consider it for a steam engine. It would be a lot for my MR budget, which would mean saving up for a couple months and probably waffling back and forth about whether I really wanted one, for about six months. (Probably longer. I've never spent more than $80 on a loco.)

I bought my MDC 2-6-0 kit at a time when I had extremely no spare cash, but I saved it for a while and got together the $65. It doesn't sound like a lot to some of you, I'm sure, but at the time it was a big chunk of change. I really enjoyed that kit. It was the first one I built that really went well.

My point is: there are all kinds of ways to enjoy the hobby, and you can buy champagne on a beer budget if you don't buy the beer for a while. :)

Entry level stuff is important! Fortunately, at this point it doesn't look endangered, as I once feared it would be. What is even better is that the one-big-step-up stuff, which was once almost exclusively Athearn, is now much better supplied. The strange thing was that, until recently, I was still stuck in an Athearn mindset, and didn't realize just how many good, cheap rolling stock kits are out there.

As for the kids - you know, I didn't have a lot as a kid, but I managed to do a lot. Once in a while I'd buy something "expensive" like an Athearn loco or some track, and I built a lot of stuff from stock materials, and used a lot of secondhand stuff from the train shows. I managed. The thing I notice about the kids nowadays isn't that they're short on cash, but that they seem to have way too much, and it doesn't encourage them to find creative ways of doing things. I guarantee a lot of 'em would drop $135 on a loco if they wanted one. Have you seen the price of Ipods and preprogrammed-rebellious Hot Topic accessories?!

Grumble grumble curmudgeonly grumble, kids these days, get offa my lawn.

Red Horse: The red/silver warbonnet is a fantasy scheme on the GP40, but it's one that should have been. It's beautiful. Even Santa Fe realized that eventually, as we saw with the Super Fleet. You of all people should have no hangups there. :D As for how it runs, I don't know. But since most of the positives seem to come from owners here, and most of the negatives are based on Bachmann's hard-earned past reputation :S, for the price of 5 gallons of gas I'd say try it and tell us how you did. The new mech looks like a decent design, with 8 wheel pickup and drive.

[Medina1128]

Never buy Bachmann!!! I can not stress that enough!!! I have had one home run from them, one that is ok, one that never moved, cept maybe 20 in. (generous estimate) in it's life. If you want Warbonnet on a Gp-40, just custom paint. Trust me, it might put on a few gray hairs (thankfully I am just a teen) to re-paint a quality loco, but with a Bachmann, you'll likely pull out your hair.

I think this is an unfair statement. I wouldn't buy any of the Bachmann standard locomotives, but I have 3 of their Spectrum locomotives and they are all great runners. As far as GP40s go, have you checked out the Proto 2000 ones. I have a couple of their GP40s in Missouri Pacific colors. Really like them, too.

[steamfreightboy]

Remember, It is only you who has to like it. I have a purple 4-8-4 that I run and if anyone says that I can't do that they better leave.

For a large locomotive I would not recomend Bachmann but for a switcher it is fine.

You get what you pay for with Bachmann

_____________________________________________________

[dale8chevyss]

If you guys have an issue with what he has said, then just hit the "report abuse" button.  No need to quote a quote a quote a quote.....no need.

David B

Agreed, now think it's time to put this one to bed.....

 

 

  Remind me again what this topic is SUPPOSED to be about?

 

Time for this:

 

[Lateral-G]

If you guys have an issue with what he has said, then just hit the "report abuse" button.  No need to quote a quote a quote a quote.....no need.

David B

Agreed, now think it's time to put this one to bed.....

 

Time for this:

 

[Packers#1]

If you guys have an issue with what he has said, then just hit the "report abuse" button.  No need to quote a quote a quote a quote.....no need.

David B

Hey, I pointed out the "lotta quotes", to quote myself.

[bogp40]

If you guys have an issue with what he has said, then just hit the "report abuse" button.  No need to quote a quote a quote a quote.....no need.

David B

Agreed, now think it's time to put this one to bed.....

[Master of Big Sky Blue]

Master of Big Blue Sky:

Nice comeback. May I say one thing. Use discount sites to get better prices. I can get an Atlas N scale SD60 for $60 from model train stuff.com. It's better than paying MSRP price. 

Thank you sir. I agree that discount sites offer better deals. However trying to stay true to my example. The common advice most beginners get is to go to a good hobby shop that carries trains. The price from the Walthers site is more in line with what the prices a beginning model railroad would find at a hobby shop and thus used that as my example.

James

[Packers#1]

How old are you?  You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.  As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.  What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means.  I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol.  You want to know how people afford trains?  They get a job, they don't type on model train websites about how so hard done by they are.  You want to know how the average teenager or young adult can afford this hobby?  To be honest with you I really don't think they can or really should.  They have more important things that their money should go towards first.  Their own place to live, a GOOD car and a GOOD women should be a young adults priorities, not model trains.  Once you have your life in order then you enjoy hobbies.  I like old cars and have two of them now but I got my house, my wife and my GOOD running car first.  I like boating but I just didn't go out and buy one, I had to wait until I could afford it.  Same goes for my ATV's, once I could afford them I bought them.  With a boat and ATV's you need a good truck to tow them so I got one of those to but only after I got my house, my wife and my life in general in order.  You see where I'm going with this?  You seem angry because you can't afford the better things in life right away and you don't like the fact that you are forced to buy junk because you can't afford otherwise.  Its time for you to wake up and get your own life in order and stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

 

 

What a nice thing to say.. What a jerk.   

Your right Dale, he IS a jerk! I simply cannot belive what I have read!

Neither can I!

We need Bergie to do something about it. This is like discrimination!

Lotta quotes. I don't know what to think. I guess he deserved it, but one shouldn't chew other guys out. That's for the military.

[New Haven I-5]

How old are you?  You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.  As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.  What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means.  I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol.  You want to know how people afford trains?  They get a job, they don't type on model train websites about how so hard done by they are.  You want to know how the average teenager or young adult can afford this hobby?  To be honest with you I really don't think they can or really should.  They have more important things that their money should go towards first.  Their own place to live, a GOOD car and a GOOD women should be a young adults priorities, not model trains.  Once you have your life in order then you enjoy hobbies.  I like old cars and have two of them now but I got my house, my wife and my GOOD running car first.  I like boating but I just didn't go out and buy one, I had to wait until I could afford it.  Same goes for my ATV's, once I could afford them I bought them.  With a boat and ATV's you need a good truck to tow them so I got one of those to but only after I got my house, my wife and my life in general in order.  You see where I'm going with this?  You seem angry because you can't afford the better things in life right away and you don't like the fact that you are forced to buy junk because you can't afford otherwise.  Its time for you to wake up and get your own life in order and stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

 

 

What a nice thing to say.. What a jerk.   

Your right Dale, he IS a jerk! I simply cannot belive what I have read!

Neither can I!

We need Bergie to do something about it. This is like discrimination!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

How old are you?  You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.  As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.  What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means.  I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol.  You want to know how people afford trains?  They get a job, they don't type on model train websites about how so hard done by they are.  You want to know how the average teenager or young adult can afford this hobby?  To be honest with you I really don't think they can or really should.  They have more important things that their money should go towards first.  Their own place to live, a GOOD car and a GOOD women should be a young adults priorities, not model trains.  Once you have your life in order then you enjoy hobbies.  I like old cars and have two of them now but I got my house, my wife and my GOOD running car first.  I like boating but I just didn't go out and buy one, I had to wait until I could afford it.  Same goes for my ATV's, once I could afford them I bought them.  With a boat and ATV's you need a good truck to tow them so I got one of those to but only after I got my house, my wife and my life in general in order.  You see where I'm going with this?  You seem angry because you can't afford the better things in life right away and you don't like the fact that you are forced to buy junk because you can't afford otherwise.  Its time for you to wake up and get your own life in order and stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

 

 

What a nice thing to say.. What a jerk.   

Your right Dale, he IS a jerk! I simply cannot belive what I have read!

Neither can I!

[New Haven I-5]

How old are you?  You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.  As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.  What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means.  I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol.  You want to know how people afford trains?  They get a job, they don't type on model train websites about how so hard done by they are.  You want to know how the average teenager or young adult can afford this hobby?  To be honest with you I really don't think they can or really should.  They have more important things that their money should go towards first.  Their own place to live, a GOOD car and a GOOD women should be a young adults priorities, not model trains.  Once you have your life in order then you enjoy hobbies.  I like old cars and have two of them now but I got my house, my wife and my GOOD running car first.  I like boating but I just didn't go out and buy one, I had to wait until I could afford it.  Same goes for my ATV's, once I could afford them I bought them.  With a boat and ATV's you need a good truck to tow them so I got one of those to but only after I got my house, my wife and my life in general in order.  You see where I'm going with this?  You seem angry because you can't afford the better things in life right away and you don't like the fact that you are forced to buy junk because you can't afford otherwise.  Its time for you to wake up and get your own life in order and stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

 

 

What a nice thing to say.. What a jerk.   

Your right Dale, he IS a jerk! I simply cannot belive what I have read!

[Packers#1]

Master of Big Blue Sky:

Nice comeback. May I say one thing. Use discount sites to get better prices. I can get an Atlas N scale SD60 for $60 from model train stuff.com. It's better than paying MSRP price. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I got 2 N scale Bachmann engines and both have broken down. I would lean to Athern, Atlas, or Kato.

That's why half my fleet is made up of Athearn Blue Box locos. I have 11 Bachmann's, 21 Athearn's (1 Genesis), 10 Proto 2000's, 1 Kato, 1 MDC and 1 IHC. Of the Bachmann's, 5 are junk, 4 run well and 2 run really good. As for the Athearn's, 18 run well, 1 runs good, 1 is junk and the Genesis is a basket case. Of the Proto 2000's 7 run well, 1 runs good and 2 are honorary Tyco's. The IHC runs great, the MDC sounds like a coffee grinder but runs well and the Kato runs good but not good enough to be called well. Out of this mixed bag which of the locos would I suggest to a modelor who can't afford fancy expensive locos? It would have to be the Athearn's. I've converted 5 of mine to DCC and they run very well. Overall the Athearn BB locos are very affordable, rugged and dependable. Many of mine have been running for years.

[steamfreightboy]

My Bachs are more quit and pull more than my Athearns of the same era.(BB's) Don't know about the new Athearns other than all the complaints I've read on this forum.

[steamfreightboy]

I got 2 N scale Bachmann engines and both have broken down. I would lean to Athern, Atlas, or Kato.

[steamfreightboy]

I got 2 N scale Bachmann engines and both have broken down. I would lean to Athern, Atlas, or Kato.

[steamfreightboy]

I got 2 N scale Bachmann engines and both have broken down. I would lean to Athern, Atlas, or Kato.

[ICRR1964]

I agree Tony, Its not how deep your pit of money is or how your saving your penny's to buy a MR item. You buy what you can afford, thats about all you can do. Having fun and striving for better is the name of the game.

[jasperofzeal]

Wow, all this over a Bachmann engine.  Do you ever think and wonder if the big suits at Bachmann care if and when Bruce Wayne (TA) and Charlie Bucket (Master BSB) are arguing over the quality of their products?  If you have the means to buy the world, good for you, buy it all.  If you can't afford to buy the world, well put it on credit and make payments on it.  Point is everyone should just do and enjoy this hobby to thier liking.

[Master of Big Sky Blue]

How old are you? 

25 years old. Working as a locomotive Operator for a company called Rail Link. They are a division of Genesee and Wyoming. (I'm pretty sure alot of you people have heard of them)

 

You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.

Thats right we are. My orginal post was in response to Don Gibson after I misread his comment.

In the end we both ended up agreeing, because my point is that Bachmann makes a nice locomotive that performs well and affordible for beginners who wish to join this hobby.  My other related point was that we do not have eneugh companies doing this because we only have Bachamann's Standard line and Walthers Train Line. Which severely limits a beginners options of affordable locomotives. It was after I had said my piece and was moving onto other things that you got up on your soap box. Go back and reread, its all still there. If you beg to differ I will still be here.

As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.

So just because it doesn't run as silent as a US. Nuclear Submarine, have a fancy micro computer derived from technology off the Star Ship enterprise,  and have all the fun detailing preparation stuff done for you. Its all junk to you???  Its as if you have to lay a finger on it and send it any place other than the layout after its taken out of the box, It is not worthy as model railroad equipment and should be condemned to the scrap piles. It is almost like your too good to be a true model railroader because how dare you should actually have to aquire model building skill. Is that what your saying? If not please tell me, because thats the message your sending.

What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means. 

 

Once again, your ability to completely miss the point is astounding. My car rant was an example of the many expenses that compete with the same money that a person has to spend for model trains. My car may be old, it may have a few things I need to think about now and then, but its certainly not junk.  OH wait, Its more than two years old so maybe it is??? I'mm certainly not having problems keeping gas in it. Though Im not about to hop in it and take a vacation to Horshoe Curve any time soon because of these gas prices. Or is gas still $1.25 a gallon in Canada?

I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Well Don't be, As I have said I don;t drive a junk car. Also glad that the general compotency of your local mechanics is very high. Around here the general compotency is low, Because the mechanic hooks up his little scanner thing, pulls a diagnostic code. goes to the book jumps to the end, and puts what ever part that is at the bottom of the list on the car. That works about 3/5th the time. The other 2/5 the time he is scratching his head why that didn't fix the problem when if he actually followed the diagnostic proceedure found in the book, he would have found the problem at step one. So say it was a fuel problem, he sticks a $65.00 Oxygen sensor on the car, which didn't fix the problem, because the actual problem was a 95 cent fuse.  I shudder to think what would happen with a real mechanical problem.

So you like to fix cars your self, Glad to know you have the $250.00 scanner tool it takes to perform all the diagnostic functions you need to do for the car. Also glad to know that you have the approxamatly $3,500, in special tools it takes to perform some of these repairs. I don't know what brand of cars you drive nor do I really care, But according to Dudley Cole of the Central Wyoming College's Auto department. If you were going to do your own work on say a 2004 Hyundai Sonata You need $3,500 in special tools just for Hyundai Vehicles. And you have to purchase them from Hyundai. Now your two hot rods that your going throw at me later, Well you can still work on them with your Craftsman 100 piece tool kit, and sack of tools from high school auto lab. Those seem to be what people think are the credentials for making them a mechanic around here. As for finding me a new mechanic. I wish I could just find one to begin with.

So you have been married for 17 years. Congradulations. and hope its many more years to come. But you do agree with me that a woman does add alot of extra costs to your life, Even though the quality of life probably does improve. I will grant you that one.

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol. 

You obviously have not looked at the Walthers Catalog Lately. The prices I quoted were from the 2008 Walthers catalog.  I admit I recalled rounded numbers from memory and my example I give is over stated by $25.00 for DCC and sound. And $10.00 for DC. But Thats not very far off is it. But here are the links, you can see my proof.

Walthers Proto-2000 GP-20 with DCC and sound

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31905

Walthers Proto-2000 GP-20 standard DC

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31907

[Packers#1]

Red Horse

I caught some flak on these forums for a ton of posts in a very short time. I'm still here and posting, ain't I? Love that line about buying other guys' terrible equipment.ROTFL 

[Packers#1]

-G-,

My 0-6-0 Bachmann (which I said how it was destroyed [I burnt out the engine]) ran great. I will agree that Bachmanns are usually POS, but not allways(usually). I'll probably buy mainly Atlas, but could grab a KATO.

[dale8chevyss]

How old are you?  You seem to be going off in another direction with your posts, the question was about Bachmann remember.  As for Walthers Trainline, Athearn Blue Box and RTR and IHC Steam loco's I put them in the same class as Bachmann.  They don't have the detail or the running characteristics as the other 4, sorry.  I would recommend the Athearn products to a beginner though because the are durable, they wouldn't get frustrated running them compared to the other junk.  With a lot of detailing you COULD end up with a nice loco.  What is with your car rant?  What does that have to do with Bachmann being junk or not?  If your suffering trying to make car payments and keep gas in yours then you really need to think about giving up this hobby for awhile.  If your using it as an excuse as to why you buy poor quality loco's then your probably living way beyond your means.  I'm sorry you drive a junk car and you need to take it to the shop every two months, maybe that explains your love for Bachmann.  Us out in the real world don't have to do that.  If anything breaks on my five vehicles then I just fix it myself.  Mind you they aren't junk so nothing ever breaks on them.  You need to get yourself a new mechanic dude.  I've been married for 17 years now so I know what girls cost.  You think they are expensive now?  Wait until you get married, for some reason they all want houses, furniture, clothes etc. 

Your way off base on what loco's cost.  I have over 100 now, about 85% of them are Proto 2000 with the rest being Atlas, Kato and Athearn Genesis.  I've never paid close to 135 bucks for the majority of my Proto's and my sound equiped loco's, 2 Atlas Trainmasters and 2 Proto GP9's weren't even close to 200, never mind 250, lol.  You want to know how people afford trains?  They get a job, they don't type on model train websites about how so hard done by they are.  You want to know how the average teenager or young adult can afford this hobby?  To be honest with you I really don't think they can or really should.  They have more important things that their money should go towards first.  Their own place to live, a GOOD car and a GOOD women should be a young adults priorities, not model trains.  Once you have your life in order then you enjoy hobbies.  I like old cars and have two of them now but I got my house, my wife and my GOOD running car first.  I like boating but I just didn't go out and buy one, I had to wait until I could afford it.  Same goes for my ATV's, once I could afford them I bought them.  With a boat and ATV's you need a good truck to tow them so I got one of those to but only after I got my house, my wife and my life in general in order.  You see where I'm going with this?  You seem angry because you can't afford the better things in life right away and you don't like the fact that you are forced to buy junk because you can't afford otherwise.  Its time for you to wake up and get your own life in order and stop feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

 

 

What a nice thing to say.. What a jerk.   

[ICRR1964]

WOW! Its hard to beleive that some one can be so harsh in a post and in the same post be on the bragging wagon. Common TA slow down a bit, there are some of the younger generation in here, we all know that. They are trying is all, relax a bit.

[MOPACnut]

Lifelike B&O Docksider 

Lifelike ATSF Docksider

If you don't care about the detail level, this is a reliable little switcher, that doesn't go for too much. I bought one for 12 Dollars on http://www.trainworld.com  before I er "powderized" it when comparing it to a commuter train... It is a great switcher, that is a good runner, just lacking in detail.

 

I've got one of these i've had since i was 8 (arr 1988) and allthough it shows it's age it still runs decently. It's amusing to watch the little bugger pull 7 86' hi cube boxes and a caboose with no problem.

[MOPACnut]

 They did have a few good  things during the 80's and 90's. First off the're train set engines were  better than Life Like and Tyco's because they had all wheel pick up (however less pulling power with only 2 traction tires). Then arround 1991 they reintroduced the AHM GP-18's with all wheel pickup. I have 2 of them and they run great (of course looks are another matter). I've also got a plus B-23-7 which is a pretty good runner (allthough it doesn't like being paired with an Athearn blue box. I'm serious!).