Worst Model Railroad Company?

[Anonymous]

Model Power. I had two of their N-scale GP40s and one of the Alco 6-axle units they offered. Interestingly, all ran fairly well, though unfortunately they couldn't haul more than about two or three cars. Their new FP (with the metal bodyshell) isn't a bad effort, though a better motor and finer wheels would have helped. Most of their freight cars were awful too - far too underscale. A pity, as the mouldings were fairly well detailed and the cars run ok despite the plastic wheels. Their ACF Cylindrical hopper isn't too bad for the money - change the trucks and wheels, add some weathering, and from normal viewing distances they'd look ok.

[Anonymous]

I would have to say tyco as well. i remember getting my first train set when i was like 4 or 5. It was the firefox. The one thing that stands out in my mind was the high starting speed, low speed of the loco. I think it started at like 50 SMPH. But on the other side, it maxed out at like 300. I still have it laying around somewhere in the box of extras. But in tyco's defense, i may have been the super generic 10 step power pack that made it start at such a high speed.

[aloco]

Model power, by far. The only 'good' stuff they ever had were locos made by Roco (E7, E9, FA-2, Sharknose). The rest was all pure junk. The stuff they make today is even worse! Have you seen their F2A? It's supposed to be an F-unit, but it has a nose like a C-Liner. It looks extremely toy-like, and every time I see one I want to stomp on it!

[Anonymous]

I bought a brand new Bachmann BN high-nose GP-38 (or 40, or something, I can't remember for sure) in the early 1980's as a 12 year old kid and it absolutely ran like crap right out of the box. A totally useless product. Got it at Kay Bee Toy store I think. Maybe it was a black sheep, but due to that experience, I'll go with "Botchmann".

[trainfan1221]

And the award goes to.....(picture drumroll,please) TYCO! I know they are collectible now, but aside from being only vague representations of the real engines, they had other fun nuances. Did any of you ever notice that most of them had no handrails? Wouldn't want to walk along that one at speed. And that "Power Torque" was a piece of power crap! At least their freight cars weren't a total loss. I have to also nominate Bachmann who I always felt could do better. I know Model Power isn't the best either, but didn't have too much of their stuff. I do have a few N signals which are all right. In the early days of nscale there was a lot of imported products which American companies just threw their names on, sort of a hard to tell the players without a scorecard kind of thing.
mecovey, oddly enough a lot of COX products were just Athearn products renamed. It is weird because their catalogs showed what were very obviously Athearn locomotives, specifically the GP35, with the COX name. There is an interesting site on tripod, can't think of the name right now, that explains all this.
Incidentally, in nscale I have to go with Bachmann as the current worst of the bunch.

[mecovey]

Does anybody remember Cox? They had a logging set as I recall complete with an engine that either refused to move or ran at just under mach 2

[Anonymous]

Any building kit with the word Plasticville on the box

Life like rolling stock from the 70's

Any Tyco car and most of their building kits

Old Bachman ready to run cars, especially those flatcars that came with logs or the concrete drain pipes made of plastic tube sections.

[cacole]

I believe the brand name was Industrial Rail. Cheaper than even Model Power's worst. Their Web site lists around 15 HO scale models priced at $2.25 US. They also list prices in Canadian Dollars, so they may be a Canadian company. They evidentally made only O scale previously, because the majority of products listed on their site are O.

[BRAKIE]

calcole,Those cars you are seeing are more then likely the cheap Model Power cars ,IHC or Bachmanns..

[cacole]

There's a company in existence even today that makes boxcars and gondolas that sell for $2.98 each at several hobby shops out here in Arizona. I don't remember the brand name on them, but their address being in Champaign, Illinois, leads me to believe that it is a Horizon Hobbies product. Detail is horrible, the plastic is really cheap, and the wheel flanges are out of proportion. Definitely only for young children at Christmastime.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by philnrunt

Hey lupo and dharmon...after I thought about what I said I also realized that that is one of my best memories! So while as a scale model piece it fell flat on it's face(and flat on the floor) as a good time it ranks up there with my P2K and other engines.
Also, about Tyco, I worked at a department store during my senior year and after Christmas we had at least 8-10 Tyco RR's and 4-5 Tyco HO race sets returned. A friend and myself bought them all for 10 bucks, and built an INSANE layout in his basement. 4-4-0's and F7's trying to beat GT-40s and Jimmy Clark's little green BRM(?) to the homemade crossings! It was a figure 8 race gone mad! I remember we played with it for about a month before everything was destroyed.
Ahhh, memories! And I owe it all to the GREATEST TOY TRAIN manufacturers EVER!!!!..... Uhhh, sorry guys, got a bit carried away there.
They still get my vote, but with mitigating circumstances.

If I remember correctly, Tyco actually made a slot car/RR set complete with a section of the slot car track with a section of rail though it...I would hesitate to consider it a grade crossing.....early training for California drivers trying to beat the trains.....

[BRAKIE]

I forgot to mention the king of the scrap line..The Lindberg SW1 that had a spring drive..Not to mention this unit would slinky it way down the track for a few feet then,the spring would break.This was a horrible model..

[railman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by philnrunt

I remember some really sad Tyco trash, from the 70's, but I would have to agree that Model Power puts out some horrible stuff. We used to run M P on a friends 4x8 layout(he wasnt serious about Model RRing, just liked fast trains) and he had a switch that led off the plywood to mid-air, we ran an M P Alco off at full speed onto the cement floor. The X2F broke off, but the unit ran fine. After that, the switch seemed to be set more for the Floor Division than the loop track! I think after about the 15th time the motor ripped loose and we laid it to rest.

Speaking of RR Demolition derbies, I had some old Bachmann train set units that were set up on the track (5 or 6). Just them and cabooses on notable units. My cousins and I were positioned at switches, and away we went. Full blast on the power pack. The ultimate goal was to line engines on collision courses at two diamonds I had on the set. Secondary crashes were when two met as at switch, but those weren't quite as much fun as a T-Bone. Add to this the fact that we often would turn off the lights, so whatever ones had lights we could see, but the others, well, we didn't.

[on30francisco]

Model Power, Tyco, and AHM. I used to have these locos years ago and they ran terrible. They had truck mounted horn hook couplers, deep wheel flanges, and four wheel pickup. The detailing also left a lot to be desired.

[Anonymous]

For me, the worst were Model Power, the old AHMs, Tyco and some Bachmans. I have two Model Powers that I have removed the guts from and I have them sitting on a siding. The siding is wired up to a cheap $10 transformer. They sit there with their lights burning and their engines idling. They look and sound somewhat realistic. Though they never ran worth a flip, they're excellent for the illusion they now create.

I never throw anything away, no matter how bad it is. I have a railroad junkyard on my layout, complete with an office building, two yard cranes, a railroad crane, three junk filled gondolas, a bulldozer and five workers. Anything that isn't worth anything anymore goes into the junkyard. It has become one of the most interesting and talked about sites on my layout. So even junk has it's rightful place. LOL. [:D]

Georgia Boy

[:)]

[philnrunt]

Hey lupo and dharmon...after I thought about what I said I also realized that that is one of my best memories! So while as a scale model piece it fell flat on it's face(and flat on the floor) as a good time it ranks up there with my P2K and other engines.
Also, about Tyco, I worked at a department store during my senior year and after Christmas we had at least 8-10 Tyco RR's and 4-5 Tyco HO race sets returned. A friend and myself bought them all for 10 bucks, and built an INSANE layout in his basement. 4-4-0's and F7's trying to beat GT-40s and Jimmy Clark's little green BRM(?) to the homemade crossings! It was a figure 8 race gone mad! I remember we played with it for about a month before everything was destroyed.
Ahhh, memories! And I owe it all to the GREATEST TOY TRAIN manufacturers EVER!!!!..... Uhhh, sorry guys, got a bit carried away there.
They still get my vote, but with mitigating circumstances.

[Wdlgln005]

The worst Nscalers were those Yougo/Mehano units imported by Model Power. A close second is their Lima(italy) units.
Bachmann N is a close second, with their coffee grinder motors. The plus line Funits are just average.
Lifelike N can be had cheap. For $15, the F7 and GP38 at least will pull a train. Not as good as Atlas-Kato, but not bad for the price.
Missing from this list is the ConCor N line. Their PA and hudson made by Kato were state of the art for 1970. Now they are becoming too old to cut the mustard anymore. They even used to import the Heljan plastic kits.

[METRO]

I heard somewhere back in the thread someone talking about Athearn band drive units. I personally started out on these and still have about 6 of their RDCs. While I've since bought several of the great P1K RDCs, I'm currently working to repower the old Athearns and bring them up to spec.

As for the Life-Line cheap line, well they sure to weigh enough! I got a few of their GP38-2s from a friend and their long bar weights went straight into my lighter rolling stock.

I also have a few of the Bachman Spectrum Dash-8s and I suffered some major noise issues with them at higher speeds. My solution was quick and total: I replaced the Spectrum motors with Katos and some surplus P2K motors and I've not had any more problems.

[jsoderq]

Actually, the Crown line was the Varney tooling moved to Hong Kong. Some of the cars carried the same road numbers. Some of the American Flyer ho cars were Varney cars done for them. The Marx cars were mostly knockoffs of the Varney line. The Marx tooling is currently owned and run by Model Power. Some of the LikeLike and Bachman cars come from this same era when these cars were cheaply made mostly for the toy train market. Two things- Varney was the first manufacturer to make plastic cars to whom we all owe a debt and many of these were sold at Sears, Pennys and hardware stores and were responsible for a great many people introduced to the hobby.

[CP5415]

Wow, this is a hard one to answer.
I guess it would be easy to say this or that company.
What I will say is that every manufacturer has had it's time in the "this is acceptable"
spot light.
I heard that at one time that Atlas locomotives were crap, & that Athearn was cream of the crop.
Lifelike was toylike but now they have the Proto line. Go figure. Who would have thought!

Anyways, thats my 2 cents on this.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy

QUOTE: Originally posted by ndbprr

Wel I won't name names but anybody who makes a plaastic rip off of a KAdee coupler is right up there in my estimation.

Bachmann EZ mates= CRAP!

Anyway, I personally think IHC, Model Power, Standard Life Like, and Standard Bachmann are the worst models out there.

You're calling EZ-Mates CRAP?!

No, they're just pieces of [censored]![:D]

I don't like Bachmann, in fact I can't stand 'em, I have one of their Spectrum 2-8-0s that runs terribly. Their cars aren't even worth talking about, same with their diesel and sub-Spectrum lines. They calll them "Botchman" for a reason.

Since another poster mention their more tolerable companies, I'll list mine just in case one of their exec's is reading:

Athearn Genesis- give them a 10 out of 10. (at least on the F-units)
Red Caboose- give them a 8 out of 10
Broadway Limited- somewhere around 8 or 9, I'm planning to buy one of their Mikes, so they rank pretty good with me.
Bowser- 6 out of 10. Freight cars are good enough, but locomotive kits are a bit on the crappy side when it comes to motors.
Life Like- 8 out of 10 for Proto series. Only they never come out with anything I can use...[}:)]

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bill mathewson
I had two Vegas and that didn't stop me from purchasing a new GMC Sierra).
BILL

Didnt learn your lesson with that FIRST Vega did ya, Bill ? LOL [:D][(-D][:-,]

[dknelson]

While it is true that some of the model power cars were originally from Varney, some of them were from Varney's declining years long after John Allen ceased to be their paid commercial photographer for ads. I am thinking of the 36 ft reefer and the extremely light gondola (which was nonetheless an OK model). Varney painted them a bit nicer than Model Power did. The Model Power E units and their sharknoses were not bad.

You guys are probably too young to remember Crown -- no, not the ultra wonderful brass engines that PFM imported but the Athearn knock-off freight cars that sold for 99cents list price, packaging was flat cardstock with a plastic bubble over it. The trucks were sprung but hardly rolled, the couplers were awful -- if you put a couple of bucks into the car you ended up with a car virtually identical to Athearn but costing perhaps 45 cents more! What a joke! And I have a recollection that Mantua actually imported Crown but never put their name on it....

I think maybe the junkiest HO trains were Marx -- and they tended to be Varney knockoffs. And sure enough I think Model Power is still marketing some of the old Marx cars such as their strange bay window caboose

Dave Nelson

[cbq9911a]

There's no "worst model railroad company" because no company is uniformly bad.

But - my two cents on "worst HO train set", using products from different companies:

Engine: Lionel HO, early 1960's.
Cars: Bachmann, late 1970's.
Track: Marx HO "tinplate" track, 1960's.
Power Pack: Tyco, 1970's.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ndbprr

Wel I won't name names but anybody who makes a plaastic rip off of a KAdee coupler is right up there in my estimation.

Bachmann EZ mates= CRAP!

Anyway, I personally think IHC, Model Power, Standard Life Like, and Standard Bachmann are the worst models out there.

[mustanggt]

my vote is for those ihc\mehano c liners. im suprised nobody mentioned them also, if you look in some recent mrr magazines ihc's advertisement
has a crappy carnival train for 20 bucks with the c liner and 4 cars. talk about cheezy[:p]

[Anonymous]

Bachman is my least favorite. I like Atlas and Kato, and Im not to picky about rolling stock brand name but I prefer Athearn

[Anonymous]

I have 3 Model Power locos I rotate for track cleaning duties and they work great. Not prototypical but still do the job. I have some Bachman Spectrums that won't get out of their own way and forget going uphill.

RMax

[Anonymous]

Probably only the gray haired, or no-haired veterens know that at least some of the Model Power freight cars were originally made by Varney . To show how the hobby has grown (and groans), Varney was good enough for John Allen in the '60s. Also, Model Power has made a small 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 (both basically the same except for their wheel arrangement) that hasn't been done by anyone else. They represent Baldwin prototypes, I believe, and had excellent reviews in the press when released about ten years ago. You can find them for less than $25. if you shop around.

If you've been a model railroader for awhile, shame on you if you still can't make a smart purchasing decision if you've done you're homework-read reviews, consulted prototype information and pictures, and looked inside the box. Any legitimate LHS will provide advice ,as well as let you test an engine prior to purchase. What do you expect if you purchase model trains from Target, Wally World, or KMart ? They're sold in the TOY Dept. (Condemming a certain manufacturer intoto is akin to bashing GM just because they brought us the Vega and the Chevette-I had two Vegas and that didn't stop me from purchasing a new GMC Sierra).
BILL