Steam Loco Quality

[nfmisso]

NWSL does have a replacement gear for the Athearn Genesis 2-8-2; BUT it requires the proper tooling and skill to do the replacement.

[Anonymous]

I had a lot of problems with my Athearn steamers. Both of them had a plastic (nylon?) gear that broke after a few hours of use.

I have a couple of Bachmann spectrum steamers and they run very well.

The only other two steamers that I have are a BLI Cab Forward and a Trix Big Boy. Both are excellent runners, but were considerably more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Thank you orsonroy and others for this discussion, good information and words of experience are always appreciated.

[nfmisso]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Isambard

Proto 0-8-0 hesitates frequently, the engine house crew need to investigate whether the mini connector built into the draw bar mates tightly and if not what to do?

Look into adding electrical pick-up to the tender axles, Larry Puckett showed one method in one of his DCC Updates in MRG, another is to copy the P2K 0-6-0 tender pick-ups.

[nfmisso]

I have nothing to add to Ray's excellent information.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

OK, here's my take. I've got over 100 HO steamers (no exaggeration) from all the major manufacturers over the past 40 years (well, except for brass).

Any questions? :-)

EXCEPTIONAL ANALYSIS. Hit the print key.

[Anonymous]

I'm the hard luck case with steam engines, though I still love them dearly. I have the Spectrum 2-8-0, an early one, that's OK as a road engine, but lacks the slow speed control needed for realistic switching. It bumps and grinds along at low speeds. Then I got a P2k 0-6-0 and had similar results. A real disapointment. I sent it back to LL ,at their invite, 2 months ago and haven't heard back yet. My best running steam engine was a Bowser A5s after conversion to a Sagami 2024. It was GREAT till it split the axle gear. I replaced it twice and then converted it to Bowsers own can motor and idler gearbox. It just never came back to normal. I spent hundreds on that model. The Bowsers are lacking in detail but they'll last forever. Rugged and heavy engines, they are. My benchmark for performance is the Kato Alco RS-2. It's wonderful.

Good Luck;
smyers

[orsonroy]

OK, here's my take. I've got over 100 HO steamers (no exaggeration) from all the major manufacturers over the past 40 years (well, except for brass). They can ALL be made to run exceptionally well, depending on your skills level and how much you want to sink into the model.

Today, the best off the shelf steam engines are made by Life Like P2K. I've got two 0-6-0s, six 0-8-0s, one 2-8-8-2, and seven of the 2-8-4s, and have had zero problems with any of them out of the box. They need a light gear lube after breaking in; that's all.

After P2K I "like" BLI best, but only have two of the heavy mikes. These seem to be the most rubust steamers they've come out with yet, so my impressions might be skewed. I do trust them enough to have seven of the new light mikes on preorder, sight unseen.

Close behind BLI is the Bachmann Spectrum line of engines. I've got five of the 2-8-0s, one light 4-8-2, two heavy 4-8-2s, one 2-10-0, and one 2-6-6-2 from them, and again, have had no issues with them out of the box. In fact, the only real problem I've had with Spectrum engines is the weak connector wires between tender and engine. A little soldering fixes any breaks.

After these three comes IHC. Their engines may not be the best detailed, but they run well, pull well, and give modelers the best option to assemble a steam fleet on a budget. I really like them for their kitbashing potential. If you've ever wanted to try superdetailing a steam engine model, use an ICH engine as your guinea pig. They'll take a lot of abuse and will still perform.

Athearn Genesis........lots of potential wasted by bad engineering. There are THREE problems with Athearn mikes (I've owned 11, and have majorly tinkered with some of them): the weight is badly distributed, the truck springs are too tight, and the wire bundle tubing is too stiff. Remove the heatshrink tubing around the wires and paint them black, remove the pilot truck spring, cut one loop out of the trailing truck spring, and figure out how to get three ounces of weight into the smokebox (depleted uranium?), and you'll have a good performer. As it is, I've never had a performance problem with any of mine out of the box, and have had engines running for 12 hours at a time at shows, pulling 25 40' cars on the flat. I'm opting for the BLI light mikes (and the older Powerhouse mikes) because of their better (or potentially better) pulling performance, easier maintenance, and sound.

EVERY one of my steamers will spend time in the shop for superdetailing, paint, and weathering, so I don't generally look at details on engines. P2K, BLI, and Bachmann are all in the same league: some molded on details, some seperately applied, and all are a bit skimpy in SUPERdetailing.

As for the most rugged engines available, go with old Mantua. My father's engines, which he built in the mid-1960s, still run with only a little lube. They'll pull a buttload of cars (I've got video of one of my 2-8-2s pulling 100 cars!) and will run forever. They have bad slow speed control (fixable with a can motor) and are ugly as sin (NONE are proto correct), but they will last.

Any questions? :-)

[joseph2]

My absolute worst are a pair of old Mantua locomotives,a 2-6-0 and a logging Mallet.No matter how much I tinker with them their operation is still iffy.My best is a PowerHouse 2-4-4-2,.MDC 0-6-0 kit built is a lot better then I expected. Joe G.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DavidYoung

How about steam locomotive durability? What factors would contribute to a model steam locomotive being able to keep going and going? Do any of the new steam models have these features?

I don't run my steamers every day so I rely on the time warranty.

In the Riv's case it's one year. The Spectrum carries a limited life time. After one year, there's
a $15.00 handling charge. The P2K Heritage series, I believe life time, and probably carries a
return handling charge after certain period of time and as stated before, the P2K will be my next steam purchase.
P2 K enjoys an excellent reputation and LL has good customer service.

[Anonymous]

From a low price point , the IHC steamers are excellant runners and pullers, only lacking in the detail department. Add you own detailing or pay premium prices for better. As far as reliabillity ,every operating factor plays a part. Most manufacturers of steam have been discussed thoroghly on this, and other forums. Do some research, and get one. If you don't like what you bought , try an exchange, or sell it on E-bay.

[Anonymous]

The Athearn Mikado has known problems with the leading & trailing trucks holding the drivers off the rail. This may be your problem.

The Bachmann Spectrum's are the most reliable plastic steam. IHC's probably second in my experience, but IHC doesn't do close prototypes (If it's generally similar to a road's model, IHC will do a paintjob.)

[Anonymous]

How about steam locomotive durability? What factors would contribute to a model steam locomotive being able to keep going and going? Do any of the new steam models have these features?

[Anonymous]

You pay for quality, reliability.performance & detail.

I own the Riv Allehgeny @ $307.00, two Riv F-E-F-3 @ $150.00 each and one Spectrum HW @ $120.00 and I would buy them again.

I don't own the P2K Heritage series but I understand from Nigel they are excellent and that will be my next steam purchase.
The P2K carries a limited life time warranty

[Anonymous]

I've got 3 steam locomotives (and soon to be 4[:D]). The first one, a plain Bachmann 0-6-0 runs nicely, but lacks detail and there is some gear noise when it runs. The second, a Spectrum Light 4-8-2, is a better runner, and has excellent detail. The third steamer, a Rivarossi FEF-3, is the "cream of the crop" so to speak. It's a beautiful runner, has wonderful detail, and can pul anything I throw at it.

[Fergmiester]

Rivarossi and Life Like are good, I also have Athearn and Bachmann. The Jury is still out on Bachmann as it looks good but I feel they went cheap on the mechanism.

Regards

[Isambard]

Grizzly Northern experience with Spectrum's two 2-10-0's, a 2-8-0 and a three-truck Shay has been good. A Proto 0-8-0 hesitates frequently, the engine house crew need to investigate whether the mini connector built into the draw bar mates tightly and if not what to do? But the crew is currently busy retrofitting an Elesco feedwater heater to the 2-8-0.
[:)]

[Anonymous]

Before you pop for more you will hear from Orsonroy & Nigel, then pop.

[Anonymous]

I only have four steamers right now. One Kato/GHQ, one Pacific Fast Mail, one Spectrum, and one Athearn.

The one I've had the least trouble with has been the PFM model, only cause it only has about a dozen hours on it since I got it for my 19th birthday some time ago.

My experience with spectrum has been fairly good. I have a post-war K4 pacific #3750, only cause I now live within 20 minutes of where it now stands. It runs quite well, not the best I've seen but it is fine. The biggest problem I've had with it, was that one time I was trying to run it on the local clubs layout and it wouldn't respond to the controller at all, I took the tender shell off, and a minute later of not responding to the DCC signal; I let the smoke out of the decoder! I have since learned that the RF Chokes on the circuit board can blow a decoder. Since then I've pulled out the entire circuit board, probably voiding the warrenty, and have hard wired another decoder.

I have an Athearn Lite mike, and thats been a good model overall. I had to tune it a bit in order for it to run on the local clubs layout, which wasn't much to do, nothing nobody with basic skills can't handle. It doesn't pull a whole lot though, even after adding weight where ever I could to the model. About 25 cars, on the flat even, and it starts slipping. I haven't checked its performance on a grade yet. The spur gear stripped itself after only 6-months of running it, and accumulating 40 some hours on it. Athearn was really good about fixing the locomotive, they didn't even charge me for it! it took a friend of mine, a month to get his back. But it only took me 2-weeks from sending it off, to seeing it get delivered. A tip, when sending something off for warrenty work, send them a return shipping label.

The Kato/GHQ is an N-scale Pennsylvania L1 mikado that I built with a Kato mikado chassis, and GHQ parts. Nicest running, and, almost, nicest looking, locomotive I have. It does run as good as it looks. And can it pull! 65+ cars when I put on a traction tire. Per advice from a friend of mine. That wasn't easy to build, but it was satisfying in the end when it was finished.

[Anonymous]

I think all model train Manufurers make good locomotives it just depends on how you look after your locomotives. If you treat them like dirt they won' t last very long and they won' t run well. But if you treat them with care they well last a long time and run great.

[Anonymous]

I have a varity of steam locomotives. I don't have Athearn's lite mike so can't say much about it. I have a couple IHC locos, their 0-8-0 and a 2-6-0 are nice runners but somewhat lacking in detail. They are prime for super detailing, however. I had a Bachman Spectrum Pennsy K-4 Pacific, which ran very nicely and had nice detail, but didn't fit on my Northern Pacific layout. I have a Rivarossi lite mike converted to an N.P. W-3 Mike. This loco is a good runner. I also have a BLI J1e Hudson which is a good engine but has not been broken in yet. I converted this loco to the famous Timkin engine, N.P. 2626. Yes, the Timkin is a Northern! However, the two do look similar other than the missing pair of drivers. I also have two brass locos which run nicely.

My opinion is that most all of the steam locos available at this time are pretty good running pieces, excepting the cheap ones, ie life-like and plain Bachmann.

Jay_c is right, check things over before you slam a loco's mfger. Good runners out of the box can be made better with some TLC.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by D_ Davis

...I also have a Mikado
from Athern that is a dog, sporadic running, stops and starts
[banghead][banghead], pain in the ____! I don't think they will get in my wallet again,
so I'm thinking of going to the Broadway family.[:D]

Is the sporadic running limited to one certain area of track? Do other locomotives do the same thing in that area? Have you cleaned the Mikado's wheels? Examined it for loose or pinched wires?

I don't know your experience level, so I'm just asking the obvious questions. It's possible it's a quality problem, but I'd have my ducks in a row before accusing the mfr. It avoids the possibility of me having to go on a diet consisting largely of crow.

[Anonymous]

Out of all the" Manufacturers" which is the most reliable?¿?
Bachman-Athern-Broadway Limited.
I have aBachman Decopod (2-10) which I like but its gears are stripped
and the mfg.is going to fix it for me. No problem-Great. I also have a Micado
from Athern that is a dog, sporadic running, stops and starts
[banghead][banghead], pain in the ____! I don't think they will get in my wallet again,
so I'm thinking of going to the Broadway family.[:D]