I would agree that most new locos are of good quality these days. Yet again... Steamers are always a bit risky when it comes to first runs. Most manafuracturers have produced lemons at least once. I never buy first-runs for that reason, especially steam. They also tend to be overpriced in their first year of production. Of course, there is always the risk of short-run productions running out of stock (Rapido steam comes to mind here).
Here is another question: are you strictly comtemplating new stuff or also considering used? The latter brings in a totally different conversation in my opinion.
Simon
Selector,That may be true for some, but Rapido Trains and Scale Trains own their own factories in China. Bowser still shoots all their plastic in the USA than ships it to China for assembly. Kadee and Accurail are still all Made in the USA. Bachmann is a Chinese company who run their own Chinese factories. By any standard, the above are all "manufacturers".
With regards to the rest, there's still a lot of work involved in modern "manufacturing" even if they don't physically make the models using their own employees. Most of the models today are created in 3D CAD, and that includes the drive & the paint scheme. This isn't like the old brass importer days where a true importer would take a bunch of pictures and send them to Japan/Korea and said "make me this in 1/87th scale". There is a ton of design work that goes into new models.
There is no "request for proposal" that looks for the best offer that I've ever heard of. Generally, those companies that don't have their own factories enter into contracts with a Chinese factory that can last a while (years, perhaps). They get to know the engineers in China and learn how best to work with them. The US company comes up with a product, and either they or the Chinese factory they have a contract with create the 3D model (it depends on the skills of the US company). Then they go back and forth with the 3D model to create what the US company wants, then they move on to paint (usually created solely by the US employees), then annouce the product. Pricing is based on complexity of the tooling and the number of products to be made. Before the Chinese will cut any tooling, 50% of the total (tooling and production) must be paid. Tooling is cut, product is shot, painted/assembled, boxed, and shipped to the dock. The remaining 50% of the total must be paid before the container gets loaded onto a ship.
Still, who is going to constantly keep track of who owns a factory or not? It's easier to call them all "manufacturers" rather than say some are importers, some are manufacturers, and some are both, depending on the product.
riogrande5761,Amtrak F40PH's are niche? RDC-1's, -2's, and -3's are niche? FA-2 & FPA-2's are niche?
selector I know this approach is like picking fly poo out of the pepper, but the 'manufacturer' of these items isn't the company that offers them commercially. So, I don't think any of us can answer which 'manufacturer' is the best one.
I know this approach is like picking fly poo out of the pepper, but the 'manufacturer' of these items isn't the company that offers them commercially.
So, I don't think any of us can answer which 'manufacturer' is the best one.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Yes Paul, but IMO, most of those Rapido US diesels are rather niche - so bias is still toward Canadian and my point stands. Not that Niche engines don't sell well, they do, but the audiance is much more limited. Rapido just happened to niche into your radar! :p Just sayin...
Unless someone says so in this forum, I'm going to assume they are shooting for broader appeal among US trains. Thats not to diss Rapido - they are in the top tier for sure, but being somewhat niche in the US line, it's going to limit the market somewhat to US folks - IMO.
All in all it depends on what you want to run? Small steam, Proto 2000 for US prototype. Small diesel, Kato or Atlas. Others can be great too but they can have, shall we say a bigger chance of getting a bad one. Got a bad Stuart (Bowser) once but have a bunch of great ones. Bachmann Spectrum are great too overall and a cheaper price point but some of their stuff dosn't live up to the hype. So the real thing you need to answer first is what are you looking at and what era and local.
I know this approach is like picking fly poo out of the pepper, but the 'manufacturer' of these items isn't the company that offers them commercially. The items are almost all made off-shore by factories about which I personally know nothing. The companies we've discussed are importers who let the contracts after a "request for proposal" is settled with the best offer. The specs are predetermined, as well as the price per uniit. Once received as a passed batch, our importers sell them and fill orders.
So, I don't think any of us can answer which 'manufacturer' is the best one. I suspect several of them specialize in building models such as model trains, and they make several runs of items per year, not all of which are successful or well-received.
I'll return to the pepper now.....
The starting point should be for you decide what you are modeling. Era? Passenger and/or freight? Railroad line? Then you can decide the appropriate locomotives and cars to acquire. After that you can research availability and compare competing manufacturers.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
riogrande5761,Um, just one thing. Rapido has US F40PH, US F40 Cabbage, US FL9, US EP-5, US RDC-1/2/3, US FA-2/FPA-2 vs. CAN FP9/F9B, CAN GMD-1, CAN Hudson, CAN F40PH-2D, CAN Dash 8-40CM, and CAN SW1200RS. That's about 50-50 US vs. Canada.
I have BLI, Bachmann Spectrum, Proto and Atlas, including two trainmasters which continue to amaze me. I would buy Loco's from any of them again in a heartbeat.
I think "North American Railcar Corp" makes the nicest cars I have ever seen, though their line is limited at this point in time. Rapido is a close second. After that, I really like many of the offerings out there. You get what you pay for and through experience, I have learned which ones don't meet my expectations
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
If you're an O-scaler you're probably familiar with Atlas O-scale engines. Their HO line is similarly set up to the O-scale line, and have many good products at various price ranges (Gold / Silver, Atlas Classic / Trainman). They may be a good place to start. My most recent engine purchases are two Atlas FM Trainmasters, really great engines.
Atlas, Athearn, Bachmann Rapido, and Roundhouse are my picks.
Scale Trains locomotives are great runners.
Russell
Op asked for Better to Best Locomotive manufacturers so everyone is giving him information other than that as well - MR forums - where more is better, even if you didn't ask!
Rapido Trains - probably best overall manufacturer in running and detail, but mostly Canadian models so if you are into US locomotives ... move on...
Atlas - probably best overall manufacturers of HO US type engines in terms of chassis and running, but not as detailed as some other makers.
KATO - reputation for best chassis for a long time save the early SD40-2. Shells lag behind others in detail. HO offerings are pretty limited.
Athearn/Genesis - chassis good but on average not quite as good as KATO or Rapito. But Athearn, mainlyl Genesis is very good in terms of overall high level of detail. Generally good runners but RTR motors vary - older chassis were often coffee grinders, past 10 years RTR has improved and are pretty good as a rule. Genesis have nice detail and very good runners overall. Occasional QAQC issues.
Bowser - in recent years has put out some increasingly nice engines. Have had a few runs with weak motors but over all turning into a top notch maker of HO diesels.
InterMountain - like Bowser, started out with nice looking engines and some issues with some chassis - including the Cab Forward steam engines which took 3 runs to perfect. Newer offerings are getting quite good.
Walthers (Proto) - Walthers hasn't always been one for prototypically accurate engines but are slowly getting better.
Broadway Limited - dunno - never owned any but some have had issues with their earlier diesels. Others can comment.
"Better" is subjective. It depends on what is more important to you: prototypical accuracy, robustness, price, fit & finish, drive quality, etc. For example, Athearn Genesis and Athearn Ready-To-Run locos tend to be great examples of prototypical accuracy with many railroad specific detail parts making them very close to the real thing in looks. However, sometimes fit & finish can be a problem and they can be very delicate. Atlas, OTOH, does almost no railroad specific detail but their models tend to have a high fit & finish and what detail parts there are usually stay on the model.
That being said, here's my list of the better manufacturers of locos and cars (in no particular order):
Rapido Trains https://rapidotrains.com/
Athearn http://www.athearn.com/
Atlas http://atlasrr.com/
Bowser http://www.bowser-trains.com/
InterMountain https://www.intermountain-railway.com/
Walthers (Proto) https://www.walthers.com/walthersproto
Broadway Limited http://www.broadway-limited.com/
Kato https://www.katousa.com/
For cars:
Tangent http://www.tangentscalemodels.com/
Spring Mills Depot http://www.springmillsdepot.com/
Kadee https://kadee.com/
ExactRail https://exactrail.com/
Moloco https://www.molocotrains.com/
Fox Valley Models http://foxvalleymodels.com/For track:Micro Engineering http://microengineering.com/
Walthers Code 83 https://www.walthers.com/walthers-code-83-track
Atlas Code 83 http://www.atlasrr.com/Trackmisc/hocode83.htm
Kato https://www.katousa.com/HO/unitrack.html
Fast Tracks http://www.handlaidtrack.com/
Hope this helps and welcome to HO scale.
As far as locomotives and rolling stock go, each manufacturer generally offers a couple of lines of varying quality. Obviously, the nicer quality items are going to cost more. However, you don't necessarily have to pay top dollar for quality. Places like M.B. Klein and eBay allow you to find items that are regularly 20-30% below MSRP...sometimes more. You just have to be a persistent and patient in your shopping.
Another determining factor is what era and railroad(s) you are interested in. Some manufacturers may lean more towards certain railroad lines than others; same for eras. And some locomotives from certain manufacturers may be better or worse than other manufacturer's offerings. It really depends on a number of factors so you have to make sure you compare apples to apples.
My personal favorite manufacturers - lines for locomotives are the following:
I didn't include Bachmann and Kato because I don't really have much experience with either. Athearn has been a poor performer for me so can't really recommend them with a clear conscience.
Here are my personal favorite manufacturers for rolling stock, or ones that I have experience with:
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Don't think you can entirely avoid the Fords vs. Chevys issue as the matter has a hefty subjective component, being loaded by nature with perceptions and preferences. Additionally, a particular manufacturer will have a range of quality depending on when something was offered or which particular model is being considered. The latter applies especially to locos. And don't forget to factor in the customer service aspect as there is the occasional ringer even in a notably good offering. All of this presupposes that you're buying new. Considering used is, well, you can imagine what that adds to the discussion.
And one other thing: are you going with DCC/sound? If so, will you be looking for preinstalled decoders or do them yourself?
Welcome to your new scale. Hope you aren't having to part with a lot of "O" stuff.
Organize you Favorites library and Google HO train manufacturers. Locos, track, DCC systems, reviews as an example.
There is a lot of info out there with manufacturers and forums. Just scan reviews from forums to see which reviews seem favorable. Compare reviews. You will find a lot of opinions from forums.
Save links in Favorites. Since I use Firefox, I save them in Bookmarks.
I have done that for some years and have a lot of links. Helped me buying over the years.
I have modeled HO for some years but will keep opinions to myself.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
All the makers running ads in Model Railroader or Rail Model Craftsman make decent stuff. It will run smoothly and stay on the track and last a long time. The difference between the economical and the pricey models is just looks. If the model looks good to your eye, it is good.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I am changing scales from O to HO. Without getting into a "Ford vs Chevy" debate, I would like to know what is considered the better HO product manufacturers of locomotives, rolling stock and track. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks