I am looking to start a new model railroad and I am using a Kato Starter Set in N-Scale. My options are the Metra or VRE or Union Pacific or Canadian National or Pacific. Any advice would be great. Thanks
This is a strange question. None of us can know what you want from your model railroad.
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Which of these runs through the scenery you most wish to model? Which of these runs trains that interest you most?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
It depends what kind of service you are interested in: Freight? Passenger? Both?
Do you want largest availability of product? UP
Do you want the nicer paint scheme? CP (IMO)
Is there a particular part of the country you would like to model? That might help to dictate which railroad to model.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Metra and VRE are commuter operations. So unless you really want commuter operations, I would not pick one of these. (Note: VRE uses Norfolk Southern and CSX tracks in Northern Virginia so you could incorporate VRE with either of these roads).
I would pick Union Pacific (Unless you particularly want Canadian). More products available will make it easier to add to in the future.
Good luck
Paul
You can't go wrong with any of the Kato sets. They all run great and are well made.
If you're just getting into model trains, pick what looks best to you.
Look the full-sized trains up on the internet and see if one piques your interest.
Eventually, you may gravitate to a specific prototype, but there's no reason to get hung up on that now.
Eric
Actually, Metra might be an excellent choice for someone who is otherwise undecided because the Metra lines radiating out of Chicago run on the rails of a nice variety of "host" railroads (UP, CP [ex Soo], BNSF [ex BN and ex Santa Fe], CN [ex Wisconsin Central]) and so on - you'd be leaving all those good choices available to you for the next step assuming the idea of Chicago / suburban modeling is otherwise acceptable. And those lines run not just through bedroom communities but some heavy industry as well. Metra runs far enough out of the city that even some semi rural areas see Metra trains.
Dave Nelson
Again, a bit of a hard question to answer.
Me, I would go with either the CP or UP, but only bc I could feasibly have them as run-through or pool power.
I would not be modeling any areas that the commuters would run through, nor would every train in my modeled area be CP, CN, or UP powered.
But, CP, and UP loco's are frequently seen in the area that I am modeling.
The answer will all depend on what you like, what area you are modeling, and what style ops you are more interested in.
Commuter trains make frequent, scheduled stops, and run on tight schedules, where freights don't run on hard tight schedules. (Stops are also more infrequent, unless it is a local working industries.)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Another characteric of Metra is that it is a push pull operation on some of its lines making it a good choice for narrow spaces You could do a point to point if you want. Sort of a hybrid between point to point and continuous operations.
Joe Staten Island West
In the future, you could add two more metra sets to make a commutter fleet. Also Metra used 4 different types of locomotives so make sure each one of your trains has a different locomotive on the point. And make sure they are different lengths.