What locomotive should I use? AND New member here!

[Anonymous]

Hello ,

I’m new here and to model railroading in general. I recently purchased a Bachman Spectrum Union Pacific train set on eBay and have quickly become addicted. Several days earlier I purchased a Bachman “Thomas the Tank Engine” HO kit for my 5 year old son at the local hobby shop. He has been infatuated with trains since he was two.

I recently won a four HO scale Pennsylvania Streamline passenger/coach cars by O.K from eBay. The link is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5915998632&category=484&sspagename=rvi:1:2

I don’t know much about them but want to get an appropriate engine to pull them. What would be the correct diesel loco? Can anyone provide any information about the 4 passenger cars I recently acquired also?

Thanks so much for all the great information on this site.

[Wdlgln005]

The passenger cars appear to be similar to the shorty type done in plastic by Athern. You should run to your local LHS and find some bluebox coaches to fill out the train. A 4-6 car set could be pulled by a F or GP type unit. Have fun deciding between different mfr's units.

[lupo]

[#welcome] to the forum YellowDesmo998
looks like a good deal, you made. For pulling those cars look at an E7 diesel,
or an engine like this: a GG-1



if you want more info you might change your topic title a bit

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions! I changed the title as recommended. I figured I couldn't go wrong for less then $9 per car. They're in wonderful condition. I took a little mild metal poli***o them and they shined up real nice. I'm impressed with their condition.

I like that engine you posted. I have a feeling I'm opening a can of worms but what brand is recommended? What brand is that one in the picture? I want to keep that 1950's theme going with these coaches.

Thanks again

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the boards!

As far as motive power is concerned, I would suggest one of the Athearn RTR Pennsylvania F7 A and B sets - these have the A unit (with cab) powered, and the B unit (without cab) as a dummy. I have a couple of the Athearn "Super power" F7s and can say that they are excellent - very heavy, so great haulage ability and good running as well. I must point out that I don't know if this is the "correct" loco (I'm not sure if the Pennsy used F's on passenger work), but it will make an impressive formation and will certainly look the part. A good alternative would be the Athearn PA/PB, though these have been out of production for some time now - keep an eye on eBay, they do come up sometimes.

Just my opinion, but I would think an E Unit would look odd on a train of short passenger cars - I suspect that's part of the reason why Athearn modelled a PA, as these are shorter locos and better suited to tight curves. Lifelike make superb models of assorted E Units and PA/PBs in their Proto ranges as well as other types - they seem to offer the best range of passenger diesels in HO to my mind.

[lupo]

The locomotive I posted is made by Broadway Limited, here is their homepage:
http://www.broadway-limited.com/
as for recommended manufacturers: depends on what kind of rollingstock you are looking for, you could browse around the forum, there are many opinions on manufacturers to be found.

[Anonymous]

Outstanding information! Thank you again. I like the look of the silver passenger cars and was wondering if a loco was made to match it. I see most of the Pennsylvania diesels are a brown color. I assume this is a true replica of the times. Once again, I'm new to all of this. Thanks for bearing with me.

Are the passenger cars that I purchased replicas of real trains or are they a fictitious line. In other words, did they actually look like the cars that carried passengers in the 50's? How can I find out more information about what I purchased on eBay as far as actually history of the line?

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

The best bet would be to look for a historical society web page, in your case, for the PRR Historical Society. Or you could look for a book on Post-war PRR passenger service, there should be several (As the Pennsy was one of the major RR's until it's dissappearance in 1968)

I'm not sure how accurate the cars are, but they would look good behind a PRR C-Liner (Available from Life-like Proto1000) or a F7 (From Athearn). While a GG-1 or E unit would also be nice, it would likely be too large for your current loop of track. The locomotives would be painted Tuscan Red or Brunswick Green most likely.

[Don Gibson]

Everyone has a different favorite. I sure you do too.

GENERAL RULE: Shorter engines fit better on smaller layouts.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Wdlgln005

The passenger cars appear to be similar to the shorty type done in plastic by Athern. You should run to your local LHS and find some bluebox coaches to fill out the train.

While at your LHS brouse though the Walthers catalog.
There are at least 10+ manufacturers and prices range from $5.00 to $60.00(Broadways)
Also take a look at the locomotive section, 15+ manufacturers.

You will soon discover that varieties/prices are infinite and could become overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

I have been getting into Pennsy pasenger stuff as well, For now I think im going to focus on steam passenger trains, but as far as Deasile goes, im sure most any 1st generation EMD F-units will work as well as Alco, Baldwin and Frank Morse, I'm thinking if i go deasile i will probably get a ABA set of the life like Proto 2000(p2k) Frank Morse C-liner and a A-B-B-A set of there 6-axle unit, im not sure the offical name of those loco's but there really cool, to me they kinda look like an old truck.
And just a suggestion from personall experiance, I recomend you try to stay away from Bachman, and some of the other lower grade makers, I recomend you go with Athearn Gennises, Atlas, Kato, Broadway Limited, and Life Like P2K.
You just end up with a better model for your money. You get better details and you get better running equipment, also if you get Athearn Ready-to-run I suggest replacing the factory moter with a can-moter, With can moter's you get smother operation.

[Medina1128]

How about this to make your railroader buddies cringe. When they come over to see your new collection of cars, have it pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine, and brag, "WOW! I didn't know that Thomas could pull so many cars!", in your best Sir Topham Hatt accent...

[Anonymous]

athearn makes good f units. i have one in New Haven colors, and its a bit noisy, but it pulls like nothing iv ever seen before. if you want to spend a bit more $ for a bit more quality and detail, go proto 2000 or atlas.
Happy Railroading
GEARHEAD426
[8]

[SpaceMouse]

YD,

You are where I was a year ago. Now is the time to STOP. I spent so much so fast because I was excited that I wasted a lot of money on stuff that now that I know more doesn't work for me. You have stuff to run so you can play. Now is the time to research.

Get "Track Planning for Realistic Operations" by John Armstrong. The important thing to do is narrow down your interests to a location and era that you want to model. IF you buy all over the place, then what you buy before you decide is money spent that could have been better directed. Another good book is Iain Rice's "Mid-sized and Manageable Track Plans."

Resist the urge to build your empire out of EZ track. Figure it is what you will run while you research, but give it up before your build your alyout. I didn't and it has been one pain after another. I have spent the last month fixing the height differential. Before that I spent a week making the turnouts work correctly. Figure on flex track.

Finally, until you get it figured out, ask questions here. God knows, I've asked some of the dumbest questions posible. Then listen and figure out what they are saying. When the old-timers answer your questions they are taking things into consideration that you have never thought of.

So before your buy--know what yo want. Check things out. Post your track plans and get comments. Let these guys be your guide.

[nfmisso]

A single
EMD E unit http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/187-457
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/187-752
Alco PA http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-40108
Baldwin BP20 - no easy models
or Fairbanks Morse Erie-built http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31696
would often be used for 3 to 8 passenger cars by Pennsy - but you will need larger radius curves.

More practical for your tight radius would be:
EMD F http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/691-5610
Alco FA1
Alco FA2
Baldwin RF16
or Fairbanks-Morse C-liner http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-31601

Also see: http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Locomotive&scale=H&manu=&item=&keywords=PRR&instock=Q&split=300&Submit=Search

And for truly prototypical passenger cars see:
http://merchandise.pennsyrr.com/WS4D_Cookie=7.23.03_11,11,47_50171/ms_laser.html

[jsoderq]

I think a loy of people here are steering this gentleman wrong.

First, Spacemouse I commend you on your answer.

Second, PRR did not use F's on passenger except for a few FP7s used for backup. Since they are just starting out there is no reason to spend the money for a top of the line loco like BLI, P2K etc. They may very well lose interest in time.

Since the OK cars aren't prototypical of much of anything, and except for the Congressional and some interline cars, PRR didn't have many "silver" cars, we are already in toy train area(nothing wrong with that) so the best bang for the buck is RTR Athearn Fs as someone already pointed out. If you really want a better engine, Stewart would be next.

Many of the locos mentioned were not used to pull passenger cars so I'm not sure why people brought them up(Fas'RF16,Cliner).

Since the OK cars are stamped aluminum and heavy, mixing them with regular Athearn cars is not a good idea because of the weight difference.

[icmr]

Sounds good to me.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[Anonymous]

Why does everyone assume YellowDesmo998 has tight curves? As for loco rcommendations the Athearn F7 would be a good start.

[David_Telesha]

Hey there,

Don't forget the NH and PRR exhanged run trough passenger cars a lot everyday - you could run a NH engine on it too. Stick with Atlas, LL Proto, and the RS-3's by Athearn RTR (but not, not an F7).

You could even add some NH cars to the train.

[nfmisso]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix

Why does everyone assume YellowDesmo998 has tight curves? As for loco rcommendations the Athearn F7 would be a good start.

Because he writes: I recently purchased a Bachman Spectrum Union Pacific train set

[rolleiman]

He Also wrote it in Aug 2004.. Doesn't appear to have been around much since..

[Anonymous]

Well i have 18" curves and run a U33C and AC4400 with no problem- Atlas engines w/ a recommended min. raidis of 22" run on 18"

[icmr]

I had a Kato SD80MAC that ran on 18" curves. The only problem was that it didnt look right.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]