Anyone here have firsthand knowledge or experience with/of scaletrains.com Operator series of HO locomotives?
I have the Scaletrains.com SD40-3 CSX engine DCC/Sound and it runs great. Sound is realistic and has a nice start up to get going. I'm not that technical with the engine, and I've used a number of the sound functions. For the money, I like it!
thats why I was asking . They seem to be nice looking locomotives at good price
If you realize that you'd like more details on your locomotive Scaletrains.com offers a detail kit for their Operator Serie HO locomotives.Regards, Volker
dh28473In stead of buying a detail kit just buy the rivet counters model no?
The kit MSRP is $28
The price differential for the locos, at modeltrainstuff is $40-70 so there is a cost saving on doing your own detailing.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyThe price differential for the locos, at modeltrainstuff is $40-70 so there is a cost saving on doing your own detailing.
Yes and no. The Operator locos have certain parts that are of lower quality compared to the Rivet Counter models (e.g. cast plastic fans), are missing a fair amount of small lettering, and are one-size fits all, frequently not matching prototype configurations. The detail kit will not bring an Operator model to the same level as a Rivet Counter, and the additional parts, decals, and work over and above the kit can easily consume every cent saved by starting with the lower cost option.
I look at it this way - if you will be satisfied by a lower quality of appearance, but still want the excellent Scale Trains mechanism, the Operator locos can be a good choice. If you want a specific prototype that's available in Rivet Counter, the higher initial cost is probably worth it.
Rob Spangler
I didn't say buy an operator series and detail it instead of buying a rivet counter model.
I said if you have an operator model already and want more details there is a detail kit.Regards, Volker
wp8thsub BigDaddy The price differential for the locos, at modeltrainstuff is $40-70 so there is a cost saving on doing your own detailing. Yes and no. The Operator locos have certain parts that are of lower quality compared to the Rivet Counter models (e.g. cast plastic fans), are missing a fair amount of small lettering, and are one-size fits all, frequently not matching prototype configurations. The detail kit will not bring an Operator model to the same level as a Rivet Counter, and the additional parts, decals, and work over and above the kit can easily consume every cent saved by starting with the lower cost option. I look at it this way - if you will be satisfied by a lower quality of appearance, but still want the excellent Scale Trains mechanism, the Operator locos can be a good choice. If you want a specific prototype that's available in Rivet Counter, the higher initial cost is probably worth it.
BigDaddy The price differential for the locos, at modeltrainstuff is $40-70 so there is a cost saving on doing your own detailing.
And what if its not a nice ScaleTrains locomotive but an ancient BLI unit handed out as a freebee at a swap meet and dropped off a table? Just kidding... your story on that still gives me model railroader PTSD.
xboxtravis7992And what if its not a nice ScaleTrains locomotive but an ancient BLI unit handed out as a freebee at a swap meet and dropped off a table?
Well that's scary stuff indeed!
BigDaddy dh28473 In stead of buying a detail kit just buy the rivet counters model no? The kit MSRP is $28 The price differential for the locos, at modeltrainstuff is $40-70 so there is a cost saving on doing your own detailing.
dh28473 In stead of buying a detail kit just buy the rivet counters model no?
I bought an Operator CSX SD40-2 with sound because the price was very attractive (~$120, IIRC). An earlier poster mentioned they had the CSX SD40-3, which is the "Spongebob Squarecab" version and only available in the Rivet Counter series. All the Operator series are generic SD40-2s with no road-specific detailing (other than paint scheme )
I also bought the detail kit to go with it. The detail kit is a plastic bag with a bunch of unpainted plastic parts, some metal grab irons, etc. No instructions or parts list - you just have to know, or figure out, what's what and use prototype photos for reference. For now, it's just gone into my unbuilt kit stash. Too many other projects ahead of it on the list.
The operator model itself is very good quality, comparable to newer Athearn RTR. In some cases, maybe better because it includes diamond tread on the walkways. The only thing is you don't have prototype-specific details. You also don't have grab irons, coupler lift bars, etc. Certainly good enough for the 3-foot rule, though. Under the hood, the mechanism is the same as the Rivet Counter version (or so I understand), and runs very well.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
I had 3 - now 2 - Scale Trains Rivet Counter diesels, and they've all run phenomenally. Assuming they didn't re-tool the drive train, the operator series is just as good. Less detail, but very good. Just like the poster above me said.
They're just really nice and smooth running engines.