best loco manufacturer ho scale

[Anonymous]

I was just wonderin my favorite is atlas, i hope they make a b36-7 in Santa fe!!!

[TrainFreak409]

Broadway Limited Imports gets my vote. Now, I only wi***hey were cheaper,and had a larger selection. Maybe some turbines.


~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[cheese3]

BLI

[ChessieFan13]

After Purchasing my SD50 P2K Im sold.........the detail is great they run like tops and can pull one heck of a train..........Made a train up of my SD50 with 30 cars and on the 4 flats that I have I put a 6lb sledge hammer head........2 shakers of ballest and 2cans of coke and there were not a problem pulling all that weight....got hairy going thru the first curve so I took everything off............

[Anonymous]

Atlas. Hands down.

[Anonymous]

Id rather go through the Trouble of putting a Kato Model together than the crap of a stupid Athearn. Athearns are nothing but JUNK! The Kato is much HEAVER & more POWERFULL than an Athearn. I will never buy another athearn ever again. Kato rules!
Allan.

[Virginian]

I will not pick just one, because for me, it depends on which specific locomotive you are talking about.
N&W Class J - BLI
2-8-8-2 - P2K
4-8-2 Hvy - Bachmann
etc., etc., ad infinitum.

[Anonymous]

It's sort of funny-sad. My fav locomotive is BachmanN; not a company on your list and for my money IHC/Mehano locos (not on your list) are good value, they need a little detailing but hey! Can we even mention scratching and adding details here?? They run really well. My BEST RUNNING loco is an old Atlas RS3 with a Kato motor. So I did not vote in your poll.

[claycts]

1. Varney
2. Pacific Fast Mail
3. AHM
[:D]
I guess today Broadway is good and the Spectrums I have seem OK. A Rivarossi with some tweaking is also good.

[Anonymous]

Athearn, Kato and Atlas all the way! No one makes better detailed, smoother running plastic locomotives than these 3.

[CP5415]

Lets see, most of my fleet consists of Athearns.
42 of them at last count.
Proto is second on the list of locomotives in my fleet at 5.

So you can say that I like Athearn.

Athearn BB are inexpensive & are rugged enough that I allow my 4 year old daughter to handle them.
Can anyone say that about theit Kato's & Atlas'?

I'm not knocking the other manufacturers, don't get me wrong, they are a great asset to the hobby, they're just not my cup of tea right now.

Gordon

[UP Deano]

ATLAS!...nuff said.[8D]

[Anonymous]

You forgot my favorites IHC, and Roundhouse.
James[C):-)]

[trolleyboy]

Tuff choice. Atlas and Kato are the smoothest runners but their detail and painting tends to fall short. Proto is the best package good runners good value and superior paint and detail as compared to the atlas and Kato

[littleboom]

For my niche(affordable steam that's not total crap), Bachmann Spectrum does quite nicely. Their low-boiler ten-wheeler is one of my all-time faves.

Mike

p.s. If I could afford it, I'd have lots of BLI steam.

[Anonymous]

I like hunting out the more unusual brands - have two E R Models FP7s that are very nice runners especially under DCC (and are wired so that you don't need to fix the headlight by adding a resistor - one is factory fitted. Now if only Bachmann could do the same...). I'll admit that fine detail isn't up to Genesis standards but they're probably the best FP's available (until Roco's updated models arrive anyway). Of the more mainstream manufacturers I would have to say Proto - their locos are a good mix of reasonable pricing and decent quality - they seem to have got over the cracked axles problem on more recent releases and they're apparently willing to send new axles free of charge to those suffering from the problem. My only gripe is that the three I have were a bit lively on DC power - it was very difficult to get them to creep properly. When you fit DCC this isn't a problem but I'll admit I didn't run them as often before going DCC.

[Berk-fan284]

Go ahead and hate me , I swear by Athearn for diesels and Rivarossi for steam, because I have only had problems with the used locos that were "improved by someone else. Honorable mentions to Bachman Spectrum , Life Like Proto 1&2000 and a close tie between Kato and Broadway Imports.

[scubaterry]

I would have to say BLI and KATO as a close second. BLI with sound puts it ahead plus they have a better selection for my time period (50's) but pricey. KATO has an excellent loco but not much to offer unless you model more modern rr.
Terry

[RMax1]

I have 8 Proto 2000 E's and 1 SD-9. All are fantastic. I also have 3 Proto 1000 F's and they are very good. I've ordered an E set with sound and DCC and will be very interested to see how it compares to the BLI's. I also have the usual array of other manufactures, Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, etc. Nothing I have bought compares to the Proto 2000/1000's for quality, smooth running and over all value. Proto 1000 F to Athearn RTR or BB F it's not even close the Proto is a much better unit. The one thing I am curious about is the Genesis F drives are available seperately. I would like to take some of my shells that I have customized and use those drives if they are any good.

RMax1

[Anonymous]

Atlas by far!
Drive equal to Kato,
great body shells and DCC and sound factory installed!!!!![:D][:D][:D]

[Darth Santa Fe]

I say Bachmann is one of the best, because:
1.inexpensive diesels
2.smooth, quite running
3.they've had excellent detailing recently

[Anonymous]

Definitely Atlas, quite a few of my locomoives are Atlas.

[soumodeler]

Atlas, Proto 2000, and Athearn are my three favorites. I only have one Atlas, but by far it is my best locomotive.

soumodeler
-----------------
The Southern Serves the South!

[jxtrrx]

Atlas never disappoiints... offers the most. Kato runs as well, but asks you to get out the tweezers and attempt installing the detailing (may be fun for you, not for me -- plus I had a nightmare making a "DCC-ready" Kato accept a decoder). Athearn not as smooth running as Atlas. Stewart not as nice detail as Atlas. Now that Atlas offers factory installed QSI sound, even BLI comes in behind it. I've also had problems installing decoders in not-really-quite-DCC-ready P2ks.
-Jack

[BRAKIE]

As for me give me Athearn and Atlas..No others need apply.
BTW...Did I tell you I no long buy P2K ? Just think I use to be a big supporter of P2K till the gears started cracking.[:(!][V]

[Anonymous]

Those Kato sd90/43macs are a thing of beauty!!!!!!!![:P]