Favorite Locomotive purchase

[mustanggt]

Mine is definitely my Athearn RTR santa fe GP60M. put in a decoder, runs beutifully. but my new favorite will be 2 atlas guilford GP40's. can't resist modeling my native railroad[;)]

[Anonymous]

My very first Locomotive was a CNW GP50 #5053.(which I no longer own)"Athearn".

[ckape]

Well, last week I finally got to test run this RPP SD90 I'm building with a PPW motor, and I was amazed at how slow I could get it to move. At one point I could only tell it was moving by looking at the distance change between the anticlimber and the ties.

That was very satisfying, especially considering how long I've been working on this project. Plus, now that I've got the body primed it looks even larger, which I didn't think was possible.

[CP5415]

Hmm, tough to call, but if I had to choose, it would have to be my
Proto 2000 D&H PA #17

Gordon

[Anonymous]

I've done real good on Ebay lately. Bought a Stewart Northern Pacific Baldwin VO-1000 switcher for $37.00! This kits asking price is $112.00! I also just bought an Atlas RS-1 for $66.00. Not as goog as the VO-1000, but still way under MSRP!

[BRAKIE]

While I am highly please with all of my locomotives I gotta go with my Athearn CF7s.Simply put I always wanted some CF7s.[:D]

[Anonymous]

I would have to say my Mantua (Tyco) 462 steamer. It run very smooth and never gives me a problem.

[SSW9389]

I was walking around the NMRA show in Lexington, KY last year and this dealer had a pile of brass Krauss-Maffei hood units in various states of repair. I usually tour the whole show to see what is on offer before buying anything. You just never know what bargains are to be had at a show. Anyway I came back to the dealer and struck up a conversation with him. Seems these Overland models had been trashed and he had rescued them. For twenty cents on the retail dollar I walked out with a model that needed some cosmetic care, but had a bullet proof tank drive. You just never know!

[Anonymous]

That would probably have to be the LGB G scale start set I bought last November - one of their Stainz 0-4-0s, a hopper, and a cement mixer car. All good, loco is superb, and I'm planning to buy another set this year (the sets are priced the same as the loco would be on its own, so with the one I'm looking at I'll basically get a free crane and a couple of free flatcars with it, to say nothing of the track and controller!).

[Anonymous]

Kato HO EMD SD70MAC BNSF9838.
Retail Price:101.99.

[sparkingbolt]

I'm gonna take 2 on this subject. This I think overrides the above experience, as neat as it was, except I didn't purchase the following loco myself.

In 1986 I was dropping some not so subtle hints to my wife (of 5 years then) about an MDC 2-6-0 that I wanted to 'bash into a 4-4-0 following an article in Model Railroader, using a shortened Mantua 2-6-0 boiler.

I didn't think she'd really respond. She didn't act interested. I gave up, figured she'd forget. She really surprised me with it for our anniversary. When I finally finished it I numbered 86 for the year she bought it. That makes it my favorite locomotive. We both still enjoy the memory. Dan

[sparkingbolt]

Athearn GP-35 in 1976. Finally a loco that didn't strip gears out like the tyco's before it, and the size of the motor and gears! And those twin flywheels! Only sixteen bucks...

Lost 'er in a fire in '97 but found and won one on eBay just like it, chunky metal truck side frames and cast white metal flywheels and all. Only changed the couplers and wheels. That's how it's gonna stay. Great memories. Cool topic. Dan

[boomer5344]

For recently purchased power, I would have to say my Spectrum N 2-8-0 and 4-8-2, I have
ordered several more !

For all time it would have to be a MTH O ga ATSF 4-8-4 , I got back into trains in 1998 and this was the start. I set up track all over the house and ran this for weeks!

[Anonymous]

Front Range Geeps when I first saw them in February 1988. Certainly not the highest quality or best running, but their scale width hoods were impossible to resist - this is what finally brought me back into the hobby after a 15-year 'sabbatical.' I had always been frustrated by the fat hoods on those Athearn geeps. Eventually I wound up buying several P2K and Atlas geeps, but my 'rangers' still sit in my engine terminal.

[PistolPete]

My newest one, a Kato NW2 in BN green. Great running at slow speeds.

[Anonymous]

What a question! Like 'em all!! But in thinking about these further - my favorite would have to be a N Scale Aurora postage stamp 0-6-0 engine (not a tank engine - but no tender). Got it at 1/2 price at 2 Guys (anyone from NJ remember that?). I realize now that the thing was not to any prototype, had these HUGE rapido couplers front and rear (but it was the only steam loco with couplers on both sides) and really only had two speeds - on and off. But I loved that engine!! I was probably around 8 at the time and boy did I have a fun time running that around and around - I was convinced that if it had wings it could fly! Yeah - that engine is/was special!

[dragenrider]

Of course, my favorite loco is always the last one I just purchased! [;)]

In this case, I have my first P2K GP-9 on my work bench fresh out of the paint shop. It is awaiting decals and detail parts before joining the motive power of the Cedar Branch and Western.

In my excitement, I've put a hold on finishing a P2K switcher, two 70 tonners needing decals, and an Athearn GP-9 with a simple wheel gear slip. Sorry guys! I'll get to you first of next year...[:P]

[darth9x9]

ANY Atlas Master Series locos. There is no better for the price and quality.

[the-big-blow]

The time hasn't come yet but it will in December when I take delivery of my two 3 unit Turbines from Overland Models.

[Anonymous]

My most exciting was my very first, a Mantua 0-4-0T from a kit. I've certainly had better loco's since then, but that little loco was like a first love, maybe not the best, but certainly the best remembered. That locomotive, a used MRC power supply, 1 length of flex track, and a couple of Silver Streak kits are what got me started over forty years ago. The loco is long gone now, but I keep hoping someday to find an unbuilt kit. I still have the Silver Streak cars and would like to re-create this first train.

Cliff

[railman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

My Proto 2000 E7s. Heavy, smooth running, with mars light action.

[#ditto]

[AntonioFP45]

My Proto 2000 E7s. Heavy, smooth running, with mars light action.

[Anonymous]

For me it is my Kato GP-35. I sat in awe for hours as it ran around the layout. I left it undecorated for a year because I was afraid to mess with it. I couldn't believe the quality difference between it and my Athearn blue box GP-35. The LED lights really captured my attention.

It now lives as Chessie C&O 3520. I'm looking for another to paint in B&O blue.

[Fergmiester]

It's a toss up between my Allegheny, FEF-3 and P2K C&O Kanawha 2-8-4. But when all is said and done I'd go with the 2-8-4 as it runns the smoothest and slowest. It will be the first of the three to go DCC.

[Pruitt]

My most exciting purchase was my first brass loco - a PFM Great Northern H6 Pacific in Glacier Park paint.

My best purchase was the two BLI heavy Mikes.

[Hawks05]

probably my P2K GP60 in NS colors. bought it off ebay last week monday, got it this monday, the thing runs so smooth and quiet. the only way i can tell that its running is when its strung to some cars and they cross the turnout. otherwise i probably wouldn't hear it at all.

[winks147]

The Mich-Cal Shay #2 by PFM. It was my first HO shay, I still have it, and I still marvel over its Swiss watch precision like running and construction. I am addicted to geared engines and many have come and gone, but this one remains.
Kevin

[Roadtrp]

It would have to be my Kato Amtrak P42 Genesis. I love Amtrak passenger trains, and this locomotive was the first 'quality' locomotive I'd ever purchased.

[:)]

[bogp40]

My favorite would be P2K 's Chessie/ C&O SD-50 it is the only six axle Chessie I have!
--------------------
Now all you need is the other C&O and the B&O to triple your pleasure. Don't forget GP-40s galore.

[joecool1212]

Right now its CSX SD80 By Kato. Not only is it the nicest looking in my collection it is so smooth and quiet, and you cant beet the cool blue head light. Joe A.