There's enough threads in here about which MR companies are welcome to take the next boxcar out of town and never come back. I'm interested in the opposite of that. Which are your darlings? Which train-flavoured entity could you not live without?
I have two (aside from our gracious hosts, of course). First is Rapido. It helps that I'm a Canadian modelling CP and thus Rapido's upcoming goodies are right up my alley. Combine that with top-notch models, great customer service, and a gleeful love of all things trainy, and Rapido becomes tough to not love. Jason's got a winning formula, at least for me.
Next is Woodland Scenics. This isn't meant to be rhetorical: has any other company done more to streamline the layout building process? I won't enumerate the goodies WS has to work with; it'd fill this page. The first time I played with one of their foam inclines i was converted. Shaper Sheets only deepened the attachment.
Your turn!
Stu
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
The first two that come to my mind, Bachmann and Athearn - good quality, reasonable prices, but most of all - AVAILABILITY. They actually make trains and then sell them to you. And they both make a wide varity of ordinary, day to day, stuff - not just what is "famous" or sensational. The kind of modeling I do requires the ordinary day to day of real life.
Then there is Intermountain, great products, incredable service.
Sheldon
As someone who grew up assembling Athearn Blue Box kits on Saturday mornings, I have grown quite accustomed to Accurail kits. Yes, they have somewhat clunky details, the details or paint scheme don't always match the car type, but they are good solid cars. They are a much better alternative to me than expensive RTR cars, because I get to build them, detail them, paint them, etc... and they're only $15-20 apiece.
How about Kadee? Where would couplers be without them?
I only use Intermountain metal wheels.
Tichy has quietly amassed a very nice offering of details and parts.
And of course Atlas engines.
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.
Atlas for their track system and quality HO locomotives (I only have experience with the Master Gold series, and I would give them top marks).
BLI for their steamers. Yes, they have the odd plug or QA problems, and I wish they'd design a new tether system, but they still provide me with a way to enjoy the world of steam trains.
Woodland Scenics, Micro-Engineering, Trix for their HO locomotives that, while costly, are superb machines, and who could forget Peco and their ever-growing turnout system.
Lastly, QSI, ESU LokSound, Soundtraxx, Digitrax, and Digital Specialties.
I am unhappy that Hornby is pulling its Rivarossi brand out of the US market. I think they have a good product.
InterMountain - great product and great service
ESU Loksound - great product
NCE - great product
Kadee - you guessed it
Evergreen - scratch builder's dream
Bar Mills and Blair Line - great kits
Athearn - needs no explanation
Accurail - great value
I could go on.....
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I do standard gauge, but I tend to focus on narrowgauge (HOn3). Like most in this far-larger than many realize section of the hobby, I like building kits.
No aplogies for that, but what I really love is Blackstone motive power and rolling stock.They're not cheap, but they are also not expensive (price some non-American narrowgauge models). It's all very accurate and detailed, but there are minimum issues out of the box. To anyone who builds kits, the value of opening one up and putting it on the track is obvious.
Besides that, good stuff I use includes Sculptamold (AMACO), ME track and other track materials, Grandt Line parts and kits, LaBelle kits, NCE, Sheepscot trucks and cranes, Raggs to Riches, Banta & Crystal River structure kits, Evergreen plastics...all for now.
If we had as many experts as we do critics, we'd be seeing a lot more evidence of layouts built. Note how little overlap there is between evidence of actual modleing at any level and the gripe-of-the-day crowd. YMMV
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Bundy74 As someone who grew up assembling Athearn Blue Box kits on Saturday mornings, I have grown quite accustomed to Accurail kits. Yes, they have somewhat clunky details, the details or paint scheme don't always match the car type, but they are good solid cars. They are a much better alternative to me than expensive RTR cars, because I get to build them, detail them, paint them, etc... and they're only $15-20 apiece. How about Kadee? Where would couplers be without them?
Bundy74 Tichy has quietly amassed a very nice offering of details and parts. And of course Atlas engines.
I totally agree with those statements.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
There are lots of companies, but I think M.B. Klein ( modeltrainstuff.com ) deserves to be mentioned. Excellant prices, fast reasonable shipping, and thier real time inventory is great. Their web site is easy to find what you are looking for. I have shopped other online retailers and most of the time I get frustrated trying to find what I am looking for, and go somewhere else, usually M.B.Klein.
Atlas comes to mind and that includes Atlas/Roco Alco switchers,Atlas/Kato and Atlas China.
I'm still a big fan of Athearn BB to include Bev-Bel/Athearn cars.
Kato..I have one Kato GP35 and its a jewel.
Peco switches and Micro Engineering track.
Walthers freight cars and Corner Stone structures.
I favor Scale Trains "Operator" line of kits.
Accurail car kits
For quality detail freight cars I favor Exact Rail,Red Caboose,Intermountain and Atlas.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Why I love --Rivarossi-- and their --steam engines--
There are few manufacturers that have made a variety of plastic steam engines as large as Rivarossi's. They've been a little hit and miss over the years, but most really do run great with some care and tuning. They also often had a level of sharp detail that looked better than most any other plastic models until Bachmann and a few others finally started to step things up in the 90's. Sure, the big flanges and cab mounted motors took away from the scale appearance, but you could practically have a fleet of AHM/Rivarossi steam engines for the price of one good brass model!
_________________________________________________________________
Historically,
* PFM/United for their excellent detail and built-like-a-tank mechanisms that can be vastly improved with more modern motors.
* High quality brass importers like W&R and Challenger, who built some of my most prized models.
* Sunshine Models, for pioneering the production of resin kits representing prototypes that were unusual or not otherwise available (see below).
* Al Kalmbach, a print man and railfan who created our sponsor magazines and always insisted on the highest standards of quality in graphics, well-written text, and a general cerebral tone. These high standards were often ignored by others in the hobby press. Al gave the competition something to live up to, and his tradition continues.
Today,
* Modern diesel loco manufacturers such as Intermountain, Kato, Atlas, and others for mechanisms that are smoother, quieter, more powerful, and more reliable than those of the past.
* Resin kit producers such as Westerfield, F&C, Yarmouth, Wright Trak, Speedwitch, and others who continue to produce resin kits for those special prototype cars.
* Micro Engineering, for fine track components. If only the Code 70 standard gauge range could be expanded!
* ExactRail, Fox Valley, Bowser, Red Caboose, Intermountain, Atlas, Kadee, and others who produce some fine R-T-R equipment that has moved the standards far beyond those of the older generation of products. The detail fidelity and the operating reliability are far beyond anything our fathers ever imagined.
* Kadee, for a great variety of important products, especially their couplers.
* The NMRA, for insisting on industry wide standards that make it possible for the products of many manufacturers to operate together.
* The railroad historical societies, libraries, railroad museums, and other repositories of information, who willingly share their knowledge with us.
Tom
mlehmanIf we had as many experts as we do critics, we'd be seeing a lot more evidence of layouts built. Note how little overlap there is between evidence of actual modleing at any level and the gripe-of-the-day crowd. YMMV
Mike- truer words were never spoken.
Bachmann for their geared steam offerings, they allowed modelers to have a well running shay at a reasonable price. Also their On30 scale offerings launched another scale choice.
Soundtraxx- because they broke the path in quality sound, and forcing others to crank it up a notch.
JMRI- not a company but a group of volunteers that provide a free product, making tweaking decodes so much easier and faster.
So many others with most already mentioned. We are in the golden age.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
1.NCE
2. NMRA
3. RR-Cirkits
4. The first manufacturer to make a quality SD18 in plastic, painted for Chessie System/C&O
Tomar Industries - - great signal devices.
Rich
Alton Junction
Atlas and Kato for their smooth running and good looking engines.
Details West and Detail Associates which allow us to mimic the prototype.
Athearn and Accurail for reasonably priced freight car kits.
MRC power packs and last but not least, Woodland Scenics and Evergreen plastics.
Jim
Kadee. I am nowhere without them. Also need Tichy and Woodland Scenics.
.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Lots of good companys but the best is Woodland Scenics. They have always helped with broken or missing parts. Sometimes their ballast gets a bad rap but my entire layout is done with it with no problem. I find most of the time people are making a mistake when they have problems with this product like it floats away, ussually that means it was not pre-wet enough.
selector I am unhappy that Hornby is pulling its Rivarossi brand out of the US market. I think they have a good product.
Before I name my choices, can I ask how verified this information is? I have heard it now for weeks if not months, and there are other internet forums that talk about it, yet MR just reviewed the Rivarossi reissue of the Big Boy and their newly tooled boxcar with no mention of it. The Hornby website. to the extent I could find, makes no mention of it. Hornby had a table at November's Trainfest (which isn't cheap) so at least as of then they were still all in.
Anyway ...
I would be sad to see any of our manufacturers or suppliers disappear, even the ones I do not buy from or who are in other scales than I am, because the more there are the more it shows strength in the hobby (which matters quite a bit when a manufacturer or importer needs to go to their bank for a loan or line of credit, the mother's milk of business success these days).
But I NEED Kadee for their couplers (love their freight cars, but need the couplers). It is hard to think of any one other manufacturer who offers a product which has no practical or acceptable alternative for me.
As a scratchbuilder and kit-mingler, I'd hate to lose Tichy for their door and window castings, but there also is Grandt Line and Rix.
I'd hate to lose Walthers for their structures but there are other structures (not to mention my shelves of to be built kits, and the similar big supply at swap meets).
Kadee is essential.
Dave Nelson
As modelers we are always riding on the backs of others work to some degree. I am thankful for all the small mom and pop companies out there. Some are long gone, some still here today. Many of these people probably didn’t make much money from their hobby business but the products they created will benefit the rest of us for many years.
Old companies (just a few):
Lytler and Lytler – cool figures/people
Beaver creek Models, westside Models, Nwsl Imports– Awesome west coast small steam
OKEY Dokey Oaks – Live oak tree models – very nice
Columbia Valley Models – pretty neat structures
Yorke Kits – Awesome plaster structures (he is still around, but not much product in HO)
Current Companies - (mostly larger companies)
Rio Grande Models – very cool metal kits of unusual equipment
Silflor – excellent scenic products (esp static grass)
Blackstone, Bachmann Spectrum – modern high detail small steam
Intermountain, Red Caboose, Tichy, Sunshine, P2K – High Detail rolling stock kits
Lenz – for open sourcing DCC
If you look at this list you can see where my modeling interests lie – I think most of the posters responses so far reflect their interests as well.
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
More detail on who I cannot live without:
Couplers: Kadee
Trucks: Kadee
Paint: Scalecoat, Tamiya, Vallejo, Privateer Press, Citadel
Decals: Microscale
Decal Setting Solution: Daco
Airbrush: Paasche
Tools: Snap-On and Xacto
Keeping my old locomotives running: Northwest Short Line
Track: Not happy with anybody
Switch machines" Circuitron/Tortoise
Locomotives: I have more than I will ever need
Freight cars: Who is left? I guess Funaro and Camerlengo or Sunshine would be the choices now.
The actual layout: Home Depot
Athearn RTR locomotives and freight cars, always been a fan of the price and quality for beginners. Athearn kits are favorites.
Accurail kits for their simplicity and ease of directions.
Proto 2000 locomotives, many of my first purchases were those, and they were smooth runners.
Walthers structures and detail pieces, made it easy for me as a teenager to put things together when I was starting out.
Intermountain, excellent quality in their items.
Atlas track, cars, and locomotives, for all the same reasons as those above.
I love Boo Rim for taking the art of brass from those who came before to the next level: beautiful well detailed and amazingly painted models that run quieter than just about anything else.
PRR8259 I love Boo Rim for taking the art of brass from those who came before to the next level: beautiful well detailed and amazingly painted models that run quieter than just about anything else.
Boo Rim? I haven't heard of them before. Have to check them out ASAP.
All good answers in here. I do think I'd be remiss if I did not also mention MB Klein for the same reasons earlier mentioned. My LHS leaves a lot to be desired; ModelTrainStuff fills the gap nicely.
I like Scale Structures and Gold Medal Models for detail parts like furniture and bicycles.
City Classics structures fit my Transition Era urban modeling very well. I think the simplicity of the kits along with the quality of the castings make them ideal for customizing and adding details.
Branchline Trains makes great laser kits.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
As an N scaler, for me it would be Micro-Trains. They make great quality RTR rolling stock and their (former Kadee) coupler are the N scale standard against which all others are measured. I couldn't model nearly as well without Micro-Trains.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
Last night I was reading a Model Railroader from 1951. It made me realize that there is in fact one thing I could never live without... SUPER GLUE. Those poor guys in 1951 could not even attach wood to plastic.
So here is my final answer as the OP asked it:
I really love adhesive manufacturers and there super glue. I could not be a model railroader without it.
. . . . And lest we forget Model Rectifier Corp. (MRC), for their innovative ideas in train control. Yes, I know that there are many DCC products out there today that are perhaps better than MRC's DCC products, but, in my opinion, they did get the ball rolling on more realistic train operation.
First off I will say the miniature figures from Preiser are by far the best. Next I will say that Kadee couplers are a must. Atlas has always been a solid brand as well as Athearn and Bachmann. Walthers has some nice items as well including their model structures. And don't forget Detail Associates and Details West for superdetailing parts. And lastly Evergreen Styrene for kitbashing and scratch building.
Kadee's couplers.
Broadway Limited locomotives.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
Miss: Floquil and Poly S paint. Athearn Blue Box kits, Hi-Ball ballast, Walthers Ashland Steel Mill models.
Love: Reboxx semi scale wheels, Hi-Tech Details rubber air hoses, City Classics buildings.
Mike Habersack http://rail. habersack. com
Maryland - the land of pleasant living...