Sorry I can't...have a second nib Challenger, other road number, not sure I can afford to keep it. Just running the one for now.
John
I don't remember Overland doing the WM H-9 in HO. I painted 2 in O scale for a fellow in Houston though and they were gorgeous. I have several of the H9 imported by Oriental Ltd. and also PFM. The Oriental came factory painted and the PFM's were all naked brass. Wanna buy an Oriental model?
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
I will always regret not picking up an Overland 2-8-0 WM...was into diseasels at the time they were plentiful and cheap.
Both runs were Samhongsa models. The 1st run was very smooth and the 2nd run was just as nice. The 2nd run featured better details plus they did the J-1 unstreamlined version also.
Key and Overland also did them but I have no experience with them. Both were much, much higher in price than either Sunset version.
Roger--
Interesting. Who made those Sunsets?
My best runner ever is a PSC/Boo Rim Rock Island 2-8-2, currently in Montana with David Long for minor but professional paint touch up before final sale on Ebay...dont really want to sell but the Genesis Challenger will make it more bearable, and runs nearly as well.
Worst was either the Mint Key M64 Northern whose valve gear started falling off while it ran, or Das Supergrowlen, the PFM Crown DRGW M75 4-8-2 I once got from John Glaab that had never been run by anybody in the US, and was truly mint in every way.
In over 55 years of modeling the best running non-brass engine I have ever bought was my Life Like Proto 2000 USRA 0-6-0. Next are my Spectrum Russian 2-10-0's. The best running brass engines are my Sunset 1st & 2nd run Norfolk & Western J and J-1 4-8-4's. Little gold Swiss watches!
My favorites are my Overland Western Maryland H-8 2-8-0's and my Oriental Ltd. WM K-2 4-6-2's.
The absolute worst steam engine I've ever seen was the FED/NWSL Cotton Belt 4-4-2. Just a waste of a good brass box!
I had a Genesis USRA Mikado about 15-years ago and aside tweaking it to get to run without derailling on my club's layout (tweaks were easy, and the club's track hadn't been the best quality). And a split axle gear which they fixed pretty quickly back then, I liked it a lot and had been impressed with the smooth running even at low speeds. It did not pull to bad either, 40-cars on level track presented no problems for it.
My current steam collection is all BLI. Three Pennsy K4s, a Paragon1 and Paragon2 that I converted over to TCS-Wow decoders, and a Paragon2 with the OEM decoder. I also have two Reading T1s, a P2 and P3. I initially liked P2 more then P3 soundwise, but in recent times I've started to like the sounds a little better, and the running qualities significantly better. And considering for how much they go for, they're not a bad value if Reading T1s are what one likes. The P3 model I've found runs considerably more smoothly and starts at a crawl on speed-step 1 which seems quite appropriate for a model who's prototype had been used in heavy freight service. Mine has traction tires and easily pulls 60-car trains on my current club's layout without problem. I don't run the smoke units in either of the T1s, so I cannot comment on how good they are.
Sorry to hear about the local baseball politics, those can always be a real killjoy, and make life more difficult.
Alvie
Hello all.
What do you think are the best operating steam engines more or less readily available in HO? This could include limited releases still available on Ebay or at shows, like for example the Bachmann EM-1 2-8-8-4, which can be found out there.
I am not on some personal agenda here so please don't read more into this. My son did not get much baseball playing time this year (local politics), so now the oldest will need to play travel baseball to get more playing time, which will cost money. I have sold all my brass models and all hybrids except my son's engine...and am selling more expensive rolling stock too.
Being a huge Rio Grande articulated fan, as a replacement for the engines leaving, I ordered a recent run brand new in box Athearn Genesis L-97 (diverted from UP order) 4-6-6-4. It is actually wonderful...runs great, does not accumulate track dirt on tender wheels like some other engines, and the sound never cuts out. I particularly like the metal handrails that stay in position, and the lighted numberboards.
So what steam have you liked recently? Or not, and why or why not??
P.S. I have had premature plating wear, with excessive dirt and metal plating dust buildup on my mostly Kato and very smooth rails with some other makes of HO steam (not the brass). If the wheels are wearing, the plating gunk ends up on tender wheels destroying power pickup and dcc sound operation. Maybe for you things are different, but that is my experience. I do not and have not had that experience with any Genesis steam power--for me they have been very good.