What does everyone have against lifelike?

[Tracklayer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by alexander13

i take it that the only problems with lifelike stuff is the locos. does that mean that the track, switches, rolling stock,etc is all fine (from a technical point of view at least?

I have nothing against Life Like rolling stock or transformers. As a matter of fact I own and run a number of their box cars that I've never had any problems with. I also have one of their old transformers that I still use that works as well as it did when it was new.

Tracklayer

[hdtvnut]

[:D]

Lifelike has made some cheap models in the past. But this is not
what I base my opinion on at all. They have made some of the the
best HO steam engine models ever to hit the market. The 2-8-8-2,
0-6-0 and 0-8-0 Heritage engines I have (2 each) in various road
names are the quietest and smoothest slow-running, compared to my
BLI's and Bachmanns. They have very nice detailing and look as good
or better than anything out there, including brass (my LL Berkshire
is, on the other hand, only an average runner).

My BLI and Bachmann steam (15 total) mostly look good, but I sure
would like to be able to put certain of their shells on some Lifelike
mechanisms!

I also have some LL E7's and E8/9's which run well and look OK, as
well as some smaller diesels.

So I don't know what people are referring to if they are dissing LL,
but I'll argue for the Proto 2000/Heritage locos any time.

You want trouble? Buy a Lionel Challenger (overweight, badly made
drive), an Athearn Genesis 4-6-2 (gear that cracks), or a BLI
Mountain (ragged low-speed, noisy). I'm sure not all are bad, but
I wouldn't buy any more.

Hal

[Anonymous]

i take it that the only problems with lifelike stuff is the locos. does that mean that the track, switches, rolling stock,etc is all fine (from a technical point of view at least?

[Tracklayer]

Why do I persoanlly have it in for Life Like ?. Go out and look in the junk drawer of my train room and you'll see why... Every Life Like loco I've ever owned (except for the higher end types) ran real real well for about a month or so, then kicked the bucket. I've tried taking them completely apart, cleaning them and oiling them with little or no positive results.

Like you, when I first got into the hobby I was attracted to them because of their price, but I finally learned the hard way that it's better to pay twice the price for a good loco that you can count on than to pay half the price for one that you can't. And don't even get me started about Bachmann's.

Good luck to you alexander13. You'll need it...

Tracklayer

[Anonymous]

Yes, redgrey62, 1 am talking about the trainset stuff, and i am not at the more expensive level, so i take it that you aside from the realisim level dom't have any big problems with them. i am aware that the expensive sets hace alot of realisim, but i am on a very tight budget.

[Anonymous]

i think the topic starter is talking about "train set" models (P2K is very, very expensive ) the train-set models (which cost about $30 for a loco) are junk- they have a tiny motor that only drives one truck, they have high-pitched gear noise , they run rough- i'm on a VERY tight budget and i only buy more expensive stuff (athearn, atlas, ect.) a used Athearn can be had for $20 and they're 100 times the loco that L-L is- Athearn has a large motor w/ dual flywheels and it drives all the wheels and they're quieter than L-L
alexander13 please tell us what you're reffering to- Life-Like "train-set", Life-Like PROTO 1000, or Life-Like PROTO 2000 - P2K and P1K are quite good.

[RedGrey62]

Lifelike has 3 distinct lines, Trainset, Proto 1000 and Proto 2000. I have had nothing but good things to say about the Proto 2000 stuff, I only have a couple of Proto 1000 itmes but I am satisfied with it as well. The trainset stuff may be what you're hearing about. It is very inexpensive, the quality control is not as high, nor is the accuracy. You are correct, Lifelike and Tyco (Mantua) probably has gotten alot of kids, including myself, into the hobby. Its just that after you start getting into the other lines and manufacturers, its easy to look down upon the trainset quality stuff.

Rick

[SpaceMouse]

I don't know what others have against them, but I bought 3 P2K locos all of which had problems. I fixed one of them but the toher two I sent back to LL. They sent them back unfixed and lost the two decoders that were in them. They refused to replace the decoders.

[Anonymous]

Is it just me or does everyone have something to say about lifelike that is not good. all too often i have heard them being described as cheap. as a young modeller i aspire to the expensive models but just can't afford them. i am not saying that they aren't without their faults, but if it wasn't for lifelike ALOT of kids wouldn't be in the hobby. i have not found any problem with them, so could someone clue me in as to why everyone hates lifelike? as i said i know that they are not without their faults, but why is everyone "paying them out"?