I don’t like the the electric or motors on any locos I have, kinda cheap shit, must be why people were willing to give them to me lol Gonna have to look for what I can afford…
Ok, glad you realize that. I never want to speak too despairingly of anyone's equipment. Sometimes it is all they can afford or are treasures from childhood.
What I am trying to avoid is getting a loco introduced after 1990 on the UP line, looking for like GP 38, 40 at the latest from the looks of it…. Does anyone recommend one brand over the rest? Should I go DCC equipped, ready, or install decoder myself?
Atlas, Kato, InterMountain, and Athearn Genesis are going to be your top brands.
Walthers Proto, Broadway Limited(BLI), Athearn ready to roll (RTR) will be next.
Then is the Walthers Train Line, Atlas Trainmaster, Bachmann Spectrum & Silverline stuff
then to avoid is the straight up Lifelike, and Bachmann
There are many other brands both current and through the years that fit in somewhere in that profile. AHM/Rivarossi being a big one near the bottom of the list, Tyco of course near the bottom. Athearn Blue Box & Roundhouse would be in the middle. Stewart, Bowser, toward the top.
Installation yourself, totally depends. Sometimes installation is open the unit, pull a plug, plug in decoder and done. Other times there is soldering and cutting and changing lightbulbs etc. So for a beginner probably pre-installed.