rolling stock


lokithorjls

lokithorjls

newbie wanting to learn
are there some brands of cars that are better than others? can some one point me to the best brands? i model the 1950's mostly industry and a milk train. thank you i would like to take advantage of the knowlege here and learn from others mistakes. jerry
 
I've had good luck with the bachmann silver series, as well as atlas, bowser, athearn, kadee, and a few others. The best thing to do is look at the detail of the body of the unit to make sure you're happy with it and also that it has a good weight to it. Another thing to look for is the wheels. stay away from plastic unless you plan on changing them to metal. last but not least is the couplers. Whenever you pick up a new piece of rolling stock, if it doesn't come with kadee couplers(and most don't) pick up a pack of kadee number 5's the same time. If the unit has the older horn style couplers, I usually shy away. Definite units to stay away from are older tyco's and anything that looks like a toy with an obvious plastic looking surface.

Good Luck
 
Thank you hamltnblue. it will help to know a few brandsl. i am disabled and must do most of my buying over the internet. so it it hard toknow things like metal wheels and the "feel" of the car. any more advise would always be welcome. jerry
 
There is some great stuff available in N.
The manufacturers websites are very good as well. I would browse them first and look at the pics. What you see there is pretty much what you get. They don't doctor the pics.
 
I don't think there are really any "bad" cars out there, at least as far as recommending brands. However this is one case where "you get what you pay for".......a $10 Atlas Trainman car will not be as nice as a $20 Atlas car, so you can't just say "Atlas is great" because there are different series of cars at different quality levels....a lot depends on what you expect from your cars....there are still people out there who prefer Rapido couplers because they match what they already have, but most cars with Rapidos are at the lower end of the quality scale. Another factor that enters in is simply what you're looking for.......for example Athearn makes some nice old-time passenger cars, but no newer styles.....Bachman is the only company who makes excursion type passenger cars....sometimes you'll have no choice because only one company may make the car you want, or the company you prefer may not make the car you want. If you're looking for kits, I think Intermountain is the only company still doing them, although there are a few small companies who make shells, car sides, ect so you can build your own cars. Any car can be upgraded.......but why buy a $10 car and spend $10 on upgrades if there's a $20 car that has all the features you want....unless doing the detailing yourself is something you really enjoy (I know people like that).
 
thanks dave

i guess i am talking about better made trucks and cuplers. i am one of those that likes to scratch build things. i will be at some point trying my hand at scratch building cars. my question refers to any trouble i can avoid by avoiding brands that have a bad track record operationally.
it is good to know that you get what you pay for in cars. that is not always true in other things.
 
Personally, I like Micro-Trains and Athearn cars best, but outside of couplers there really aren't any brands that I would avoid. There are different detail levels and price points, so that might steer your choices one way or another though. In the end, everything gets Micro-Trains trucks and couplers though.

BTW, Athearn makes some nice milk cars.
 
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I've replaced a number of hornhook trucks and couplers on my rolling stock. I've found microtrains has a wide variety of good quality trucks and couplers that work great.:)
 
I have some real nice Con-Cor cars! At least their metal wheels look nice! I'll post some pic's of the CC I got's! The clunky LL and some of the cheap looking bachmann i kinda avoid!
 
These are Con-Cor cars! The bulkhead is my own paint job! dang near went stupid applying those small decals:eek: notice the metal wheels!
 
I do like Athearn products, and I am especially fond of Genesis locomotives. I own maybe 30 Athearn & Roundhouse freight cars. My only complaint is with the cars' couplers. I bought Kadee 148 Whisker couplers. When I installed them on about 12 cars last night, I got a close inspection of these cars. Again, I am not disparaging Athearn's freight cars. But the old adage of getting that for which one pays applies. I think from now on I am going to buy a lot fewer cars but of quality that will hopefully not require after-purchase attention. I am going to run down to my hobby shop in a couple hours and buy a couple Intermountain cars. More than anything I want to compare quality.


Happy Railroading,

Tom
 
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