Time to buy the centerpiece


railBuilderDhd

railBuilderDhd

Active Member
I’ve decided what rail line I want to model now I’m looking to buy the rolling stock and locos. What I would like to know is what experience other have had with the different brands and what to avoid. I especially want to know what to avoid when I buy my locos. I’m looking to model a more modern area for now so I’m most interested in the diesels that you find running now. I have been thinking about the fun it would be to model the 50’s so I could see an old steamer on the line as well but I want to have a more modern era for the entire layout. I don’t think it would be a problem if have a steam engine, I can still see an old steam engine running on a rail today – just for fun now and again.
 
Just in case anyone wants to know, I've decided that I’m going to model the PRR Pennsylvania Rail Road and I’m going to start my Layout in Philadelphia area on the docks.
 
If you have room, you could have a steamer run a tourist train on a separate track and still have your modern stuff for everyday ops.
 
What scale are you going? And what's your budget? There are some high line locos for every scale that are great, but things like Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Bachmann are typically decent.
 
Sorry, I forget to post the scale all the time. I'm working in HO and I want to keep price down as much as I can. I'm not collecting trains but just running them for now.
dhd
 
I'll tell ya, I've gotten some great deals on rolling stock on ebay.

Picked up a walthers 5 car articulated well car set for $25.

Don't be afraid of getting stuff with different couplers, it's pretty easy to swap to what you need.
 
railBuilderDhd said:
What about Roundhouse rolling stock cars, they any good?
Click to expand...

Some Roundhouse stuff is very good and some is really junk. The earlier the car was made, the more likely it is to be junk. They were hard to assemble, full of flash, has a zinc cast floor that were never flat, and it was almost impossible to get the trucks and coupler on straight. Newer Roundhouse cars were much better but were usually more expensive than comparable Athearn kits. Since both compnaies are now owned by Horizon Hobbies, the products are basically the same now.

You're asking a question that comes up here quite often and there's no logical answer. Every single company has made nice stuff and dogs. Even companies that generally make high quality items like Kato have made a few pooches. It's much better to ask about specific locomotives or freight cars since those of us with experience with those products can give you a straightforward answer.
 
Jim,
You are correct that i's better to be more specific on the question about something like rolling stock but being a newbie I needed a point to start from and will do my best to keep my questions more focused.
Thanks,
dhd

And Happy Holidays to everyone!
 
Well, I usually avoid the Bachmann regular series and Model Power and the like. Though the Bachmann Silver Series freight cars can be OK. But, I'm selective on those.

Athearn is a good buy. Cheap and simple, generally for the Blue Boxes. A little more expensive if you get into the Ready to Run.

Another good freight car brand is Accurail

A step up in price would be Intermountain and Walthers.

I happen to like IHC steam locomotives. I think they're a good value.

Other good locomotive brands are Walthers, Atlas, Intermountain, Stewart. They'll be a bit more pricey than the Blue Box Athearns.

Proto 2000 is just good all-around. Both for locos and freight cars. Proto 1000 are their value line, a bit less detail and less cost.

Kennedy
 
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