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Newbie question: What brand has the best detailed locomotives
Hi All!
Not only am I new to the train hobby but also relatively new to the USA.
I grew up in the Netherlands until I was 39 and then emigrated to Oregon.
As a result of that I know some European brands such as Fleischman, Marklin, Roco, Lima etc..
But here, in the US..I have no clue of what is what really!
I found that I like Athearn, especially the Genesis line, but is there more worthwhile?
Is there a difference in older and newer production of brands?
Here is what I want and want to know:
I do not have a lay out. For the time being my locomotives are for display purposes only.
I need them to be as detailed and realistic as possible in HO Scale, yet as a true Dutchman I do not want to pay much more than $100 for a...let's say an SD40 or SD70.
I have heard about brands like Kato, Bachman, Lionel, Proto and Atlas.
Also something called "Brass".
Which ones are good in regard to external detail?
Brass is a material of which the engine is made--as opposed to the most common plastic. There tends to be more variety and detail in brass, but you pay a lot more--like $700-$200 per engine.
For under $100 without sound Atlas is a good buy. Good detail and smooth runner. I like it better than Athearn.
I like Broadway but it tend s to run around $150 on special with sound and DCC. Bachman is decent on steam, but what I've seen with diesels isn't there yet. Kato runs well, but the are slipping in the competition for fine details.
Look also at Proto 2000 in closeout for bargains under $100--but make sure you get the more recent releases as the older Proto 2000's can have some defects.
It's getting tougher and tougher to find a really well detailed engine for less than $100. I don't know of any Athearn Genesis engines that are under $100 unless you pick up one on sale. Atlas straight DC engines can still be had for near $100 and are very well detailed. Bowser also makes some nice models than can sometimes be found for near $100. Proto 2000 engines have mostly moved above the $100 price range for current production although older versions can be found for less, especially on e-bay. As Chip said, some of the older version have cracked gear problems but the problem is easily fixed and you can pick up some good deals from modelers who don't want to mess with the engine. As far as I know, both Lionel and MTH only make steam engines that are priced far beyond $100. Broadway Limited makes nice engines but their list prices is quite high. You can sometimes pick up discontinued models for around $100 from their factory outlet. There are five listed at http://factorydirecttrains.com/search.aspx?low=50.00&high=99.99&log=false&category=204 for less than $100 right now. Bachmann makes decent diesel models. They are not as well detailed as some other brands but still not spartan looking and the price is hard to beat since they have many engines with DCC on board for less than $100. Brass engines are beautiful works of art but most of them cost somewhere around the Dutch GDP in price.
Welcome to the US and I hope you have some good model railroading experiences while you're here.
You can find bargains in DC Genesis engines for about USD$70 on ebay and at places like modeltrainstuff, hogtrainz, and such. Their diesels set the standard for details (MO), but we could quibble about the drives. I have an Atlas Gold Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster H24-66 with QSI sound decoder that is a very nice runner and nicely detailed. Proto 2000 diesels are also darned nice, and you can still shop around for DCC/sound bargains. They'll have a QSI in them as well. Buy a DC version for less than 38% in some cases and install either the new Quantum A or a Tsunami GN.
I hear that Kato engines have excellent drives, but they can't compare very favourably with Genesis when it comes to accuracy in the trucks, for example. They are also getting increasingly scarce in the HO Scale. Kato seems to be paying more attention to N at the moment.
Stewart engines are nothing to sneeze at, either. They have a strong following, and for a good reason.
For about $100 you will likely be getting locomotives with no sound capabilities. Anything made by Atlas is generally well detailed, runs great, and is of consistent quality. To make it simple for you, you could just stick with that brand and never go wrong. New Proto's, in the grey box, are generally similar to Atlas. Older Protos in the blue or gold box are very well detailed and run smoothly, but have hit and miss quality records. A few bad apples with easily fixable defects spoiled the reputation of that brand in many eyes. You seem to already like the Genesis line of Athearn. Athearn's RTR line is a step down from the three previously mentioned brands in performance, in my opinion, but the RTR's are easily under $100 and have well detailed shells.
Kato, Stewart, and some of the others have good products but have fewer selections than Atlas, Proto, and Athearn.
Don't overlook the used locomotive market when searching for bargains. Since I've gotten back to railroading again I've been to 4 train shows and have come across quite a lot of them. Just a guess that most are being sold because the owners have moved up to DCC or prefer the latest state of the art offerings with all the added details. I keep an eye out for the older Atlas / Kato engines since they had acceptable detail and ran extremely well. These are easy to spot by picking them up and seeing Kato Japan on the bottoms of the truck frames. The old blue box Athearns can be either good or not. Some of the ones I have ran silky smooth right out of the box and others I'd be kind if I simply called them jerk and jump growlers. It could be a gamble as to how a used unit runs or doesn't however there is often someone at a show with a test track.
If you don't need all the latest in electronics and super details you can do pretty well for less money.
I need them to be as detailed and realistic as possible in HO Scale, yet as a true Dutchman I do not want to pay much more than $100 for a...let's say an SD40 or SD70.
I have heard about brands like Kato, Bachman, Lionel, Proto and Atlas.
Also something called "Brass".
Which ones are good in regard to external detail?
Hi Frans, and welcome to the forums.
Now that you've emigrated into the melting pot of the world I would suggest you try something different if possible. Rather than concentrate on your $100.00 price tag, consider buying less and higher quality. There's nothing wrong with holding off until you can acquire an Atlas or Athearn Genesis or even better, an upcoming MTH SD70Ace which is due out any time now http://www.mthhotrains.com/models/SD70ACe.asp. (Those will be about $225.00) Your display will be much better. Detail is what you say is most important and that brings a higher expense. For detail it's buy less but better quality. Also note that the higher detailed engines are typically offered new in limited quantities, so when you have a specific Loco that you like you have to watch the websites and plan ahead if you want them new. Atlas will do a run for a few months and then discontinue for instance.
Good Luck.
