Which are the better brands

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Really wide open question that will get many different answers. Better brands in regards to detailing or running ability? I can only rate those brands that I personally have.

ScaleTrains - Great detailing and running ability
Athearn Genesis - Great detailing and running ability - Pricey
Kato - Great running ability, good detailing
Proto 2K (the older ones) - Good detailing and running ability once the axle gears are replaced with Athearn gears
Athearn RTR - Economy locos with fair detailing and generally good running ability.
Athearn Blue Box - No detailing, fair to good running ability with minimal user improvements.

There are occasional issues with the last three that I know exist, but I haven't had those issues, yet!

I have older Bachmann Spectrum and Walther's, but they populate side tracks at the engine repair facility and I no longer run them. . I do not have any Rapido, BLI, or Atlas which I believe are all reasonably good.
 
Pretty much what what Willie said. I never cared for Athearn RTR or Genesis due to being light. Kato run smooth, but I wish they put more effort in detail. Broadway limited I've had and sold off. It's their dcc system or nothing.
 


Welcome to the Group!

Willie hit most of the bullet points.

If your value conscience then look at the ScaleTrains operator line. They are much less money than the Rivet counter line. They have much less detail, but share the same drive, they also offer a detail kit you can add to bring it up to a nicely detail loco.

Walthers Mainline engines are in the same catagory, They offer the budget friendly mainline series. They use the same drive as their top shelf brand Proto 2000. They offer a detail kit as well. Both pull good, are smooth and quiet.

Atlas also offers different levels as well Sliver, Gold, and master.

I like the Intermountain units I have. They are not quite as quiet, and smooth, but they run ok. They are good pullers.
 
I’d have to go with Atlas locomotives in any scale hands down for looks, performance, and pricing.
Ive got a few ”high end” locos that give me constant grief, but that’s a whole new thread!
 
You can throw BLI in there as well I think, at least my experience with them in N Scale has been a very good one. That isn't to say that translates into HO though.
 
Just for the record - asking what are the better brands (or similar) is very much a personal point of view in most cases. What one person considers good, others may not and so on. What I am saying is you are most likely not going to get a definitive answer as there really is no definitive answer.

For example, Rico says that you can't go past atlas engines in any scale for anything - I model N Scale and I wouldn't touch an atlas engine but prefer Kato engines. So, which one of us is right? Rico or me? When it comes down to it - we are both right depending on our own experiences.

When it comes to buying engines (as opposed to rollingstock) you have to consider a few things:

1. Do you want DC or DCC or DCC with Sound?
2. What can I afford to spend on an engine?
3. What is most important to me - Looks or Reliability and Performance?
4, What makes are readily available and easily obtainable?
5. Which brands/makes have a poor or questionable reputation?
6. What is my end goal with my layout?
7. Do I want Steam or Diesel or Both?

Once you have answered those questions, then you can look at what Engines to buy and ask if anyone has had any issues with a particular engine, make and model. Sometimes it comes to down to not only the Make or Brand, but the Model and Year a particular engine was made.

All I can tell you for certain though is to buy NEW and not used, or if you do buy used, buy from someone you personally know. There are a lot of sharks in the world, especially at Train Shows just trying to rid themselves of their junk ;)
 
Are there any brands of locomotives to generally avoid? I've read elsewhere that Broadway Limited is a brand to steer away from a quality standpoint (running-wise). Sounds like there are several good brands (Scale, Walthers) out there at different price points.
 
Personally - I wouldn't waste my money on anything bachmann or model power, FVM (Fox Valley Models) just to name a few. I have had all of them (in HO when I modelled it) and NONE of them lasted more than a few days before burning out. I can say the same for all of them in N Scale as well.

As for BLI, I have 2 of their N Scale engines and had one of their HO 2-8-0 engines and they never gave me a second of trouble; although I only ran the HO 2-8-0 once and for a short time to make sure it worked okay when I first bought it. It has been on the shelf ever since.
 


I would avoid any MTH models simply because of their DCS system and inability to install other decoders. Their whole loco is proprietary so ya can't replace any lights unless they're MTH, motor or decoder.
I have an SD70Ace by MTH that just wouldn't run reliable. I decided to tear it down and install a regular sound decoder but found the motor won't respond to anything but the MTH decoder. Ya can't just replace the motor because the connection to the trucks is proprietary. Their drive shafts are unique. Same with their LEDs. Ya can't run them off a standard decoder because they are the reverse of all standard LEDs.
OK, so what I plan to do is leave the truck gearing and towers in place but cut the drive shaft off half way to the motor. Install an Athearn Genesis motor with drive shaft and cut that off to meet the MTH drive shaft. Slide several heat shrink tubings over them and heat them up to shrink tight on the shafts. I can remove the shaft then and beef up the splice joint then rebuild the loco with a Tsunami2 decoder and LEDs.
I'll be posting the progress on this project in the DCC section or maybe the locos and rolling stock section.
 
Dim.... said:
Which do you think are the better brands of locomotives, in regards to looks and reliability? Specifically HO diesels.
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As far as "better" in appearance you are not going to be able to do better than the Scale Trains "Rivet Counter" series.
Then you get into the:
Rapido
Atlas Master
Broadway Limited

Now on the most reliable and smooth running, the best aren't even made any more. That would have been the Atlas and Stewart locomotives with the Kato Drives. You will find those on the hobby store shelf next to the Dodo Birds.
For currently manufactured today it is very close as to which is "best". I go something like this:
Atlas Master
Kato
Athearn Genesis
Proto-2000 (technically they hold the world's record for longest running model train locomotive)
Rapido (however they are here for smoothness, I've not owned one long enough to have any reliability issues)

But the quality of HO locomotives is so high compared to what is used to be. I say one cannot go wrong with any of the major brands.
Atlas Classic, Bowser, BLI, Athearn RTR, InterMountain, Walthers Mainline, Atlas Trainline, and from the older Athearn Blue box and Atlas yellow box are hard to beat because they will probably be running after the apocalypse.
 
NorthTexasRailroad said:
Are there any brands of locomotives to generally avoid? I've read elsewhere that Broadway Limited is a brand to steer away from a quality standpoint (running-wise). Sounds like there are several good brands (Scale, Walthers) out there at different price points.
Click to expand...

Me personally I've never had a stich of luck with BLI. That was when i was in N scale though. I have since switched scales but have little interest in them due to their proprietary DCC decoder. If they made DCC ready units, I may give them another try.
 
migalyto said:
Me personally I've never had a stich of luck with BLI. That was when i was in N scale though. I have since switched scales but have little interest in them due to their proprietary DCC decoder. If they made DCC ready units, I may give them another try.
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What do you mean "proprietary" decoder. BLI is currently running a decoder series paragon 4 which is fully compatible with any DCC system.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
What do you mean "proprietary" decoder. BLI is currently running a decoder series paragon 4 which is fully compatible with any DCC system.
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You are right. They work with all DCC systems.

What I meant by proprietary was, it was their own decoder. It’s the only way to buy a BLI locomotive. If you don’t care for Paragon decoders, and want a BLI locomotive then there is no other option. I can’t buy one of their locomotives, without their decoders installed.
 
migalyto said:
You are right. They work with all DCC systems.

What I meant by proprietary was, it was their own decoder. It’s the only way to buy a BLI locomotive. If you don’t care for Paragon decoders, and want a BLI locomotive then there is no other option. I can’t buy one of their locomotives, without their decoders installed.
Click to expand...
OK, we're clarified there.
What doesn't the Paragon do that other decoder will do?
 
I have 2 BLI F3s.
They look good but run poorly at least in my opinion.
The lifelike i have run excellent. The funits I have not had any cracked gears, On the gp7/9s I had to replace some gears.
I have some Stewart funits, Look good, run ok.
Couple Of Atlas gp7s run ok look great need hand rails tho. The rs2 Atlas.run good run good.
I wont comment on sound as I am hard of hearing so I don't have any sound.
Mike
 


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