Now that I am 99% over the cheap LL, Tyco and Bachman stuff I have been buying Athearn you bulid it rolling stock. Normaly I can pick up a 50 foot box car from K-10 trains between $5.95 to $6.45, he has cars that is a little more but I am cheap.
Today I stared looking around a little more and found some Round House cars in the same prices range and some Atlas car’s as well.
For the best bang for your buck, what do you buy? I picked up a Athearn 50’ SD Box car for $6.45 and seems like a fair prices to me.
Is Conrail the right name for a maker? I think it is a RR as well. Reason I ask K-10 has some passangers cars with a name like what I listed for only $9.00. I all most bought one, but deecided that some off set Kadde couplers, washers and another pack of # 5’s would be of more use.
Atlas “Trainman” stuff is great value, we will just forget about that musical advertisement[xx(]. Its Atlas quality stuff, a little less detailed than a standard atlas but still better than a Athearn, Roundhouse, etc. Plus they come with proper weight, metal wheels and knuckle couplers.
You need to decide whether you would rather support your hobby shop or get great deals. If you look on the internet, very often you can find engines and rolling stock 50% off. But again your LHS gets no money from that.
I have oodles of Athearn and Roundhouse rolling stock. I change wheelsets to metal and put Kadee couplers on them, and they still cost less than other brands.
Too much stuff today is R-T-R instead of kits, but I did receive an e-mail from Athearn today announcing their Blue Box rolling stock production schedule for 2006-07, and it contains quite a lot.
Under $10 the best is Athearn BB or the few remaing MDC/Roundhouse kits. Although, the paint on some MDC kits, especially the older ones, is a little hokey looking.
Between $10 and $15 - I like Bowser and Accurail kits. Branchline’s Yardmaster series kits are good too.
My fleet is primary Athearn BB and MDC/Roundhouse kits. I’m slowly upgrading my fleet to Bowser, Accurail, and Branchline.
Buying cheaper stuff and detailing and upgrading it is what I do, like chaning the wheels and Kadee couplers, and weathering and maybe ladders, brake wheels, grab handles, etc. Sometimes I save, sometimes I don’t and eBay is great as well. (Keep in mind that my LHS is 50 miles away…)
Conrail (the Railroad) did have a business/inspection train of pullman green passenger cars but I don’t know whether Concor (the model manufacturer) ever produced them. Concor does produce decently priced models though.
[^][^] That and Train shows and estate sales. I bought 50 cars (varney, ahm, walthers, atherns, silver streak and lionel) for $65.00 at an estate sale.
If you want stuff right out of the box, Atlas Trainman is the way to go, they are $10-$12 (not too sure but, since i live in Aus) If you like building kits, Athearn BB kits, Accu-rail, Roundhouse can all be had for under $10 The trainman line has a few different cars in it, Covered hopper, Gondola, 3 Bay coal hopper and Boxcar Also I’ve seen Athearn RTR boxcars etc for as low as 12.50 in MR i think it was Trainworld. Personally, I have a mix between Athearn BB, RTR Atlas ($$ line) and Trainman.
Personally, I like the Accurail boxcars and hopper kits. I think they are a great value for the $$$. The braking detail underneath is a bit spartan but the shell itself if nicely detailed. IMO, the wood end and wooden boxcars are exceptional. Price range: $9-11.
Agree on the Athearn RTR boxcars. A little more in cost but the grabirons are already attached. Nice looking untis. Bowser and Branchline are at the upper limit of the cutoff price but are nicely detailed. (Branchline: “Yardmaster” Series - good. “Blueprint” Series - NICE!) If you hunt around, you can even find Proto 2000 kits in the $10-12 price range.
Look at all the advice above then start looking around. Trains shows have been a great source of bargains for me. I model the Old West so pickings are often slim, but I have bought a lot of Roundhouse kits in the $3-5 range at train shows. eBay can be good as well as long as you watch the shipping. Make sure you stick to products you know and try to buy in lots or deal with sellers that will combine shipping.
Ken, I like kits. I get a great amount of pleasure and satisfaction from the assembly process. I find the Athearn BB kits to be too basic for me to get much enjoyment out of them. The more detailed kits are better value, even though they cost a little more. (Assembly time = fun time, it it takes longer and is more challenging it is better value)
K-10 has a decent selection of Accurail, and P2K kits. They are a little more than the Athearn kits. You have already found the roundhouse kits that K-10 has left. These are old stock and will not be coming back as the Roundhouse line is now all R to R.
Of the R to R models, Atlas makes the best IMO, but you are always going to pay more for R toR.
The Con Cor passenger cars are not all that great.
I prefer kits myself - in that price range I can get Branchline and P2K. Neither are ‘beginner’ kits - you should start with Athearn kits, move up to Accurail, then maybe the Branchline Yardmasters (which which better detail than Athearn or Accurail but not much more difficult to assemble), and then consider tackling a P2K or Branchline Blueprint. Stay away from P2K tank cars until you have a LOT of experience - even so I had a heck of time with my first P2K tank car. After three of them though - I can put them together in a couple hours.
I generally look for whoever has a car that fits my need, I have plenty of Accurail hoppers because I need hoppers and Accurail makes a nice 55 tonner that fits my era, and is reasonably correct. The trick to making them work right is metal wheels and removing all the Kadee knockoff couplers and using real Kadees.
I agree completely with Randy in regard to his assessment of kit manufacturers and their difficulty level. I can vouch for the Proto 2000 tank cars. I think one was my 3rd kit, after a couple of Accurail box cars. BIG difference. Took me close to 8 hrs. to figure out the directions, cut parts, and assemble correctly. Having had no real former knowledge of tank cars AT ALL, it was an education as well as an exercise. Like Randy, I can now put one together in less than 1/2 that time. (Not quite 2 hours - more like 3+. I work pretty meticulously.) They sure make a beautiful product though. The Branchline “Blueprint” Series boxcars are in the same league and detail as the Proto 2000s but not quite as difficult as as the P2Ks tank cars.
I also agree with going with metal wheels. ALL of my rolling stock are outfitted with them, they roll very nicely, and they don’t degrade and dirty my track like plastic tends to do. I’m still working on the couplers though.
On the Athearn Kits, These basically snapped together, I bought 5 from my LHS about 3 years ago and managed to assemble 3 of them in the car on the way home the other two i did in about 10 minutes, they are that simple.
I haven’t had the pleasure of Assembling Accu-rail, branchline or P2K kits as they are really hard to come by here, although there is 5 tank car kits from P2K sitting at the LHS…hmmmm
I like building kits as it is very rewarding to say after assembling it, “I built that” it satisfies something inside.
Thanks for the answer folks, on the supporting my LHS, that is a must. You folks have been great with the help I have needed to get to where I am and that is not saying much.
But there is only so much you can learn from the web, sometimes you need 1 on 1 help and that is what K-10 Trains gives me, plus he gives me left over stuff for free. Nothing super cool, but better than what I have.
As many of you know I have a bunch of cheap stuff. I am cutting the Horn Hooks off the cheap LL, Tyco and Bachman cars and installing Kaddes # 5’s. I asked him how much for the coupler boxes I need to do this. Ken just looked at me and said “follow me” and took me to his work station. Open a tool box tray and handed me 50 of them! Asked him how much and said “there yours”.
I have been up grading the wheels as well, only so many PK 2 wheels sets I can afford at one time. He sells me Atlas and Athearns wheels he has pulled off his and other people Rolling Stock for a prices I won’t list.
Finaly blow why I will buy from K-10 over a inter net company! My self with no wood working skills or tools and want to make the jump to a adult board. If I supply the lumber, he will cut and help me bulid the bench work!
I will look at the other rolling stock you folks spoke of at K-10, not that I will not watch E-bay for steals. But most of the listings are for more with shipping than buying at K-10.
As far as buliding the cars, I do enjoy it to a point but I think BB Athearns are at the skill level I need to be for now. With tuning the trucks, checking wheels, weighting and added weight, installing Kaddess, and assambley I take around a hour a car but not in hurry at all.