I hear you, but in the long run, you will be a lot happier for having done so.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Rich
I highly recommand Atlas, Kato or Walthers Proto 2 K locomotives…
I was one who advised against brass in your other thread, but leave it for now. Start running trains.
You will discover ways to improve your track plan, once you have a train up and running. Good judgement comes from the experience of bad judgement.
Hello All,
It seems that you have made some decisions based on haste and wanting to get something, anything, up and running as soon as possible.
These decisions have caused frustration, delays, and loss of money.
I am truly sorry to hear about your steep learning curve.
Here is some advice that you might not want to hear…
Before you commit track to benchwork and more money to dead-ends some things to consider:
- First, define the budget you have for this hobby; both time and money, you can realistically spend now. As others have commented, sometimes buying cheap is not inexpensive.
- Second, realistically determine how much space you have. I’d love to have an around the room pike but “She who must be obeyed” decreed that I can have a 4’x8’ on the bed in the spare computer-/bed-/train-room.
- Third, consider why you want this pike…
- Do you just want to run trains, authenticity over interest?
- Are you fascinated by a particular industry, place, time?
- Do you enjoy modeling?
Take some time and consider this…
John Allen the “Wizzard Of Monterey” on planning:
"A model railroad should probably start with a concept. Why? Because much knowledge about railroading, experience in model railroading, and thought are required before a pro
BIG DADDY, loved your statement: " Good judgement comes from the experience of bad judgement." and its true.
jjdamnit, thank you for your detailed analysis…Makes sense… Most of your suggestions have been placed on my short list…I’ll post below a summary of my current thoughts too. Sincere thanks.
OK almost ready to squeeze the trigger and place the order…
Currently, I’m thinking to buy a Diesel in one of these 4 brands:ATLAS, Walthers,Bowser,or Bachman (although I have 3 older Bachmans in this original lot).
If you have any further thoughts, please chime in. I plan to order late tomorrow or Wed Am through “Trains & stuff”. Again, thank you all
Going by what I have experience of the 4 you mention, I’d go with Atlas. And get some NS track. Brass is ok, but NS is better.
Mike.
jjo,
I would choose Atlas then Bowser. It depends what you are looking at for the Walthers or Bachmann.
Tom
Hello All,
Yes, older generations of Bachmann motive power lacked in many ways- -even in the pre-DCC era.
Bachmann’s recent locomotives; dare I say- -even the steamers- -are relatively inexpensive, reliable and, in my opinion a good value, despite the limitations of their non-sound decoders.
Their service department is excellent, even when your loco is out of warranty.
Hope this helps.
Shy away from the Atlas RS3 in the YELLOW BOX. I would not think an upto date mailorder location would sell one of these (NIB) at this date in time. The couplers were attached to the PLASTIC PILOT AND WALKWAY, and this design would flex, also these early models had cast on grab irons. But you never know what could be sitting on a dusty shelf for what you may think is a good low price for an Atlas brand model and somebody wants to get rid of it.
On the other hand the Atlas RS3 in the BLACK BOX has plastic pilots and walkway and a cast metal frame with a coupler pocket, making this a good solid platform for the couplers. This model also had separately applied grab irons.
Anyway an RS1 or RS3 has better visabilty for the crew going in reverse over a F7 or F9.
OP
This is very easy. Go to the Trainworld site, search on diesel engines. Anything above $49.99 is fine for a beginner.
Or does anyone find any duds in that lot?
And stay with your brass track in the meantime. You may to clean more frequently but otherwise it is fine.
Good luck!
Bagal
I have three of these Atlas/Kato RS-3s and the couplers has given me zero problems over the years… I highly recommend them since these can be found at train shows for around $35-45.00. A great bargain and a great locomotive for beginners.
I was going to suggest Atlas yellow box locos found on Ebay, but I don’t think the OP wants to deal with any of that, where many of us would jump on’em. [:-,]
The same with Athearn BB locos.
I picked up an Atlas/Kato YB loco a few days ago for a song. The thing has hardly been out of the box. It runs like my new Katos, flawlessly!
He wants new, after the burn he got on his last purchase.
I think Bagal’s idea of going to a well known on line store, find what he wants, and purchasing it seems to be a good way to go.
As the OP’s modeling experience grows, he’ll learn how out to find the “good stuff” on auction sites, and train shows, and such.
Mike.
Mike, I fully agree there is a learning curve that comes with experience and when that experience comes you know what brands to buy and those not to buy.
Experience will also teach you some of the older locomotives is still a good buy. I love my older Atlas/Kato, Atlas Classics, Life Like P2K and yup my BB engines. They may not be up to today’s so called “standards” but,they’re still nice locomotives.
All good choices. As mentioned earlier, you should pick a roadname that will become your RR theme. Many choose a road that goes (went) through their home town. Do you like freight? Passenger? Cities? Prairies? Oil industries? … You have homework do to - it’s a fun part of the hobby.
BTW: don’t throw away your old locos. Some might be somewhat reparable or become decoys for a new paintbrush!
Simon
Hello All,
I don’t know if you’ve “pulled the trigger” yet but one last thought on the class of locomotive.
Until you get your track 100% I would not go too small on your choice.
Smaller switchers, which tend to be less expensive than the 4-axle road units, can be unreliable over dirty sections of track and through the non-powered frogs of turnouts (the “X” section of the turnout in the center).
This class of small switchers include the 44-ton, 70-ton, SWs, NWs, TRs, and MPs.
One exception would be the Walthers Plymouth ML-8 switcher. This particular unit has a “keep-alive” device built onto the factory installed Printed Circuit Board (PCB) decoder.
This little unit pulls like a champ, has good top-end speed and is on sale now at Walthers. The only downside to this unit is it is DCC only.
Hope this helps.
This is in another thread but I will shorten. Placing order today was hard: Went online today to get the new HO Diesel locomotive…Sticking with my top 4: Atlas, Bachman, Walthers and Bowser…Had to back off…Hard to correlate the info gained here with actual specs, model number, detail etc. so I could order…Here’s my confusions:
Several Locomotives (diesel) said needs 16V to operate properly. My Railpower 1300 power unit is 15V?
I was looking for 4 axle diesel. Many appear to me to be 6 or more. Maybe I’m not defining axle correctly? (1 axle for each pair of wheels/tires?)
The Model number, specs do not match up with the specs I was looking for (no 6 axle, Atlas RS3,Bachman GP 7, 9, 39, 40 and Sd 70,Atlas 38-2 etc)…Hard to translate/match into the specs/descriptions on the various web sites…
Sorry… My newbie status showing…Thought it’d be easy to order. Don’t want to order the wrong loco…You guys gave me good, useful advice and I want to use it…THANK YOU, in advance. A bit confused,
Most DC HO locomotives operate on 12 volts. Operating DCC units with sound on DC will take more to start up the sound. But if you purchase a DC locomotive (your MRC pack), you will be fine. And yes 4 axle is 1 axle for each pair of wheels. Most six axle locomotives will not handle 18" radius curves very well.
4 axle locomotives will start with a GP, such as GP38, GP40, GP20, etc., and 6 axles locomotives will be SD60, SD40-2, SD45, etc.
4 axles locomotives will also have BB trucks, a 6 axle will have a CC trucks.
With Alcos, they are a little different, GENERALLY, Alco RS units are BB trucks, or 4 axle locos, and RSC locos are CC trucks, or 6 axle locos. There are other variations on Alco locos.
Switch engines will 4 axle, and have an SW, like SW1500, SW12, or SW7.
Steam locomotives will have wheel designations, like 2-4-0, 4-6-4, 2-8-0, etc.
What is it you want to buy? a 4 axle (GP), a 6 axle (SD), or a steam locomotive? or a switcher (SW) ?
Those are 4 axle locos.
That is a 6 axle loco.
That is a GP38-2, a 4 axle loco.
What model numbers and specs are confusing you? Post them for us to see, and help.
Mike.