I don’t know much about Spectrum locos. Are these a good buy? I recently got a 2-10-0 decapod for $46, a 4-6-0 for $53, and a K4 Pacific for $50 at auction new in the box from the Ebay retailer thefavoritespot in Texas. I know they are good guys from the sales of diesels to me. They are Bachmann dealers and offer full warranties etc.
I think I got a good deal as the nearest online retailer is $20+ more for each of these.
I’ve bought from that seller before and wish I had piles of money lying around so I could get more. They have about the best prices I’ve encountered out there on Ebay for Spectrum stuff, and they treat you well with good delivery as I recall. Those prices are probably about as good as you’re going to get unless you get really lucky, and for the money those Spectrum steamers are good little engines if not overly strong pullers.
Jim
I think the Spectrum steam engines are among the best currently on the maket place,
The detail is very good and they pull quite well for their size. Remember these engines do not have traction tires so you will see as the weight varies so does their pulling power.
They have received good reviews from Model Railroader which you can read on this web site if you are a subscriber.
Only problem is that there does seem to be a number of proplem/dud engines. However, should their be a problem the manufacturer is quick to replace/repair the engines.
I have a number of these engines and rate them higher than my Heritage engines and about the same as my BLI engines.
I just purchased my first Spectum steam loco, a 4-8-2 with sound from Trainworld. I love it. It has good detail and the Tsunami sound it great. My only problem is the sound is out of sinc with the loco. It starts chuffing way before it starts moving. Im running DC right now, I hope this problem disappears when I go DCC.
Yes, Santa Fe, this rate can be adjusted in a couple of ways once you get into DCC. It can be set quite close to realitic wheel rotation in a matter of a minute or so…although it won’t be corrected/won’t disappear by itself, once you move to a DCC system. It is just one of dozens of settings you will be able to change with the flexibility that DCC offers.