Are Life-Like Locos any good? I know it’s a simple question, but I am new to buying things and don’t want to buy junk. I was thinking about getting a Life-Like E8 and was curious about them.
Thanks
malcolm
If you’re looking at a Proto 1000/2000 they’re pretty good (in general, I don’t have that model in particular), but their non-proto stuff (if they still make it) is generally trainset quality (ie, not that great)
Life-Like sold their train line to Walthers last year. Walthers has continued these under the Proto line. Most of my engines are either Proto 1000 (P1K) or Proto 2000 (P2K) and I’ve been very happy with all of them. I have a couple of engines that were made several years ago, and were on the shelf of a discounter when I bought them. They had cracked axles (a problem common to some, but not all, Proto engines) and Walthers stood by them, sending replacement part for free. (Thumbs up to Walthers for that.)
The E-8 is most likely a Proto 2000 and is a good engine. I have one E-8 and one E-7 and both have ran well with good detailing for several years.
Rick
yes the proto 2000 loco’s are very nice and so are some of the proto 1000.i just bought two new gp 30’s by LL proto and both loco’s had cracked gears.i knew of this problem beforehand but walthers has already sent me new axles and new wheels. they run sweet now! a friend of mine has brought his e8’s over to my layout and they run very well.terry…
Thanks for all the info!
malcolm
I have 2 P2K NYC E-8’s from one of the first runs that I bought used and I love them for their detail, heft, and presence on the track. Being that I love EMD Units makes these even better.
I just recently bought 2 more with DCC and Sound on board and I am currently breaking them in. Being that they are sound equipt, there is a trade off of a few ounces of weight, but I’ll be using these to pull passenger cars so that should not be an issue.
The older set I’ve not yet converted to DCC, but when I do, they will be pulling freight cars.
Please note that Walthers just had these on sale and maybe your LHS has a few at very good prices.
Chris
I have several E8/9’S (Southern Pacific) and love them. I love the occelating lights. They are well detailed, cheap, very quiey, heavy and will pull out old tree stumps in the yard.
I have a Rock Island E8A/E7B combination that I love. Both are powered, and I put a sound decoder in the B unit. Only slight issue I had with them is the wheelsets came from the factory a little out of gauge - a little narrow. This caused them sometimes to lose power going thru turnouts. But, it was easy enough to slide the wheelsets out a little on the axles and they’ve run great ever since.
I noticed that the Proto series is very high in quality, and I have a few of the older LL locos, and they run OK, need oiled every once in a while, and the biggest flaw with them is the lack of detail, but Im sure you are looking at Protos, and although I dont have any of the locos, the other products are great!
*beegle55
I´m a N scale modeler and use only Life-Like SW1200 and I like them a lot.