I have been lead to believe that Atlas, Athren, and Kato are about the best Locos in N scale. What about the others? What are yor opinions of what are good and what are bad?
I also made a post along the same line but for N scale rolling stock… Thanks. Mike
Intermountain & Lifelike (Walthers) are pretty good too. I have several LL loco’s made after 1998 and they run nearly as smoothly as my Atlas locos. Of course I run DC, so if you run in DCC, you have to be careful about how truely DCC freindly LL loco’s are. I hear it varies by unit.
I also hear the latest Bachmann offerings (within the past couple of years) are pretty good - particularly their steam locos.
Con-cor is always iffy.
Here’s a great reference for N-scale locos: http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/locos.html
Mike,The Wathers/LL GP18,GP20,GP38,EMD Switchers and newer locomotives are smooth running locomotives- very similar to like Atlas,Kato and Athearn.
Just be sure any new Walthers/LL locomotives you buy has dual flywheels,heavy metal chassis and split frame mechanism…These have the body mounted couplers unlike the cheaper former LL locomotives that has truck mounted couplers.
now in my own thread i was talking about my little coffee table scenic Ry. layout idea using a Bachmann North American 4-4-0 and one guy said it’s most likely crap and the another guy basically said i should casterate myself for buying the Bach, and think of using a Bach power pack. i bought it at Hobby Town, it can’t be too old. when i get home today i’ll look for some kind of manufactor date. i have nothing to run on it, but so far the only thing i don’t care for is the extremely unrealistic couplers, but was sticking with Bachmann for this idea and as far as i can tell at the least all Bachmann rolling stock comes with the matching coupler.
I just got a Bachmann Northern 4-8-4 and it runs great on test track. I wish that Broadway Limited made more steam locos with sound. Are there any N scale that come with sound out of the box?
I’m staying outta’ this one.
If you stick with Atlas and Kato you won’t be disappointed.
Nothing else comes close.
The smaller the layout, the smaller the engine should be. Kato NW-2’s are great for small layouts.
pc
So you will know.
You will need to scroll down the page but,you will see the simlar design.
Here’s The Walthers/LL drive.
http://www.nscalesupply.com/Lif/LIF-LocomotiveALCO-RS2.html
The Atlas,Atlas/Trainman drive.
http://www.nscalesupply.com/ATL/ATL-TM-GP15-1.html
The Kato drive.
http://www.nscalesupply.com/KAt/KAT-LocomotiveEMDSD70M.html
The Athearn drive
http://www.nscalesupply.com/ATH/ATH-EMD-SD70M.html
Sorry I was unable to find a IM drive picture.[:(]
I am told it follows the same design.
Now understand, I run steam, so my knowledge of the “D” word loco’s is limited. From the little I’ve seen on friends layouts, Atlas and Kato are winners in the “D” word world.
As for steam, the Kato Mikado is still the cream of the crop.
Hot on it’s heels is the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0. The Bachmann heavy mountain is also an excellent loco, with the light mountain being a good one too, though the axle blocks on the traction tire’d wheelset need to be rotated 90 degrees for it to really pull best. When it comes to Bachmann, the Spectrum line is generally very good, and the standard line is being improved mechanically, but cosmetically they still need some work to be up to snuff. You can tell the ones that have been mechanically updated because they have blackened drivers and side rods. If they’re still chrome, pass it on by.
Lifelike makes some good steamers, but they’re a real bear to put a decoder into if you need to go that route.
Model Power makes some nice runners, but they don’t haul much without the traction tire upgrade…which they’ve been sold out of for eons.
Athearn makes some real jems, but many can’t use them due to being 1890’s designs…too bad, because they’re sweet runners.
Con-Cor is pretty much old school stuff for the most part, but the 2-10-2 is a good runner, as is the Hudson.
Atlas has two steamers that they’ve had on the market in the last few years. Too bad, because both the Shay and the late 19th century 2-6-0 are real winners.
Thats all I know about.
It really boils down to what you’re looking for. If you want steam, Bachmann Spectrum is among the best (the 4-4-0 is decidedly NOT a Spectrum) but if you want diesels, Bachmann Spectrum is best to be avoided. Quality can be spotty from Bachmann regardless, so always try before you buy.
If you’re looking for a reliable diesel that’s available in a wide variety of paint schemes, you can’t do better than Atlas. They offer a wider variety of locomotive styles and road names than any other manufacturer, bar none. They are also the only manufacturer currently offering on-board DCC (although Bachmann just introduced a tiny 44- ton switcher with DCC, not sure if it’s in stores yet)Others, including Intermountain and Kato, offer DCC-friendly drives, but you have to add your own chip.
If you want passenger trains, you’re going to be looking for Kato, and perhaps Life Like. They both offer E units and Alco PA’s for passenger service.
If you want F units, Intermountain makes a very good product. Their delivery schedule has been a little spotty, but they are worth the wait, and the offer a wide array of paint schemes. Some will argue that Kato’s F’s are superior in looks and performance, but when you only release limited runs of Santa Fe and Union Pacific every 20 years…they get a little hard to come by… Bachmann Spectrum F’s can be had for a reasonable price, but again, caveat emptor.
For an exhaustive look at every N scale locomotive ever released, including brass, check out the Spookshow N Scale Locomotive Encyclopedia site. One of the best resources for locomotive reviews out there. He’s thorough, honest, opiniated, and really fun to read, too.
Lee