Ok…I’m a pretty opened minded soul until it comes to my locomotive choice…i’ve ran nothing but Athearn diesel locomotives since i got in the hobby…If you were to try and sell me a different brand of locomotive what would it be?..i need to know the low end torques, how does it respond to slow speeds and throttle changes…availability and ease of installation of detailing parts…is the other brand highly detail right from the box?..ease of cleaning? weight?.. ease of installing Kadee couplers?..what about lighting?..(Athearn lighting is horrible…there is more light in the cab than what comes through the head and rear lights)…can i install fiber optics and LED’s in the new locomotive without it interfering with motor parts?..ect…your comments and explanations would be greatly appreciated…Chuck
I think you might be trying to make too large of a leap here. Best move is to try an Atlas or Proto2000 and see how they fit your needs. The P2K are mostly Athearn clones so the mechanism will be somewhat familiar to you but Atlas locos have for less problems. Cost will probably be higher on the Atlas depending on which particular model you are looking for.
I’m a longtime Athearn owner and can tell you that the new Stewarts and Atlas units can “Spoil You”, so be careful!
With a quality powerpack these locomotives can creep along at 1-2 mph. At about 30 scale mph, I can’t even hear the motors!
The Proto 2000 are, IMHO, good units as well. Some of them may have their problems such as cracked axle housings (like Athearns). My absolute favorite Proto 2000s are the E units! Very smooth and excellent momentum.
You may be exceeding the capacitive ability of the foum where much of the opinions are based on what’s cheapest, or what was just puchased, and new and shiny.
Where talk of ‘gearing’ and torque at low speeds is met with “not fast enough” and ‘"why does my $40 ready-to-run’-car have a package of handrails THAT I have assemble"?
Some maufactures go for the better mechanical, some emphsize attractive detail , some cut the corners more than others to offer price.
I can only speak for myself. I hate engines with jerky starts and stops
I like engines that crawl to a stop like the real thingL I appreciate engines that run on ,25 amps because it takes a good mechaical design to do so - not to save electricity. I enjoy eough detail to please my eye - but not fall off. Lighting? That’s a can of worms in transition.Some engines come with CV light’s.(hooray) Some of the better engines are using a pr. of 14v incadescent bubs.
SINCE you mentioned old ATHEARN we’ can only go UPfrom there .i won’t mention any I have not bought or owned. You have my list of predjudices:
(Stewart - an uprgrade of Kato
(Kato - every new issue better
(Atlas - nudging the tirst two,
(some arguements on who’s #1
Intermountain - qualiiy line / price
Genesis - inconsisent mechanics
Athearn RTR - same
Life lIike Prroto 2000 - the new Athearn
Life Like Proto 1000 - Old Athearn competition
Bachmann Spectrum - uneven product line
Athearn ‘Blue Box’ kits – basic bargain basement
For diesels nothing beats Atlas, P2K and Kato.
Don Gibson
As always, you have a realistic, yet cool way of putting info! For me what’s ironically funny is that the Proto 2000 units represent exactly what Athearn should have done with their BlueBox line! Yet LifeLike, a company many of us used to make fun of (their trains were a joke back in the day!), beat them to the punch! My HO P2K E units and GP9 convinced me of that! Top it off, even some of the Genesis units, still have the old “BlueBox Growl”.
Guys, before you roast me, remember that I own Athearn BBs! I’m currently upgrading them one by one just so they can run as smoothly and “quietly” as my P2Ks since I’m jumping onboard the DCC wagon!
I just wanted to let you guys know that I do read your comments. I am learning from you, (and saving a lot of time and money). You guys are great teachers.
I , and others like me (newbee’s) just want to say thanks
I think a lot of it depends on what you have to work with and what you expect. I read a post on another topic where a guy wanted to know about a Bachmann loco. One guy responded by saying he was also looking at the Bachmann ($24 at Trainworld) but decided he would wait for a BLI model. I don’t know about you, but isn’t that like comparing a Yugo to a Cadillac? If you could afford the expensive, high-line stuff, why would you even think about comparing them to the bottom of the barrel? If I had the money to burn, I would probably buy BLI and the like, but since finances play a big part in most of what I do, I get P2K and Atlas on sale. I can’t compare them to anything else as I don’t know anyone that has a model rr. All I know is I am satisfied. I think that is what counts. Granted, If I were to have a $500 loco, I would probably want more, but then I don’t get my Prime Rib every night either.
…and don’t forget the Stewart F units… SWEEEEEEEEEET! (for the money).
My best running units are Life-Like GM switchers. The Life-Like GM units have motors that are similar to those in Kato locos and run just as good. They are a vast improvement over Athearn SW7s.
anymore, they’re all good. I have in front of me right now an Atlas GP-38, a set of Stewart F-units and a LL P2K GP7. All of them run smoothly and flawlessly. If I had to pick one as the best, it would probably be the Stewart, because it is the quietest of the bunch, and starts the smoothest, but they are ALL great locomotives. For that matter, drop a repower kit in your Athearn locomotive and it will be smooth as butter too.
It’s all good. [:D]
Ray out.
The Atlas locomotive is far better then the P2Ks.The P2Ks are slow and nice locomotives(I own 38 ) but there is that dang gear problem.I understand its been fixed on the newer units but,it will be a long day in hades before I buy another P2K locomotive after all Ihad to replace gears in 32 of 'em-12 GP7s,16 GP9s and 4 GP30s and that IMHO is unacceptable…[:(]
My best running loco on my layout is a regeared, repowered Athearn BB switcher. Superslow in the yard, doesn’t surge at low speeds, predictable and reliable. But, you have to weigh the time and cost of reworking engines (which you may not enjoy as I do) to the simplicity of picking up a name brand (Atlas, Kato) engine. I was astonished when I finally sprung for an “expensive” [:D] P2K switch engine and watched it compete with my Athearn switcher for the title of “slowest power in the yard” [:O]
Brakie,
Are you referring to the axle housings or the truck gears themselves? I did have to replace all of the axle housings in my P2K Seaboard Coast Line GP9, but other than that it’s a very nice looking unit. Life Like did a nice job with the body detailing.
May sound goofy, but I like leaving the cab doors open. I remember prototype SCL GP7s and SW9s running around with doors open back in the late 70s here in Tampa. It was understandable. Tampa’s temperatures hit 90+ between July and September and those crews felt it!
[;)]
From my experience Atlas and then Stewart (both of which are/were Kato powered) are the best…course you might try picking up a Broadway Limited NW-2 and see if you like sound along with fantastic running ability !! Fun to have a switcher that sounds great and has a top speed under 40 MPH.
AntonioFP45,In my case it was the gears as I replaced them with the Athearn gears.Now don’t misunderstand…I like my P2K locomotives…[:D]
As far as the doors opening…Hey I love it.Ever park a GP7/9 by the yard office with the doors open? Looks real.[:D][tup]
Antonio,
You said it.
I just picked up a new Atlas GP-38 (in the DT&I colors) This engine creeps so slow and is so quite I had to check twice to see if it is running.
Ok, here’s my two that nobody’s yet mentioned: Walthers Trainline and E R Models. The former is (I believe) still in production, the latter are found either on eBay or through LHS with old stocks. Walthers diesels are, to my mind, excellent - I think they have the best current F40PH, it has great detailing and is a good base to add even more to. I have one of these and their Dash 8, both quiet, smooth and great haulers. DCC installations are simple and they perform even better with a BEMF decoder fitted.
The E R Models locos were in fact made by Roco in Austria, so you have a great chassis with diecast frame, can motor with flywheel, smooth and quiet running with a DCC socket fitted and a headlight wired so you don’t have to add extra resistors, etc. Bodyshells are about the same quality as early Proto 1k - nice mouldings though handrails are moulded on rather than being seperate parts. They do offer two locos that few other manufacturers have covered - the Baldwin Sharknose and EMD FP7. If you can justify either of these locos on your layout then the models will not disappoint. Hope this helps!
Matt,I agree that the Walthers GP15 is a smooth runner as was the FM10-44 and SW1…I can’t speak for the other Walther’s locomotives except the GP9M…That poor locomotive quit running in about 6 months.I put the shell on a Athearn drive…NOT a job for the faint of heart or those that lack re-powering skills…
Locomotive brands is a matter of economics and personal choice. I have a variety of every manufacturer’s locomotives, some are for display purposes only cause of poor running, others are outstanding running, aka Kato, but I have hundreds of Athearns also which I have dissassembled, rewired, and balanced and they run fine also. Brass engines do not always run perfectly but they usually look fantastic on a layout, so more display stuff. Not every locomotive on the layout has to be operational. If you like something put in on the track, somewhere. Run the stuff that runs well and enjoy the rest.