Here they are in order,Kato"please make some more modern units" Athearn Genesis,Atlas,Intermountain,Athearn RTR,Proto 2000,BLI,MTH.
I’d re-ordered them as follows for HO.
Athearn Genesis
Kato
Atlas
Intermountain
Athearn RTR
Proto 2000
BLI
MTH
KATO used to be #1, but they have really dropped back in terms of production. Lots of people have complained about the quality of the paint jobs in the past and the hand rails being too thick. Mostly they only make modern wide cabs now. Now and then they offer an older diesel like the F40PH or something. Generally KATO’s have always been tops for smooth running characteristicis but they have been slow to keep up with the state-of-the-art. Other companies like Atlas and Athearn Genesis have passed KATO by. KATO has made very little for pre-1990’s modelers in the past 5 or so years.
Athearn Genesis has taken the lead, generally announcing about 3 new diesels a year and following many prototype specific details - they are pricey but you get what you pay for.
Atlas has always been in the top one or two spots for quality, but Atlas has struggled to recover from the recession and loss of chinese factory capacity, so IMO, they have dropped down a bit from their former glory. Hopefully they will recover in the next year or two.
Intermountain has produced a lot of diesels. I’ve never owned any but read a great deal of comments by those on forums who have bought them. They have produced SD40-2’s and Canadian versions, as well as some wide cab modern diesels and more recently some GP’s. Some have complained about the quality of the Intermountain diesels, and the steam Cab Forwards have have some major issues over the 1st and 2nd runs.
As mentioned, Athearn RTR varies from the old F7’s are based on the old Athearn/Globe crude shell with a nice paint job and solid bb mechanism - not DCC ready - to highly detailed DCC models like the SD45T-2 and SD40-2. They vary in detail and features - some being very basic like t
I’m strictly an HO man.
In the old DC days, my vote for diesels would go to Atlas, hands down. Great runners. Never had a problem with one. Atlas seems to always be playing catch up as far as their DCC offerings. The few DCC Atlas engines I have came DCC ready. I don’t have any Atlas engines with factory decoders and sound.
Most of my fleet is either Proto 2000 or BLI Paragon and I have steam and diesel from both. Walthers narrowly gets my vote as #1. BLI would probably have gotten my vote but they have quality control issues. I’ve had way too many problems than one should expect from a high end locomotive, both electronic and mechanical. Call me old fashioned but I think when you pay a premium price, you have a right to expect quality in return and I just don’t think I get that consistently from BLI.
I have only a few Athearn DCC, but I’ve not been impressed with them. Not great runners. Sound is not great either.
Not sure which you have owned then. My two Genesis GP9 run very smooth and the RTR SD45’s that I’ve run, run as good as KATO’s.
When people say they aren’t impressed with Athearn, they need to say which ones so people don’t get the impression that the whole brand is crap, because that is far from the truth. Like any brand, they’ve had a few duds, and the earlier days QAQC problems were still fairly prevelant. In the last 5-8 years of production, things have steadily improved, especially in the running department.
Fair enough. My first Athearn DCC was a non-sound Mikado. Ran OK, not great. Not a lot of pulling power as compared to a couple other Mikes on my roster. I’d put it in the same class as Spectrum, which is also in the good, not great category. My most recent addition is a Geep. It tends to stall at slow speeds. The sound is pathetics as compared to what other manufacturers are offering. I also have a AB set of F3s. They are the best of the bunch but I have been unable to change the factory address from 0003 to the road number, even though I have a PowerPax booster that is supposed to handle the high end decoders. They are the only locos I’ve had from any manufacturer where that has been an issue.
I’m glad you’ve been happy with your Athearn locos, but I can only rate them based on my experience with them and that has no
Until a couple of weeks ago, I would have enthusiastically endorsed Proto engines from Walthers. I’ve got quite a fleet of them, and I like them all. But, the most recent one, on “advance order” for the better part of a year and delayed 2 or three time beyond its original date, has been a disappointment. The engine looks fine and mostly runs well, but when I took it from the box several parts fell off the shell. One truck sideframe came with broken pins, so it would not stay on. The front headlight goes back and forth from full brightness to dim randomly, and I’m suspicious that one of the trucks isn’t picking up power on one side. Finally, the front coupler seems too short, so that the pilot hits the coupler attached to rolling stock and causes derailments.
This is just poor quality control. I hope they get their act together, because there is too much of that going around already.
This is my single biggest gripe with this hobby in general. It’s one thing when you buy economy line and don’t get a great product. The problem is that it is all too common even with the high end stuff. When you buy top of the line, you expect quality in return. I think one reason this problem exists is that we as consumers are too willing accept this as the norm. If I buy an appliance or a power tool and it has a flaw in it right out of the box, it’s going back in the box and back to the store for a refund or replacement. But for some reason in this hobby, we feel it is up to us to tweak a flawed product to make it work right. Ready-to-run all too often means ready-to-tinker-with. Not all companies are guilty. Some have outstanding quality control. But there are far too many that are charging top dollar and aren’t delivering quality in return.
Agreed…When older release run better then the newest releases something went South in a hurry.
My few older LL P2K GP9 and GP38-2 run as smooth as silk as does my Atlas yellow box,red box and Classic.My lone Trainman GP39-2 runs just as well as my other Atlas engines.
My Bachman S4 and GE 70 Tonner are smooth runners as well.
I have several Athearn RTR that has given me great service…One SW1500 had to have the handrails replace.I bought several Athearn RTR cars that had a stirrup laying in the car’s tray, one had three out of its four stirrups laying it’s tray…
Pains me to say that…I’ve been a long time loyal customer of Athearn.
You are lucky their every time it hapend to me the model had to go back to the LHS,the part was lost.The last LPG tankcars from Genesis one was missing the cut levers on both ends and Athearn has no replacements.
Which Geep? Geeps could be GP35, GP40-2, GP38-2, GP9. Is the sound MRC or Tsunami? Athearn discontinued MRC because it was pathetic. When Athearn engines were purchased matters a lot. Experience is valid, but lets be sure that experience isn’t going to throw a brand under the buss because it was from a period when Athearns track record was more spotty. Personlly, I don’t think your experience represents the brand well. I say that because I combine the experience of many others I talked to and read about on forums and overall, it is MUCH more positive.
I have to give it to Broadway Limited. My Y6b’s are stump pullers. Between their heavy all metal construction, traction tires, excelent sound and low speed opperation have won me over. I also love my A class from them as well. I was shocked when my A was double headed behind my Y6 and the A hit a spot of dirty track, she stalled. However, my Y6 kept going, pulling the stalled A class with traction tires and 60 hoppers like nothing was back there. After she dragged the A for a few inches, the A fired back up. I am also a fan of their E units and J class steamers. I have not been able to put more than 70-80 cars behind my Y6 when she is solo, so I don’t know what her maximum train length is, but I am sure it is well over the prototypical 100 coal cars for a single Y6b. I also suppose I have been lucky, as I have not had an issue with my BLI stuff right out of the box. Only had one problem, my Blueline A class killed the sound card about a year ago (but I had run it for months before it stopped working), and BLI fixed it and upgraded it to Paragon 2 at no cost to me.
My second favorite set of engines are the Athearn’s. Especially love my SD40T-2’s in D&RGW. Athough it is a tie for me at second place, I also like the Intermountain locomotives as well.
I’m DC and about 95% steam, and due to the railroad I mainly model (D&RGW), almost by necessity, my roster is mostly brass imports. The diesels I do have (F-3’s) are Genesis, and they’ve proven to be smooth, powerful, quiet and trouble-free. For non-brass steam, I have two Genesis steamers–a Rio Grande L-97 4-6-6-4 and an SP MT-4 4-8-2, and I’m very happy with them. I’ve had the Challenger about 10 years, the MT about 5, and with generous run time for both, I’ve had absolutely no problems. I do have several Bachmann Spectrums–2-8-0, 2-10-0 and 4-8-2, and again, no problems at all.
I did have a fleet of BLI’s when they first came out–mainly for the sound, but that fascination didn’t last too long, and besides, being dual-mode (DC/DCC) locomotives, I couldn’t run them with the majority of my straight DC roster, so I sold most of them. I had no problems with them while I had them, but it came down to a matter of compatability. I still have one Pennsy 2-10-4 that I run occasionally, and it is a monster, a nice runner and an impressive hauler.
Tom
edit: nevermind, misread post.
Katsumi, hands down.
Tenshodo - but you have to pay a surcharge for the name. (Their main business is jewelry and their main store is on the Ginza, the most expensive street in Tokyo.)
Of course, my requirements don’t include ANY of the above, since I model in HOj (1:80 scale) and don’t run any unmodified North American prototypes.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
And that “you get want you pay for” depends on the roll of the QC dice.You may get a great model or a soddy model…You have read the topics and seen the photos just like I have.
When a once loyal customer decides its much safer to buy a older LL P2K SCL GP9 instead of a Genesis SCL GP9 or perfers a RTR GP38-2 over a Genesis GP38-2 due to QC issues its a sad day.
I will take a Atlas or a older LL P2K engine any day over a Genesis.
Since my reply post on this thread on Friday eve I’ve gone back to read some of the other responses. I rated for myself, Athearn BB as the best locomotives…at least from my own experience. There are many model brands out there that I have yet to own and assess…current Atlas, MTH, BLI, and Proto 2000 just to mention a few.
Since Athearn has discontinued the BB models I have been searching high and low to find them in the models I want. I just don’t do Ebay. Anyway. Here is why I carry so much faith in BB.
In 1979-1980 I developed a fond interest in the iron ore railroads in Minnesota and decided to start modeling the DMIR. I bought 2 Athearn SD9’s and some MDC ore jennies from…get this, ‘Hobbies For Men’. How many remember that mail order outfit in Beacon, NY. I later found a third SD9 at a train show not long after. Painted and decaled them in the old DMIR scheme. Then I went on to ballast each to the hilt with lead. I only had enough space to shroud each motor with a layered cardstock jacket to protect the body in the event of a motor meltdown. One night at a friend’s house we did a weight on the three together…just shy of 5 lbs. I laughed…he cringed.
So to make a long story short. I ran absolutely obscenely heavy trains with the three and ran them abusively hard.
On the friend’s layout that had a 10 amp PS, I was spiking 7 amps at times with them…4-5 amps continuous.
Almost 35 years later, I still have the three. Minus the added weight, they still run extremely well with all original equipment and the paint and decals I applied in 1980.
Thought I would toss in this little story as a testament to the Athearn BB durability.
Okay…I’m done.
Have a good day all
Mark H
I too have read the responses & can’t say I’m suprised. I do like my Athearn BB locos…I’ve had quite a few over the years. They are quite durable, easy to work on, reasonably priced, and even though they were discontinued parts are still readily available. I know there are many nicer, more expensive locomotives out there but with the old BB you get a pretty good bang for your buck. I will say, however, the stock wheels on these units leave alot to be desired.
As long as you have earplugs, their OK.
However, upgrading one to have sound also means you have to replace the motor, flywheels, driveshafts and wheels to get one that you can hear the sounds you want. Why not start with a better unit because your “bang for the buck” just went pop!
For me, Atlas, Kato and Intermountain top my list, pretty much a 3 way tie
followed closely by Proto 2000
Stewart
Bachmann Spectrum
Lima (awesome C-420s)
Mantua (steam only)
Bowser/Penn line
Bachmann Plus
Athearn BB
I personally have shied away from BLI, Genesis and MTH because of the horror stories expressed here and elsewhere about the quality control and poor customer service.
Athearn BB was good for the pre-DCC era. Obviously if you are still running a DC layout, they will still do the job. Compared with the detail on the newer locos, they don’t stack up well. I had lots of Athearn BB on my old layout and got good service from them. My one big gripe was the loco pockets, especially on the F-units. Hornhooks were the standard back then but if you wanted to replace them with a KD, good luck.
As I was planning my latest DCC layout, Trainworld had a blowout clearance on Athearn BB F-units. I bought a number of them, not caring about the livery since I planned to repaint them for my freelanced layout anyway. My first effort at painting these was pretty poor and about that time manufacturers started coming out with factory DCC and sound and also much better detail so I ditched all those old Athearn BBs and decided to just reletter some factory painted locos instead. Much easier than painting the whole body. If you think you might be interested, let me know. If you want a specific prototype, I probably don’t have what you want but if you are into doing your own paint scheme, maybe we can work something out.