Jim,I ran two LL P2K GP9s during the week of the country fair for two hours a day with no issues. My Atlas and Athearn BB ran the other hours.
Having seen how some modelers run their engines makes me wonder what was the real cause. I also know many modelers look down their noses at P2K locomotives like they are trainset Bachman,Tyco or older BB…
For all out constant running, not my choice for power BTW, is Mantua. This is the loco of choice for Northlanz. I had asked them some years ago, why not Stewart/ kato, Proto or Atlas, thier diesels run on DC loops or simple reversing track powered by banks of MRC. They are bought in bulk and are fairly inexpenive for the thousands of continuous operation on the display. Not sure if this is the type of engine you are looking for. All other replys of the Atlas, Proto, even Athearn BB are more my choice. My findings would be the Stewart/ Kato (not readily available these days, but many still out there). A club member kept his ABBA F7s on the Conway Scenic HO layout for constant running of the display. They were the most reliable engines ever run on the layout. Would buy spare drives for any repair/ replacement of any unit that would start to fail. Thousands of hours of continuous running before any gear noise or issues. I feel that any Atlas GP or proto would perform the same.
Also, since this is an unattended layout and I can only assume it’s not overly large, I would stick with four axle diesels and 40-50 foot cars. Athearn RTR or Atlas Trainman would probably be the best balance between reliability and price.
Don’t shoot the messenger, take it up with Joe (at MRH Magazine) he seems to be a very long-term experience runner. And to be fair, Joe was reporting his experiences with long-term running of LL P2K diesels, like regular use over years of running, which is a different situation than two weeks. I mentioned it because it really seems relevant to the OP’s question.
Remember the guy at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry train layout who used to post on Atlas forums. Now that guy did ultimate stress testing and he could tell you what held up and what didn’t! Those trains ran day in and day out at the museum.
Mantua or Mehano for steam. They’re dead simple to work on, and seem to run forever.
For diesels, I’d go with Athearn or Bachmann, simply because they offer replacement parts. I’ve had good experiences with Walthers engines lasting seemingly forever too, but I don’t know what their parts department is like.
While I agree with what most have said, I would limit the choices to any thing Kato or Atlas China. On both of these the variations model to model are less and well used models measure in the standard variation of the newer models. Just remember lemons grow anywhere.
Rather than planning on continuous cleaning the track, I would use a little graphite. If you do a google search you will find instructions on how to apply it. A little is all that is needed. People who regularly do shows highly recommend it.
Larry
My only experience with Athearn RTR is with their RS3s. I have two and neither one is particularly smooth because of poor pickup.
As far a
I’ve not heard very good things about the Athearn RTR RS3 either. I think the “take-away” from this topic is that sometimes you can’t rely on a brand alone, since in Athearn’s case there is variablity within the RTR line - some pretty good, some spotty or not so good.
Atlas generally is a sure bet for their engines, pretty much all excellent.
The Stewart/Kato F drive is one sweet purring kitty!
My first true loco is an Athearn SD45 and love the reliability. The brand depends a lot less on the type of loco you’re looking to run. Since you want to run one continually, why not call a train musuem that has a live display to ask what they use?
One of my first, if not first Athearn diesels was also the SD45. Wabac when I was 14, and living in northern California of 1973, I wanted a Southern Pacific SD45 for Christmas; these were bread and butter diesels passing through my home town of Davis California and on to Sacramento and over Donner pass. My mother, ever manipulative (even to this day at age 83) was trying to teach me to hold my fork the right way and holding the SD45 hostage as an incentive. I did get it for Christmas, it was the old blue box fat nose SD45 in bloody nose red and gray but I was pleased. Over time I noticed the nose did’t look right and later learned the nose and hood were cast wider than the real thing to accomodate the early motors.
The RTR SD45 of today is based on the Rail Power Products shell, which is scale width and looks better than the old blue box shell. The RPP shell is/was crude by todays tooling standards, but Athearn did quite a bit of upgrading in the area’s that are most noticable, such as the cab, nose, roof etc. The long hood still maintains the RPP door latch detail but over with all the prototypical features added by Athearn, the RTR SD45’s looks pretty good - correct snow plow, gyra light package, and much more. Maybe some day they will retool it like they did the SD40R (below) and it will be a truly awsome model:
I would say Kato. My Stewart/Kato engines are over 20 years old and have never given me any problems. Very low maintenance too. Clean and lube every 3-4 years.
Remember to lube the drive shaft u-joints too, not just the gear boxes.