Hi all!
I’m curious to know what Model Railroad Manufacturer you prefer and why, because I’m curious to try some out since I’m still kind of a newbie to the Model railroading hobby
I currently use a mix of Bachmann, Atlas, Lionel, and Scale Trains, and I’m planning on expanding my current collection to various other brands
Anything helps!
That depends on scale. HO? N?
HO and N-Scale usually is what I do
Well, in that case I’m no good because most of my equipment there is used.
I do have an N Bachmann F7; that thing was hefty (for N) and darn near indestructible. It took Emmie some time to knock it down and do some damage; the rear truck broke off and the pilot is half broken. 
I replaced the rear truck and it runs pretty well! It also wound up receiving an awful weathering job; it looks like it spent years in a scrapyard!
Hi Gabe, I generally go for Athearn Locos.
The reason for that is that when I first became interested in American Railroads (2016) my very first loco was a used Blue Box GP38-2, from a dealer at a Model Railway Ex.
It was in good condition, boxed with an exploded diagram and I was very pleased with it.
As ever my curiosity got the better of me and I stripped the whole model down and reassembled it, packing in some white-grease and Peco PL-60 ‘Power-Lube’ where required and hard-wired it, all working from web-site info.
As the saying goes, ‘first impressions are the most important’ and I think this initial experience of an American model - which was so different to British models has made me kind of loyal to Athearn.
Rolling-stock Roster can be Athearn, Roundhouse, Accurail, Atlas, Walthers, E&C Shops and a couple of Exact Rail 60’ Hi-Cubes.
Paul.
Thanks Paul, Will look into Athearn!
Buy what you need from the company that has it. If two companies have it then choose the running number you want
I would try for one ‘Ready to Roll’ and one ‘Genesis’ model in HO if you are are able and compare the two for VFM.
Paul.
I like Walthers have n problems with any of there locomotive or rolling stock
Steam or diesel? Bachmann Spectrum models are good buys for steam. In diesel, I like Athearn, Atlas and Kato. Do you want sound? Are you looking at high end stuff?
Simon
If you want to try a kit, I would suggest Accurail. They’re pretty easy and you can upgrade to metal wheels and Kadee couplers if you like.
Paul
My go to is Athearn blue box, and Roundhouse, however, I have recently purchased some Walthers Proto 2000 rolling stock and I’m really liking them for the detail and the wheelsets are great!
On brand new locos — regardless of scale — it’s a good idea to look about the length of the manufacturer’s warranty, what is covered, where you have to send it for repair and whether the warranty includes return shipping to you. I have been impressed by BLI/Broadway Limited Imports’ service. On less expensive locos, Bachmann has treated me fairly, too. I’m sure other people can chime in.
Hi Gabe,
For N scale, you’ll likely have to spread the love amoung the various manufacturers to build your fleet. Most modern (as in manufacture date, not era) stuff from them all run pretty well. Atlas and Kato always make pretty solid models that run well. They aren’t as detailed as ST or BLI, but they will last you years. I still regularly run an Atlas GP-9 from 1995. I have BLI for their Mikados and have been happy with them amd their sound. If you are buying used, I would lean toward Kato and Atlas products or do your research on the other brands. Spookshow.net is a great place to visit for honest and detailed reviews.
I’m new to HO Model Railroading as of late March.
Over the past few months I’ve purchased about 40 engines of several types on E-Bay, (including a near 70 year old Marx). Some are well used and have needed repair/rehab; others are several years, even decades old, but had never been put on a track. Basically, new units with older technology.
Here are my observations:
Older Bachmanns and Tycos are not very durable. But they’re inexpensive and when they run, look ok and perform satisfactorily.
Model Power and Lifelike seem to be a step up, but still in the same price range and look nice and run pretty smoothly.
Then you jump way up in quality to Atlas, Athearn, and Bachmann Plus.
The next level up are Con-Cor, Proto (2000), Rivarossi, and Atlas Master. The detail and operation of these units is awesome. And they are quite a bit more in cost and complexity.
Overall, in my price range, the Athearns and Atlas seem to be the best bang for the buck in both appearance and performance.
On the HO side, I have bought a bit of everything over the years.
However, most of my engines are Athearn BBs. Easy to work with and maintain. I also have a few P2K engines as well. They are reasonable units as well. Atlas yellow box (while a bit older) are also very good runners. I also have some engines that are kitbashed.
For freight cars, I have just about everything. Athearn BB and RTR, Walthers of many different categories, some Atlas red box, and a few Accurail cars. I also have quite a few kitbashes as well.
I’ve purchased about a dozen locomotives from manufacturers like Athearn, Broadway Limited, & Walthers. Each has its own benefits. Broadway Limited has some cool looking locomotives but they all sound horrible at slow speeds with the sound off. I thought it was a defect on the first one so I sent it in for warranty service. They sent it back and said that sound was normal. Turns out they are right because all three of my BLI locomotives sound bad. So I won’t buy another BLI. Walthers locomotives run good but have fewer options to change CV’s in DCC. Athearn Genesis locomotives are the best (in my opinion) because they are reliable, have lots of different options for prime mover sounds, misc. sounds like programmable reverb (to make the loco sound far away when blowing the horn) to cab chatter, and tons of other options. Plus when they run without sound they are whisper quiet and smooth.
Thanks for that, I have a few Broadway Limited locomotives but they are somewhere stored 
Locomotives: Athrearn Genesis, Rapido, Scaletrains, Bowser (newer models like Rs-3, C-630/636, SD40/40-2)
Freight Cars: Tangent, Moloco, Scaletrains, Rapido, Atlas Master Series, Some Athearn Genisis and RTR if prototype correct. Bowser.
Have been buying kits from 3D Central for cars not likely to be injected molded.
Rick Jesionowski
I’m modelling (HO) transition era (1955) Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, Central Vermont and New York Central so I’ve been draining my retirement fund on Rapido motive power and passenger cars.
Prior to Rapido really offering high quality reproductions (10 years or more ago) I preferred Proto 2000 motive power and freight cars. I also have 2 Broadway Limited steam engines (one’s a CN brass hybrid!). There’s also some Atlas motive power. All other freight is largely Athearn much of which was picked up at meets and shows and which I’ve weathered and re-trucked with Proto wheelsets and some Rapido wheels too.
Everything is Loksound DCC (running on Digitrax) and if it didn’t already have DCC (pre-Rapido stuff), I’ve either added Loksound or TCS.
Image below is a Rapido extravaganza!
