Hi all, I’m new to model railroading and am wondering what locomotives and freight cars work best.
UPBNSF1998 - Welcome to trains.com! [C):-)]
I think before folks can help they will need a bit more info such as Era…
Scale, era, radius of your curves, and the frog number of your turn outs are some facts that folks will need to know before they are able to share information from their experiences with you. For example if your interest is prototype passenger operation of the new york central and someone begins telling you about the freight cars and locomotives they use on the Ma and Pa it will not be of any value to you.
One good source of info right now is the product review section of this website which also contains videos of many of the products in action. I have often based my choice of products on the reviews contained there.
I’m planning to model modern era.
I’m going to model proto-freelanced railroad based on Union Pacific and BNSF in the Rocky Mountains.
I prefer steam locomotives and 40 foot box cars. I have some transition era diesels and like them, also.
As far as what works best, it’s like others have said, the curve radius and frog number have some bearing on how well things will work. I’ve gotten into trouble before for stating my opinions on the following: use as large a radius and as high a frog number as you can and work hard to have the track work be smooth and fair and almost any locomotive and car will work well.
On the mainline, I have gone no lower than a #6 turn-out and I’ve used 22 inch radius as the sharpest on my HO Northern Pacific layout. If I would have had room, I would have liked to have 30 inch radius as the smallest radious. Good luck and look at as many track plans as you can before settling on a design.
Before getting into all the stuff like curve radius, switch frog number, etc. (which you’ll figure out over time as you gain more modeling experience), we need to figure out what scale you’re modeling. I’m guessing you’re working in HO, since you didn’t specify, but N scale also has a great selection of contemporary era models.
Just FYI, modelers usually divide railroading into the Steam, Transition, Modern, and Contemporary eras. Steam is obvious, Transition refers to the late '40s and '50s as steam faded out and diesels took over, and Modern is traditionally the diesel-only era from the '60s onward. Contemporary is usually used to describe someone modeling the last 5 years or so. At some point, we’ll have to come up with a better breakdown of the “Modern” era, since it’s stretching out to cover a large timeframe…
Anyway, if you want to model a specific era and location, you’ll find that your options in terms of what manufacturer’s models to buy will be limited by who produced models of the prototypes you need. For diesels, I’d take a look at the following models for both UP and BNSF:
Athearn: SD70ACe, SD70M (UP only), SD70MAC (BNSF only), SD50 / SD60 (UP only, but being phased out on the prototype), SD40-2, GP38-2
Atlas: Dash 8-40CW, Dash 8-40C (UP only)
Kato: Dash 9-44CW, AC4400CW (also produced by Athearn, but the Kato model looks and runs better if you can find it for a reasonable price)
Intermountain: ES44AC, ES44DC (BNSF only)
UP runs lots of SD70ACes, SD70Ms, and ES44ACs these days - I’d say that you definitely should have those in your fleet to properly represent UP in the contemporary era. You can also add Dash 9-44CWs and AC4400CWs, but I believe those are becoming less prominent these days. Dash 8-40C/CWs were once very common on UP, so you could still have a couple mixed in. The others can be added in as you build your fleet.
BNSF also has to
I really like the life-like for N-Scale DC. I use the GP18 for high hoods and GP38 for short hoods. I have a coffee table layout so i run short trains and cannot justify a DCC conversion Being I live in eastern Va I see mostly coal trains so I run Norfolk Southern / CSX mostly. I have had good luck with the Spectrum Dash 8 and they can handle the tight radius in the coffee table
I’m modeling ho scale and thank you for your help.[:)]
What is your opinion on MTH and broadway limited imports ho locomotives?
My self, I like Proto 1000 and 2000’s for engines. Pretty much trouble free, except there was a run that the axle gears like to split. It is a easy fix.
Far as BLI, well I have not had great luck with there steam engines. But, BLI has a great support / parts department. So I cannot complain and they have have made everything right. So don’t be afraid to buy them. I have had pretty good luck with there no defunct Blue Line Engines. BLI uses very good motors and decoders.
Cuda Ken
Generally speaking, MTH runs very well and has decent detailing. BLI has better detailing but doesn’t run quite as well.
With MTH, you have to deal with the shortcomings/limitations of their DCS decoders; as it’s optimized for their DCS system. With BLI, it’s either QSI or Paragon2 decoders and can be used with any DCC system.
Both manufacturers make DC locomotives, as well.
Tom
Thank you for your help![:D]
Frankly, I think they cost too much for what you get. I know several people who buy these locos because they think they have to have the best. Then they bring them to the club and try to run them and they have all sorts of problems. So when I see that, I am not going to touch them.
My favorite locomotives are from the Bowser Executive line. They are actually Stewart locos that Bowser bought out. Atlas is next in line. The Proto 2000 line is also good. The latest Athearn diesel loco my friend bought with DCC and sound is a bit light, as not as heavy as some others. I also have some Kato N scale locos and they are really good, so I would be OK with the Kato HO types although I don’t have any.
I like MTH and BLI just fine. The remote couplers on MTH makes the radio control throttles kind of useful as you can watch closely. I think Kato is one of the best in overall quality(I would change their decoders however). Proto and Atlas are good as well. Athearn Genesis have proven to be inconsistent and a little fragile. They also haven’t done a great job with speakers on their sound units.
Richard
I model an freelance modern era railroad in N scale. My minimum radius is a generous sixteen inches so I can run any diesel that I wish. I use number 10 switches for transition from single to double track. Number sevens from the mainline to a branch, yard or siding and number fives within yards and sidings. I use my DDA40X’s as the test locomotive. If it will negotiate a curve smoothly without derailing then all of my other engines will do like wise.
For locomotives I preferr the better quality manufacturers, Atherarn, Atlas, Bachmann, Kato, Intermountain and Fox Valley Models, I have also kitbashed a number of the oldr shells onto better drives (e.g. Minitrix U28C onto a Kato SD40 drive and some Model Power RSD15’s onto Atlas C628/630 drives).
Thanks again![:)]
For your contemporary UP / BNSF modeling interests, I would probably only recommend the BLI AC6000CW (in UP) because it’s the only model of that prototype available in plastic. The only real gripe I have with the two that I own (undecorated that will be detailed and painted for CSX) is that the difference parts that make up the body shell don’t fit together very tightly, so you can see gaps in certain spots. The details on the model are pretty simple, so I want to make a number of upgrades with various aftermarket parts.
I think the detail and accuracy of the Athearn Genesis SD70ACe is far superior to the MTH model, but the Athearn models are also delicate, and the initial run had a number of quality control problems that were fortunately improved on in later runs. I don’t own one myself, but from what I’ve seen the MTH SD70ACe seems to be a decent runner with thicker but sturdier details - kind of like an HO-sized version of their larger O gauge models. If you’re not as concerned about fine details and just want a durable, reliable model, I think the MTH model would be ok.
By the way, in terms of freight cars, I’d recommend anything from Atlas or ExactRail that fits in your contemporary era, as well as Athearn’s newer Ready-to-Roll line (especially for the Coalporter coal gons that you’ll need for your area). Walthers makes lots of contemporary freight car models, but I think they’re more expensive without the finer details of those other three manufacturers. Intermountain makes great models too. If you don’t mind the prices, Tangent Scale Models offers beautiful 4-bay Bethlehem steel coal hoppers that are an exact model of UP’s very common hoppers that are still in use today.
Dave