Pro and cons about manufacturers (newbie's question!!!)

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi,

I’m new to this hobby. I’ve been a modeler for the last 25 years and lately, I was thinking to get involved in this new hobby for a change.

I’m trying to find out, which manufacturers offer the best quality in term of locomotive and rolling stocks. I’m not really familiar with all the manufacturers involved this hobby. The scale i’m interested in is HO.

When I was painting figures, I knew which manufacturers offered the best quality in term of details, variety of subject, scales, etc… Was the same for static models. Best manufacturers for cars, planes tanks, boat, submarines.

Now I’m trying to figure out which are the good manufacturers and what would be their strenghs and weakness for different aspect of this hobby.

Exemple: I always thought that Atlas was the best for their tracks. Bachmanns have good quality and a lot of models to offer in HO scale. But I could be wrong.

Anyway that what I’m trying to figure that out. So, all the people out there, who are involved in this hobby, I would like to hear from you, which manufacturers you prefer for locomotive, rolling stock, accessories, DCC, tracks, etc…

This will help me to select the right manufacturers without knowing where to begin.

I haven’t bought anything yet for my next project, but I would love to start building it soon.

Thanks for helping the new guy!!!

Clarence

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It is all about what you look for. I do both n scale and ho scale and the manufacturers i buy is about the same.

First you need to consider the railroad you want to model. I say this because different manufactors have have specialities. Like in n scale i model alot of canadian stuff but it is hard to find things. I am limited in what is offered so i buy from a select group of vendors. But lets say you do santa fe, bnsf, Union pacific in HO scale. Most manufactors cary these lines so its you can pick and choose frome a large pool of vendors.

If you are looking for a paticular engine you might have only one manufaturer for that type. An example is military stuff. Military engines with good detail work only come out once in a couple years. I got like 5 military engines (over time) and all are from different manufatures.

Most manufactors offer a range of lines with different prices. The more detailed the line, usaly it is more expencive. Take Athearn as an example, it has a standard line and then a genesis line. The genesis line is more detailed but also more expensive.

As for what i buy…

in HO…

cars - i do not buy much anymore because i have all i need but i prefer Intermountian cars. But because of the price i do not buy them alot.

engines - my engine stock has atlas, kato , and athearn.

DCC - digatrax

track- Mostly atlas track but the switches are mostly peco.

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Welcome to the Forums, there is a ton of information available here with many expert modelers who are more than willing to help. There is also a lot of valuable information, such as product reviews, available from Model Railroader Magazine and this website—I would highly recommend a subscription to Model Railroader.

You’ll read a lot about various locomotive manufactures and based upon my experience I agree with the above poster with the following addition: I’ve had excellent results with Bachmann’s Spectrum Shays, Climaxes (3-truck version), and their 4-4-0. As far as rolling stock is concerned I pretty much scratch build most of mine although I have just completed a “Branchline” Blueprint Series 40’ refer which turned out reasonably well and is a good running car.

You should probably do a lot of research before rushing out to purchase something…particularly if you plan on using DCC. You will need to get a rough idea of a track plan, what era you would like to model before buying a lot of equipment. Read and study first, and like I mentioned above this site is great and Kalmbach Publishing has many “How-To” publications in print and also available for download.

Wayne

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[#welcome] to the great hobby of model railroading and this forum, Clarence.

As your scale is HO, there is a good number of manufacturers offering quality locos and rolling stock.

Atlas, Athearn Genesis, Bachmann Spectrum series, Bowser Executive line, Walthers P2K, ExactRail - just to name a few brands enjoying a good reputation. For track it is Peco and Atlas. There is also BLI and MTH on the more pricier end.

The times of cheap junk flooding the market are more or less over, if you stay away from cheap train sets. Don´t hesitate to ask questions, if you need more specific information.