I’m seeking opinions regarding which are the quality manufacturers or quality individual units in N scale steam. I’m interested in the PRR. Their square fire boxes and top mounted lights are easy give-aways, but am prepared to give a little on accuracy to get engines that perform well e.g. my Kato heavy Mikado has been reliable. What other brands and units have a good (or bad) reputation? Also I’ve heard N scale diesel sound equipped locos and was impressed, but haven’t heard steam. Any advice here/hear?
Guidance is appreciated before I start laying out $100s.
There is NO quality PRR steam locos on the market. Any that are, are stand-ins and not actual PRR prototypes. You will have to consider kitbashing and details to achieve a prototype.
For other steamers in N scale, consider this page…it is a great read and very comprehensive.
Personally, there are only a handful of N scale locos I would consider.
Bachmann spectrum J-Class (N&W), Spectrum 2-8-0, Spectrum 4-8-2 (Heavy mountain, not the Light version). Other than that, the Bachmann lineup has certain issues.
Athearn Big Boy, Athearn Challenger.
LifeLike Mallet 2-8-8-2 (with Bull-Frog snot)
Kato Mike, Kato GS4
Beyond those few, you will be looking at poor performers in one catagory or another. Again this is covered that the page I linked for you.
For PRR modelers, you may consider shell conversions. They are diecast, add wieght but are hard to come by.
I am an N scale steam fan and do own a few,from twenty year old productions to todays.Indeed,there are a few misses but in general,it’s not so bad and even very good on a few cases.The Kato Mike is one I don’t own yet but am planning to when extra budget allows.
Athearn’s Big Boy and Challenger…well I have a 50 % note on these but I have the earlier productions that are equipped with MRC decoders.One has failed me after thirty minutes and the other one is still going strong but still,sound isn’t that great.I’ve read that newer productions will be Tsunami equipped so these should be jewels.Outside their MRC decoders,that’s what they are…jewels…but that’s my opinion.
Model Power has had both a nice Mikado and Pacific out for a few years now.I have the Mike and like it.Not a mammoth puller but very smooth running a pretty looking.My next DCC conversion project,a friend has the Pacific and says they’re easy to convert.
I also have the Heritage (Life-Like) 2-8-8-2 Mallet…suffers a little in the pull department (a little light) but an outstanding looking and running unit.It’s now available with factory installed decoder.
I was about to forget…the Kato GS4 is a stand out model,good puller,smooth and beautiful and best of all not very expensive considering the quality.Kato offers a decoder for it but some have been converted to Tsunami decoders…very nice.
My last purchase,I decided to give Spectrum another try.Never was impressed by their units (specially their Spectrum 2-6-6-2 wich has ended in my parts bin) but their 4-8-2 Heavy Mountain did surprise me.Came decoder equipped and is what a call a fair unit.Good details and properly weighted,it is promising.The motor isn’t the smoothest but compromises are to be expected at this price.Spectrum also offers a Light Mountain wich also look nice but doesn’t compare in the performance department.
Does anyone know IIRC’s, Broadway Ltd’s reputation for steam? It’s a great looking model and with the PRR design, it’d be hard to pass up even if it’s only an average performer. Also, does anybody have information/guesses on when the model will be released? I hear the release dates can get pushed back months or even years.
That is an HO scale model. I can see those McHenry’s from a mile away. Also note the flanges.
Also note that this is a “reserve-now-or-we-wont-make-it-model” and not a model that is in production as of yet. You can reserve one here . Please note the reserve date…06/07…guess what happened? Not enough reserves.
I cant find any pictures of any PRR n scale 4-8-2 on any site…including Spookshow’s site…as far as I can see, it has never been offered in N scale before.
This time you are right - my apologies, David. I guess I have become a victim of my failing eyes and the promises of those marketing guys. But how can a serious business like Caboose Hobbies accept pre-orders?
Lots of dealers take pre-orders – but the honest ones don’t ask for reservation money up front and don’t have to go through the hassle of keeping records and making refunds when the models aren’t produced.
If you run across one that asks for payment in advance, look elsewhere.
Not PRR equipment, but I’ll add a vote for the two best running locos of the six on my all-steam 1920 era N scale layout (I don’t have a Kato Mikado yet): 1. The Heritage Proto 2000 USRA 0-8-0, which Walthers appears to be discontinuing at a bargain price (I snapped up another one recently). This is a marvelous performer on either DC or DCC; silent, smooth, slow…all the good traits. Installing DCC should be easy, but there’s not much space in the tender for the decoder, so it can call for some cutting. 2. The Atlas Shay. This little guy pulls long trains through any sort of trackwork you might have and will run so slowly you have to look carefully to see if it’s moving or not. You do have to find somebody very competent to install DCC in it, though. – Tom
In order to get PRR steam in N, you’re going to either have to wait for it to be produced, or make it yourself. This thread has some useful information. The Ntrak manual cited has a few articles on kitbashing PRR engines. However, getting the raw materials for the conversion might prove challenging.
I seem to recall that GHQ made a kit to convert the Kato Mikado into a PRR L1.
BLI/PCM’s M1a is pure vapor ware. They’ve been promising it for about 5 years, with ZERO results. They complain that pre-orders are inadequate, but frankly, no one trusts them to do anything in N scale steam at this point. They’ve really shot themselves in the foot on that one.
The GHQ kits, or digging up some old Trix K-4 shells on ebay are your best bet for replicating the Belpaire firebox and overall brutishness of PRR steam.
As far as drives go, the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 is outstanding, but test drive it before you buy. They’ve announced a new run that includes on-board DCC, but not sound.
The Kato Mike is by far the best drive I’ve come across, virtually bulletproof, and with a traction tire can pull the toupee off of William Shatner.
They’ve been kicked around by some reviewers because of their somewhat antiquated engineering, but I find the Model Power Pacific to be an outstanding engine. Again, try before you buy, but these can be had for a reasonable price, and give you a nice USRA 4-6-2 to start with on your bash projects.
Personally, I don’t like the Athearn Challenger, I find it to be way over-designed (way too many bits and pieces to fool with to get to the guts of the thing) and the ones I’ve worked on have had a lot of issues with the decoders and sound systems.
Also, don’t rule out some of the old school steam. I’ve got an old Rivarossi/Atlas pacific that runs a tad noisy, but other than that is smooth and very reliable.
I appreciate the shout-out… For anyone waiting for PCM to make a PRR M1 in N scale, I suspect it will be delivered by one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It’s been over 5 years (that’s right, folks) since it was first announced.
Once upon a time Minitrix made a PRR K4 and a B6 in plastic. They looked decent for their time, but do not hold up mechanically to today’s standards. Today PRR steam in N scale remains the exclusive domain of brass or kitbash. I chose the later mainly because the newer plastic steam locos run better than brass, can be converted to DCC with much less effort, and because they’re much cheaper.
I’ve kitbashed three PRR steamers using various Minitrix K4 boilers, tender shells, and a B6 cab. From left to right, there’s a PRR H10sb based on a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0, an L1s based on a Kato 2-8-2 (this one has the GHQ pewter conversion boiler and tender), and my M1 based on the Bachmann light 4-8-2. I’m considering rebuilding the M1 with a Bachmann Spectrum heavy 4-8-2.
I hope you will consider kitbashing. I find it rewarding. I recommend getting a Dremel if you chose to do so; there’s a lot of frame milling involved getting everything to fit. Good luck!
