I`d like to know how you all would rate the RTR freight cars that are on the market today.Please let me know if the have the rp 25 steel wheels and axles, correct color schemes and decaling and how they rate as to cost. If you care as part of a second question rate the freight car kits to the same standards.
Thank you
Bob D
RTR as in Athearn bran? or in general?
RTR for all brands/makes
#1 Athearn, #2 Atlas. They’re really pretty equal, but Athearn has more variety & is priced a little lower. Almost everyone except the cheap toy sets have had rp25/metal wheels for quite some time. My [2c]
I have to say the latest offerings from True Line Trains are smack dab on for colour and detail. They run exceptionally well and are very smooth. Nothing toy like about them. From what i’ve seen from Atlas I would have to rate them No.1 overall for detail, running and best bang for your buck!
Fergie
RTRs
Kadee
Atlas
Broadway Limited (BLI)
Proto 2000
Red Caboose
Intermountain
Accurail
Athearn
Kits
Westerfiend*
Fanuro & Camerlengo*
Tichy**
Branchline
Proto 2000
Red Caboose
Accurail
Athearn
*Resin/unpainted
**Unpainted
Tom
For N scale I really like Intermountain. Very nice with great detail. The new kid on the block is Fox Valley Models and they are just as nice. Micro Trains is good too along with Atlas , but they don’t carry much for intermodal or coalporters which is what I mostly run.
While there are many fine RTR cars on the market I go for durability and overall looks.So,in that light here is my choices.
1.Athearn
2.Atlas/Trainman
3.Walthers.
Now for fun…My N Scale choices.
1.Athearn
2.Atlas
3.Red Caboose
4.Fox Valley
5.Intermountain.
6.LBF
7.Micro-Trains.
I buy primarily from two makers. Athearn and Bachmann. The Athearn rtr cars of late have quite good detail yet are still rugged enough that I can handle them quite easily with my numb hands without fear of breaking them, much. The Bachmann cars have acceptable detail and are quite rugged. I can get them any time at Hobby Lobby. Most of my rolling stock is Bachmann Silver Series. I have one Atlas car. That’s a tank car that has such fine detail that I almost always break something any time I touch it. About one third of my rolling stock is Athearn with most of those being BB kit cars. Some are rtr series and a few are Genesis cars.
TAKE HEAD TO THIS WARNING!
Its a good idea to stay away from walthers trainline cars! I bought 6 40’ open quad hopers, out of the box two cars had a set of trucks fall off and no way to put the, back on then down the road three more broke so now I’m down to one and they were brand new!
As for Walthers kits I’m very happy with my 49’ quad hoppers, they run great!
I have several of their RTR non trainline cars and no problems…
So,understand there is 2 classes of Walthers RTR cars the Trainline and their standard line.
Well, for my purposes, which is the steam era, I’d have to rate Intermountain and Red Caboose at the top of the list, with Accurail and Athearn coming in pretty close behind. Athearn’s really done a turn-around with some of their newer offerings (50-foot reefers for example), and except for changing out the couplers to Kadees on the RTR’s I purchase, I like all four brands a lot.
Tom [:)]
Kadee is #1. Their cars have engineering plastic details which makes 'em one heck of a lot more durable than the rinky dink styrene details on Red Caboose or Intermountain.
The detail work on the Kadee cars is absolutely fabulous with things like scale size ladder rungs and extremely fine detail on see through roofwalks. Their cars are researched and prototypically accurate. The paint is correct and well done and the lettering is opaque, clean, and finely detailed (if you’re near-sighted enough to read it).
The only give aways with their cars (imo) are the wide tread nmra wheels (Kadee are you listening?) and the size of the couplers (their cars now ship with the ‘scale’ size couplers which are much better looking than the #5s).
Of course they have a relatively limited scope, PS-1 40’ and 50’ box cars from 1950 onward and covered (and open) hoppers). Their hoppers are insane with all the stuff hanging in the open at the end of the cars being just about scale thickness.
They are kind of pricey, but comparing a Kadee to an intermountain or red caboose isn’t much of a comparison (except for the pricing). And the Kadee details don’t break off if you (gasp!) dare to touch their cars.
Here’s a picture of a PS-1 shot outdoors on my redland diorama (check out the ladder details)
Regards,
Charlie Comstock
Kadee’s are awesome, but I wouldn’t rate them first for cost, variety, and accessibility.
Accurail Kits need to be given MUCH more credit than this. They are even easier to assemble than Athearn, for the same price and quality.
I gotta agree with you on the Accurail Kits. Probably 75% of my rolling stock fleet is from an Accurail kit (and since they started including screws to hold the trucks and coupler pockets in place they got even easier).
But the original poster wanted to know ratings on RTR equipment. And Accuready with their bright shiny wheels aren’t really quite ‘ready’. And aren’t in the same league as Kadee (albeit at a somewhat lower price).
C.
RTR
Kadee
Atlas
Athearn Genesis
Intermountain
True Line Trains
Atlas Trainman
Athearn RTR
Kits
Funaro & Camerlengo
Red Caboose
North East Model Craftsman(Lasercut reissue of some older Ambroid Kits)
Athearn Blue Box
Accurail(Only behind Athearn because they use pins as opposed to screws)
I haven’t had much experience on other kits, but I’m sure what Tom says is true.
I would rate the RTR Freight cars very good,my list would be as follows.
Atlas
Athearn Genesis
Accurail
Intermountain
Kadee
6.Walthers
8.Bowser
9.Athearn
Kits
2.Walthers
3.Bowser
4.Athearn
I have used all of these kits and RTR cars in the past and these are how I would rate them.They all have alot better detail now these days compaired to the past.
EVERY Manufacturer tries to balance detail, rolling, etc. with Cost, IE: What will $ell.
THE BEST cars I Have encountered are:
Intermountain, Bowser, Kadee, and Atlas, (in that order). I have not bought any Genesis nor RTR cars. All my Athearn BB required Metal 33" wheels or Kato trucks, and Kadee’ couplers to match my stock InterMountain’s.
‘Also rans’: Accurail, Walthers, ESB.
Cheap & Dirty: IHC, Rivarossi,AHC, some ConCor, Bachmann. (Colors, trucks, couplers, detail, etc.)
Every time a Manufacture tools a new car, they seem to upgrade to meet the competition - or maybe it’s to upgrade the price?
YOU be the judge.
Alex,
Actually, Accurail replaced those push pins in their kits with 1/4" 2-56 screws a few years ago. However, you may still run across a few older kits with the push pins included. I have a few extra 2-56 screws that I keep on hand for just such an occasion.
I think Accurail cars are a terrific value for the money. To me, the wood braced boxcars are exceptional. [tup]
Tom
Tom–
Count me in on your assessment of the Accurail kits. For the period I model, they’re a Godsend and beautifully detailed. I’d say that most of the kits I’ve built over the past four or five years are primarily Accurail, because as I said, they fit right into the period I model. All I do is replace the plastic wheels and install Kadee couplers.
I’ve not bought any of their RTR’s yet, because the ones I’ve seen are a little too ‘modern’ for my era. But they look GOOD.
Tom [:)]