I have a ? for any one who wants to take a stab at it, i model in N-scale and was wondering about how everybody would rate rolling stock, best to worst kinda thing, i am under the impression that Micro trains is highly regarded if not the best out there, although they use plastic wheels which i do not like, then on the low if not the bottom of the scale is Industrial or Bevbel/Lifelike, how far off am I, please let me know, thanks.
I’m an HO guy so know very little about N gauge but I know Kadee makes quality products and they are the only N gauge freight cars I ever lusted after. The detail is the best I’ve ever seen in N gauge. I assume they run as good as they look.
As far as bad, any of the stuff with bright silver giant flanges would get my vote. It was one reason I never got into N gauge - that stuff looked awful. If I didn’t have so much invested in HO, I think N gauge would be a viable alternative today with all the improved engines, rolling stock, and structures that exist now.
I would say that Micro-Trains (originally Kadee) have been historically considered the best quality freight car line. However, recent Atlas offerings have offered better detail.
I would probably rate Con-Cor cars with the older Atlas stuff, but installing M-T trucks is not as simple as on, say, an Atlas or Model Power car.
Kato produces some very nice cars, but the product range is limited.
I would consider most of the Atlas line, and Model Power’s cars to be mid-range. Sound, durable cars, easily converted to M-T trucks, acceptable level of detail. Not bad for the money.
Industrial Rail (which also makes some of the Life-Like stuff) is lower end, but not unserviceable.
The worst is Bachmann, which uses screws instead of pins to hold the trucks to the car bodies. Now this by itself wouldn’t be a deal killer, but because of the shape of the bolster, you cannot replace the Bachmann trucks with Micro-trains without some difficulty.
My experience with Intermountain, MDC, and some of the other recently introduced, formerly produced as kit brands is limited. While the cars look nice, they can be delicate, and sometimes require a bit of work and maintenance. I am also am not impreseed with MDC’s compatible coupler, or with Intermountain trucks.
Now having said all this, I am not a snob where frieght cars are concerned. I own Industrial Rail/Life-Like cars, and with M-T trucks and couplers and new paint, they’ll do just fine. I liked Bachmann’s heavy-duty flat car to the point that I replaced the Rapido couplers on the Bachmann trucks with (IIRC) 1128 M-T couplers. (Tricky work, but if you choose to be in N scale, assembling those things is part of the game. And if you’re going to learn how to do this sort of thing, better to practice on a relatively inexpensive Bachmann car than the rear truck of a steam locomotive tender.)
In general, if a
For me,I perfer Atlas,Athearn,MDC cars,Blue caboose and the MT cars.IMHO these are the best cars.All of my cars recieves MTtrucks/couplers except for the MT and the Blue caboose cars which come with the MT truck coupler.I avoid cars from Bachmann,Model Power and Industrial because and again IMHO they look to toy like.
Most of my rolling stock came from Micro Trains. They are, hands down, the best. Everything else, some from Atlas, some from Intermountain, and some from Kato have all had the trucks and couplers replaced with Micro Trains. Delux Innovations makes some very good rolling stock, and sell them in multi-paks. Kato has been selling multi-paks of there bethgons. If you’re building a modern era railroad, checkout Delux Innovations web site, they have tons of modern rolling stock.
If you’re not a fan of plastic wheels and axles, you can replace those with either Atlas or Intermountain metal wheels sets. I’ve got almost all of mine done, Intermountain wheel sets have a nice tarnished patina. It’s important to note, that Micro Trains trucks use a shorter axle length than Atlas and Intermountain. Intermountian makes metal wheel sets specifically for Micro Trains trucks and I believe Atlas does too.
I find that plastic wheels hold dirt and need cleaning on a regular basis, But I like the clickity click of the metal wheels too.
Couplers: There are some new “automatic Knuckle couplers” out there now and they do work, but not as well and Micro Trains.(personal opinion) I’ve had the opportunity to operate with all of them and, unless you’re building a railfan layout with no switching, I’d replace them all.
I’m an N scaler too, and have just about every type and brand of rolling stock there is… I generally go with what ever company makes the car I’m looking for in particular whether it be Micro-train or Bachmann. About half of my cars still have old type rapido couplers, but I also have a number of what I call “bicoupler” cars so I can run Micro-coupler cars with rapido coupler cars. I have to admit though, Micro-train cars are really detailed and so are Atlas, but when it comes down to it I really don’t care who makes it as long as it looks good, looks right and runs well.
Tracklayer