Hello, I have been reading this forum for about a month and have decided to jump in. I am running N-scale and have modest intentions for now. I was just wondering what the consensus is on the following items I have purchased: LifeLike engine(15 bucks used at LHS), 2 Bachmann engines (bought off eBay, 20 bucks for the pair, haven’t yet received, seller says they run well), Railpower 1370 power pack (new, 40 bucks), and Bachmann EZ track. I have seen some negative comments about Bachmann engines, and am wondering what is wrong with them. I realize they are only 30 bucks new, so there obviously is a reason for that. Do they tend to break down easily? Do they not pull cars well? I appreciate any comments.[:D]
GNRR,
[#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]
The descriptions of your locomotives is pretty generic so it’s difficult to make an accessment of your acquisitions without nowing more specifics. However, the MRC Railpower 1370 power pack is good one. You could have picked it up for cheaper.
Bachmann comes in a couple of flavors: Standard and Spectrum. The Spectrum seriies is Bachmann’s top of the line locomotives. Generally, the steam Spectrum line is better than the diesel line. Any of the Standard line is pretty mediocre, at best. Basically, they don’t run very well and are noisy. However, I have heard some good things about the cheaper DCC-equipped locomotives.
Hope that’s a help…
Tom
Well, if the seller has described them truthfully then there is nothing wrong with them. But the fact remains that bachmann standard engines are lower quality ones that you might find in a train set. The bachmanns and the life like should be fine for now, but as soon as you get your hands on a high quality engine like Atlas or Kato you will want to throw the bachmanns and LLs out. The power pack and the EZ track should be fine for now as well, but if you decide to build a permanent layout you will want to use flex track. So basically you have a good start, but If you get serious in the hobby you will want to upgrade some of your equiptment.
Have fun!
Thanks for the replies! I am very excited about the hobby and look forward to participating on this forum.
first of all [#welcome], regular Bachmann isn’t too good (that’s why they’re inexpensive) LifeLike may not be too good but i don’t know since it’s N scale- the 1370 is a great power pack- MRC is the best maker of power-packs
GNRR,
Forgot to mention. LifeLike (now owned by Walthers) also has a Standard line that is so-so, like the Bachmann. The better line of locomotives from them is there Proto series (1000, then 2000 series). The mechanism between the Proto 1000 and 2000 series are identical. The real difference is that the Proto 2000s are better detailed - VERY nicely detailed, I might add. My favorite locomotive is my Proto 2000 Alco S1 switcher that I got from Trainworld.com for $29.99 (reg. $110). It’s a real smooth runner.
Tom
P.S. BTW, Trainworld.com is a great place to purchase to great quality locomotives at a very affordable price. GNRR, I’d would also encourage to find and support a good, reputable hobby store in your area that specializes in trains. The Internet is a terrific place to find bargains but your LHS needs and should be supported as much as possible. The information that I glean from the three that I frequent is invaluable.
But if you eventually go DCC, take MRC out of your mind, put it in a safe and dump it in the ocean.[:D]
As far as DCC - yes - there are better choices than MRC. However, don’t chuck the MRC power pack too quickly. It’s a terrific power pack and can still be used to power any accessories (turnouts, lighting, etc.) you might have or will want on your layout.
Tom
JPM335- Who would really want to do that?
…
I use an MRC power pack to power my switch machines.
Dang, i liked the PRODIGY EXPRESS DCC system -MRC doesn’t make good DCC?
Dingoix,
What I meant to imply was that the Prodigy systems (e.g. Express and Advance) are good but there are better systems. One of the gripes about the MRC is that the system really isn’t expandible, like some of the other DCC systems out there - e.g. Digitrax Zephyr, EasyDCC, NCE. You want to have a system that is going to be able to grow and expand, as your layout grows and expands. I do like the knob on the MRC throttle.
Tom
My problem isnt expandibility. I have used each of the big 4 systems (Digitrax, NCE, Lenz, Easy DCC) as well as prodigy and prodigy advance. The original prodigy does what it is supposed to do. But that is not much. Its a very basic DCC system and is not a good choice in todays world of sound and silent drive. MRC recognized this as a problem, they knew they needed a full-featured DCC system. This became the Prodigy Advance. The PA offers lots of features at a relatively low price. Last year, the modular group I am in converted to DCC. There was a debate about which system to use of course. A couple members suggested lenz and another member and I suggested digitrax. Most of the members had never used DCC before, but knew they wanted a good system at a low cost. So we ordered a PA with 2 extra throttles. We came in the next weekend and hooked it up. We put 2 BLI engines on the track, the first one worked fine until we hit the bell, then the bell wouldnt turn off. We took the engine off the track then put it back on… bell still on. we had to restart the system to turn the bell off. So we tried the other one, all the sounds worked but it wouldnt move. When you turn the throttle up it would go chuff-chuff-chuff but it wouldnt move. The person who owned the engine took it home (he had DCC) and it ran fine, brought it back, same thing. SO we thought maybe BLI engines didnt work on PA. I put on a couple of my engines with TCS T1 decoders in them and they worked OK, but I put on an engine with TCS MC2 decoder and it ran all herky-jerky twice around the layout then quit altogether. I put on a different engine with a MC2 decoder and it did the same thing. Both decoders were ruined. Luckily TCS has the goof-proof warranty so it was no big loss to me[:D]. Anyway, we knew something was wrong. We put a multimeter on the rails and voltage was about 11-12, we tried a minute later and it was 8, we tried again and it was 16. Over the next 2 days we saw anywhere from 7 to 28 volts at the rails. So we sent the PA back to MRC. We g
Your the first Great Northern fan I’ve seen on here besides myself, welcome to the forum.
Steve
Welcome to the forums you will find a lot of useful information from knowledgeable people. Happy railroading. Phil