I am a newbie. I am trying to do my homework on slew of topics related to model railroading. It is much to absorb! I have done some HO many many years ago and now that I want to start back into model trains, I am interest in N scale. I tend to like the looks of the steam engines but I have read there are some issues. What are some of the premiere manufacturers of engines in both steam and diesel? I know there can be many opinions…but I am wondering who the better ones are and who should be avoided? I do not want to purchase the most expensive engine but not the cheapest either? Any suggestions? What are the biggest differences between the steam and diesel engines in terms of operation? I will be starting with a simple layout…probably 2x8 for starters for the first modual and then adding another 2x8 section after I cut my teeth a little on all the areas of skill needed for model trains. Thank you for your help! [%-)]
Sometimes it would depend–are you modeling a specific era/location/industrial/granger(agricultural), that type of thing. In a general way I tend toward ATLAS as they havn’t given me any headaches and they don’t cost an arm and a leg—not like brass—they are easier to work with in terms of installing DCC if you go in that direction. And besides, I tend to find their selection a lot broader than other brands.
As far as the diesel/steam thing I havn’t really come across many issues except the quartering thing which deals with the positioning of the siderods and such but some other know more about that. The 2x8 idea you have is a good way to go–that I’ve done(works great with little to no space!). I think you’re on the right track in asking questions—have fun!
N scale locomotives have come a long ways since the 60’s & 70’s, when it was incredibly difficult to find a reliable locomotive. Now virtually all the companies… Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Life-Like, InterMountain & others are putting out very good quality loco’s-- especially diesels.
Mark Peterson (aka “Spookshow”) has an amazing online N sale locomotive encylopedia, covering virtually every loco ever made… http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/locos.html
You can spend a lot of time on that site. 
The bottom line is that most of the N scale locos found for sale today are superb runners featuring slow-speed starting ability, all-wheel electrical pickup and have a top-speed that doesn’t approach that of a space shuttle. And to top it all of, many of today N-scale locos are DCC friendly too.
Avoid Bachmann diesels of any vintage… even their newest releases are spotty. However, Spectrum steam engines are generally accepted as among the best out there. Just try before you buy.
Any diesel by Atlas that has been released since the early 1990’s will be a winner. The more recent ones will have superior motors and detailing, though.
Kato is regarded as the best of the best, and they offer a variety of diesels, but only a 2-8-2 Mikado in steam. Kato availability can be iffy, and if you model a railroad east of the Mississippi, you’ll be waiting a while for any variety of road names.
I highly recommend the Spookshow site. He does an outstanding job of testing and reviewing locomotives, including may rare brass models.
Lee
Welcome aboard! For N you can’t go wrong with Atlas or Kato. I just purchased two Atlas locos today and have several more (along with Kato) on order. Look great & run great. Jamie
Proto 2000 makes some very nice Steam loco’s that are very detailed and perform great. Atlas makes some very good diesel’s but buy their higher end stuff, stay away from the Trainman line. Kato probably ranks #1 for great performing diesels. You pay for what you get when it comes to model train equipment, if its cheap to buy then there is probably a reason why.
First I am bias…I perfer Atlas locomotives since IMHO these are the top end at reasonable prices…Secondly Kato makes the best steamer followed by Walthers.
Diesels are easier to maintain and more forgiving if the track isn’t perfect.
Also there are on line hobby shops that has excellent discount prices and good customer service.
And pray tell what is wrong with the Trainman line?
IMHO that is pretty bad advice since the Atlas Trainman line is as good as Atlas’s high end line.
As mentioned in the previous responses, you can’t go wrong with most of the products from Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Proto or Intermountain.
One important item to take note of is the ability of Locomotives from different manufacturers to run well together.
Most notably are the Atlas locomotives with their new “scale speed motors”. These run slower, by design, than locomotives from the other manufacturers.
Speed matching can be accomplished if you plan to use DCC as your operating media. Another thing to consider with this is whether to buy DCC equipped or DCC ready locomotives. To the best of my knowledge, Atlas is one of very few to provide DCC equipped locomotives. Unless changes have occurred recently, the Lenz decoders intalled in the Atlas “DCC epuipped” locomotives are not full function units and can’t easily be speed matched to other manufacturers locomotives. I’ve been through this exercize and was very frustrated by the experience. I have had email and phone correspondence with Atlas on this point and as a result, purchase DCC ready locomotives from Atlas and then install Digitrax decoders to allow speed matching.
Atlas products a high quality with great detail. If you purchase products from them, just be aware that you may not be able to consist them with others, due to the speed matching issue.
These have been my experiences, if others have conquerred these issues, please correct any discrepancies.
Mike,The biggest problem with slo mos vs fast mos is knowing if the road name is new or pre 2001 stock because Atlas started adding the slo-mos in 2001…
I have 3 Atlas GP9s that will recieve the slo-mos.These Geeps is pre 2001.
Larry, bad advice? The Trainman line is the lowest of the low in Atlas products. If you truly believe that they are just as good as their high end lines then you really need to look a little closer. Go read the Atlas Trainman site and they even tell you they are a lesser product then their higher end stuff. They say the Trainman line was designed for people that basically don’t want to spend the money on good stuff but still want the Atlas name. It reminds me of those people that bought John Deere riding lawnmowers at Lowes or Home Depot. Sure it says John Deere on the side but they are not real JD’s and they are not up to the standard that John Deere has built for itself. I really think that Atlas has done a disservice to people that have bought their higher end equipment for years, just like what John Dere has done. Your going to have all these people running around saying they have Atlas loco’s (or JD riders) when in reality they are an inferiour product to the real thing. Just because it says its an Atlas on the box doesn’t really mean its an Atlas that the majority of people have grown to love and enjoy for years. When it comes to the Trainman line I got to give it a big thumbs down. [tdn] Thats my opinion and nothing can change my mind. I’m sure you will be happy with yours Brakie just like I’m happy with my Proto 2000 GP9’s that you dislike so much.
What the heck is going on here? I have to ask: are you an N-scaler and have you actually owned and run N-scale Trainman equipment? Your signature indicates you are an HO-scale model railroader–I only bring this up because your comments are completely opposite of what my real experiences
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What the heck is going on here? I have to ask: are you an N-scaler and
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What the heck is going on here? I have to ask: are you an N-scaler and have you actually owned and run N-scale Trainman equipment? Your signature indicates you are an HO-scale model railroader–I only bring this up because your comme
First of all, I’ve run N Scale trains for at least 20 years. I have examples of models from every generation of manufacturing technology.
I prefer the Atlas diesel models for B truck models. The slow speed most modern offerings are the best in my opinion. The trainman line has more molded in details (only the GP15 and 15-1 have been offer as best I can find) where the regular series have more separately applied (finer) details and are hence more fragile. Atlas states on their website that Trainman offerings will not be offered in the regular series.
I prefer the Kato diesel models for C truck models. Kato does not offer slow speed motors, so their offerings can reach very high speeds. Their PA/PB models are some of the nicest looking locomotives that I own.
Intermountain offers F unit diesels that are as well detailed and operate very reliably as anything out there. The manufacturer has made mistakes in detail that they have since offered to correct with replacement shells at no cost in one case. I have several sets of the FT’s and love them.
Athearn offers C truck diesels. I found them to be too noisy for my tastes. I had several SD70M’s. Detail is on par with Atlas. I returned mine for Kato SD70’s offered at the same price.
Bachmann diesels are not satisfactory models for me. I could not find any that met my needs as a modeler. I test ran several dozen to no avail.
Walthers/LifeLike Proto diesels are close to on par with Atlas in appearance and operation with the exception of slowspeed motors. I have owned several GP38’s.
Athearn steam of recent manufacture as in the BigBoy and Challenger are well detailed and offered with sound and dual mode DCC. They pull very well. I have 2 Challengers.
I’ll go you one better than just an engine recomendation ,I’ll recomend a complete trainset.The ATLAS Trainman set has everything you need to be up and running.
The ATLAS Trainman series of freight cars are very nice models anyway you look at them and the N scale GP15-1 is an excellent running loco that is well detailed.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of this unit.It is an excellent running little loco.I have two of them and I run them all the time.
Man there is a lot of angry people who love their Trainman equipment. Jamie, just so you know I’ve been buying N scale equipment and have been doing a lot of research on what I purchase so I do know what I am talking about. So far I have one Atlas loco, a GP38 in CP colours and 3 Kato loco’s, 2 AC4400CW’s in CP colours and a CN 2-8-2. In my opinion all great locomotives with lots of nice detail and all great performing, at least so far. This quote is taken from the Trainman site,
“Over the past 20 years, maintaining such high production standards has become an expensive proposition, for both Atlas and consumers. During the last few years, an important question became…“What about all the other modelers out there who know the Atlas name, but can’t afford, or don’t want to spend their hard earned dollars on high end locomotives or rolling stock?” Equally important is the question that goes to the heart of continuing the healthy development of model railroading in the United States, “What about new individuals who want to enter into the hobby of model railroading, but can’t or don’t want to spend at typical high end prices?” These are the individuals the Atlas TRAINMAN® lines have been developed for. Whether it’s N, HO, or O, the Atlas TRAINMAN® lines represent Atlas’ attempt to more widely assure, “model railroading fun for everyone™”.”
This says to me that maintaining a high standard of quality costs money but if you can do without the high standard then here is the Trainman line for you. Now you can tell all your buddies your playing with the big boys now because you own a real Atlas locomotive, just that its not up to the standard that everyone thinks of when they think of Atlas. You might as well have bought a used Atlas chassis and put a Life Like body on it, your getting the same thing when you look at the amount of detail on both bodies. If you wanted to get rid of the molded on parts and
Well,the only other suggestion I have to make is that he listens to somebody that actually owns Trainman products,instead of someone who has no idea of what they are all about.
Or perhaps there are a lot of people who actually own Atlas N-scale Trainman equipment who don’t think its right when someone who obviously doesn’t own any, nor seriously models in N-scale, tries to use distorted logic to convince the MRR community that it’s all not “up to the standard that everyone thinks of when they think of Atlas”.