Color me “too pragmatic”, but on my layout, a loco needs to have a purpose in order to be added to the roster. Usually this means that I have a particular scheduled train in mind that is in need of a loco, or could use a different substitute loco for variety. Add in switchers and helpers, and that would suggest that 15 to 20 locos would be “about right” for my medium-size (21’ x 18’) HO layout.
While I’m not a collector-for-the-sake-of-collecting, deep down, I am a sucker for that little mistreated brass loco at the train show bargin bin that just needs a “wee bit of TLC”. Fortunately, the temtation to buy is tempered by the fact that I already have several of these awaiting re-motoring, decoder/keep-alive installation and painting.
But hey, if building a large fleet of locos is part of how you enjoy the hobby, go for it!
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
That is all well and good. But I never seem to get an answer to this question from anyone with your point of view about rolling stock - what if no one makes the model you need/want for your layout theme in a correct, high detail, RTR model?
I can’t speak for others, but I would think the same thinking applies to most of us. Over the course of 20 years, I settled for the next closest thing made. Its not like I was stubborn and didn’t buy or run anything.
And now that the stuff I always wanted is being produced, its out with the stuff I settled for and in with the new. Sell the old for 20 bucks and buy the new at 45 bucks. Its no different than trading in a car, which is something that I also don’t do much of in 20 years.
The new stuff still has to fit the theme. Its just a version of the car that is better than the one I have, more accurate, and better in a few other minor ways.
And yes, sometimes I pull the trigger quicker and more often than what makes total sense, simply because I like to get new stuff.
For me, I buy my share of the new high detail stuff. But selling off old stuff that I was happy with before is kind of a non starter for me on several levels.
One, it is a time consuming not fun task.
Two, since I my last layout was large, and the new one larger, we are not talking about tens of freight ca
For me the first change started happening about 10 years ago when building my previus layout, got rid of stuff I would never use and everthing that did not live up to my standards at the time and then toward the end of that layout, most of the stuff that didn’t fit my era. Then we moved and got rid of most of the stuff that was not highly detailed or I just didn’t like the pain scheme like on some Atlas billboard reefers, kept lots of those though. Now I am allways on the lookout for stuff but rairly find and the fact I will only buy bargins regardless of the fact I don’t have to (being poor a few times in my life really influenced me). Also with new latout I got into DCC and sound. The engines available and decoders available are much better than 10 years ago or so when DCC was more of a pain than fun unless you were into things like consisting or multiple trains running at one time on the main (previus layout had separate power packs for the yards). Bought a bunch of Sound Value from Bachmann and they run so well and sound great, sure a WOW sounds better but not that much better and the price of the Bachmanns starting at around $50 is too good to believe. Even some of the other manufactres are starting to offer similar items as low as $150.
If we are just going to talk about locos (others brought up other types of rolling stock), nearly all my locos are newer (last 20-25 years at the oldest, Proto, Intermountain, Spectrum, BLI, Genesis, etc) and since I have no interest in DCC or sound, I guess that meets your criteria.
But I don’t have “left over” stuff that would not get used in any case. Right now I have just enough rolling stock and only slightly more locomotives than it will take for the proposed operating scheme on the new layout.
When Athearn released the Genesis GP-9s, I replaced my P2Ks, seven for seven, New Havens. Also six for the Southern Pacific. At one time I was an avid detailer of diesel models but time and age have caught up with me and, I no longer have the ability to drill number 79 holes, or bend brake cylinder piping for EMD Dash2 diesel trucks.
I am modeling New Haven and SP. I also acquire or, am looking for certain models of B&M, CV, NYC, C&O, Southern, Central of Georgia, L&N, ICG, ATSF, MILW, SLSF, D&RGW and BN locomotives I have known or, photographed, to cement memories of people, places or times that have meaning for me. A lot of which, are no longer in existance.
You see I am one of those vile creatures known as a rivet counter. I know the difference between ACF and Pullman-Standard boxcars. I won’t paint F-7s in New Haven colors and call them FL-9s. I will not number a Ready-to-Roll bay window caboose in the SP 4700 series because, that is what it is NOT. Does it matter to anyone but me that the Athearn SD45 is only semi-accurate for SP’s first 45 units? And, it has both, the ratchet style handbrake on the fireman’s side of the short hood AND the wheel type on the engineers’s side, at the rear of the long hood? I know SP went for lots of extra lights on their locomotives but, DUAL handbrakes of differing types, on the same unit? Ratchets only appeared on the first order of 45, 8800-8844. Scale Trains got it right for the small slice of the GRIP seri
The evolution in rolling stock hasn’t gone as far as locos, for obvious reasons, so there has been not as much tunrover. And producers seem to introduce completely different models, so they are not really replacements for what I have.
But if I had a bunch of Athearn BB 5250 covered hoppers (the “55 foot covered hopper”) from 30 years ago with the thicker ladders and stirrups and roof walkways, I’d check out the new Atlas 5250 covered hoppers.
But the Athearn BB covered hoppers would not be left over until they were replaced by the better stuff.
Looks like you need a lot of equipment for that big layout. I enjoy seeing the progress.
I do believe they do have good mechanisms. There eyes move left and right while moving front or backwards. Several of them ran pretty will without a problem, like running James, Edward, Gordon, and Henry.
Although my friends haven’t seen track or power for almost 4 years. The judgment of my locomotives still stands as good.
I would like to make a correction and a couple of additional points to an earlier post. First, I mis-identified the Athearn Ready-to-Roll SD45 as having two types of handbrakes on the same unit. The offending unit is actually the RTR SD40R in Southern Pacific. They produced models of some of the last ten SD40s SP leased/ purchased, which had the handbrake mounted on a stand at the very rear of the long hood. It resembles the steering wheel of a ship in that position. They simply forgot to replace the short hood with the ratchet brake with one that didn’t include it. To Athearn’s credit, they did offer the correct part to anyone who wanted to retrofit it to their model. By then I had already eliminated the ratchet on what Athearn sold with the unit number of SP 7351, which was long since changed to a unit number I am much more familiar with.
My other comments about errors on the SD45 still stand, regarding position of fuel fillers and air reservoirs in relation to the handbrake position. The air reservoir and a fuel filler are correctly modeled as found on the initial 45 units SP rostered, 8800-8844. Another fuel filler is needed on the forward portion of the fuel tank and check pix of the unit in the timeframe you model to determine the need for the dial gauges that are nicely molded into the model’s tank. Over the years these things were in and out of favor. If it matters to you, check. These were the units with the ratchet handbrakes on the left side of the short hood. All brakes with wheels on cutouts in the right rear of the long hood and a fuel filler repositioned toward the rear of the tank, causing the air reservoirs to be shifted forward, were found on units 8845 and up, for all you SP fans out there!
I am extremely glad Douglas brought up one of my pet subjects–the ACF 5250 cu.ft. covered hopper model in HO. Although Atlas’
You’re welcome. Yes, the 5250 was a main staple, but it is too old for my era. Even the Atlas 5701 is getting long in the tooth for anybody who would model present day (I’m not fixed on a year, more or less later than 2010).
I’m sure that Atlas sees a lot of pretty paint schemes in their future with the 5250.
I have the Atlas 5800. Not a lot of Plastics covered hoppers to choose from, unlike grain covered hoppers.
While they do have molded on ladders, they are fine enough, IMO, and look very good considering how hard it must be to put little wire ladder rungs into a thin ladder support column. The 5250, 5701, 5800, and the Pressureaide covered hoppers use the same molded ladder ends. Even the BLMA Trinity 5660 Flour Covered Hoppers introduced by Trinity in about 2010 (replaced the Pressuraide covered hoppers) and the BLMA 2 bay 3230 covered hoppers (replacing the ACF 2970 for the most part) have finely molded ladders.
Its the stirrups on all of these that are the real dissapointment, IMO.
I have been “bad” with wanting to try the latest greatest thing from most importers, and that does include buying too many engines.
I have only a modest folded dogbone mainline, maybe 1.2 scale miles in length. Yet I currently have almost 40 units, not low end either but mostly ScaleTrains rivet counter rtr units with dcc/sound or equivalent level models from other manufacturers.
The real truth is I need some of that money toward my sons’ college tuition, etc. Periodically I have to refocus my model railroad interests, and then purge unnecessary items that are not part of my mission. As much as I may love Mexican engines and a whole variety of American and Canadian roadnames, my first two engines as a child were Santa Fe, and though I may dabble in other things, I seemingly always return to Santa Fe. Plus now with Dad gone, when I see Santa Fe engines of a certain era it reminds me of good times running the trains with my dad.
So even though I have some fantastic new engines, I have made the choice to slim down to only Santa Fe motive power, which right now for me includes one Walthers Proto Santa Fe GP-30 from 2014 (traded back from a friend), and two brand new BLI Santa Fe GP-20’s. I have two Atlas U28CG units pre-ordered (so far) for January, 2023, and will likely add more.
My very first model train set had an engine in that red/silver warbonnet paint scheme that was uniquely worn by U28CG’s (only red warbonnet units that did not have the yellow and black separation stripes), so for me this is a kind of closure–getting the engine I always should have had that was never really available before (excluding a handful of rare Overland Models brass units), plus also getting at least one blue/yellow warbonnet unit of the same thing.
I have a bunch of items selling through my local train store, and I will be running tables on behalf of that store at the Harrisburg Train Show in March. There will be many deals on
NHTX
To Atlas I say thank you. Just why did you put the you-know-what in the punchbowl with that molded plastic end ladder detail (?) from the 1970s? C’mon man! You left the door wide open for some body to bring out models with end detail up to the standards of today’s high end models and steal your thunder. Still I have about 25 with more to come, since I model SP in Texas, circa 1985. Maybe one of these after market suppliers will produce improved details. I don’t play tackle football with my cars, so chunky, 1970s plastic details are not necessary. Thank you, Douglas Add Quote to your Post
You’re welcome. Yes, the 5250 was a main staple, but it is too old for my era. Even the Atlas 5701 is getting long in the tooth for anybody who would model present day (I’m not fixed on a year, more or less later than 2010).
I’m sure that Atlas sees a lot of pretty paint schemes in their future with the 5250.
I have the Atlas 5800. Not a lot of Plastics covered hoppers to choose from, unlike grain covered hoppers.
While they do have molded on ladders, they are fine enough, IMO, and look very good considering how hard it must be to put little wire ladder rungs into a thin ladder support column. The 5250, 5701, 5800, and the Pressureaide covered hoppers use the same molded ladder ends. Even the BLMA Trinity 5660 Flour Covered Hoppers introduced by Trinity in about 2010 (replaced the Pressuraide covered hoppers) and the BLMA 2 bay 3230 covered hoppers (replacing the ACF 2970 for the most part) have finely molded ladders.
Its the stirrups on all of these that are the real dissapointment, IMO.
I didn’t think that simply posting a benign but descriptive comment about modern era covered hoppers and new products that have been offered would trigger a thought otherwise.
Once in a blue moon, I like to read comments on this forum that pertain to my interests, even if I have to type them myself.
Yes, they existed but were rare. The two I mentioned from my era were the beginning of the covered hopper revolution replacing other methods of transporting lots of products.
Point about eras, most modelers are guilty of not knowing a whole lot about eras they don’t model.
I admit, I know very little “detail” about railroading after the early 80’s. That’s when I lost interest in the “progression” of the prototype. From 1960 back, I’m pretty well informed.
But I am a history guy in general, so that’s what interests me, railroad history. That’s why I model a time before I was even born.
In the 1960s Model Railroader used to have occasional photo articles entitled “One Man’s Roster”. Looks like there would be no shortage of material to revive the series.