Like the subject line says:
Which manufacturer made the worst model locomotive?
For me it has to be IHM. guaranteed for 3 years or 3 inches, whatever came first. Second would be Tyco, falls apart before your eyes. Third would be Bachmann, although they have gotten better in the last few years. They still have a lot of damage control to do.
What are yours?
I will never buy Bachmann.
IHC and Bachman diesel, have no problem w/ their steam .Go figure?
Bob K.
I model N-scale and when i was a kid had HO. Even though I asked mom and dad not to buy the tyco stuff they did anyway and they would run for a while but I always had to do something to make them run. If I only new then what I now now I would most likely clean the track to solve most of the problems. So I guess its unfair to say for sure.
In N I purchased a few bachman for my nephews but after a bit they just sit and heat up, theres always a short somewhere in there. The mother in law thought she would try to give a gift of life, LIfelike that is. It keeps running but poorly. Its an older spring driven from motor to truck unit. I hear that Lifelike has some very good runners but I refuse to buy one until I run some. I will never buy bachman, the only way they will ever get a good sales number in N is if they change the name and nobody figures it out. They sell much more G and HO, so I dont think they worry about the N scaler too much. I buy Atlas, Kato, and have one Concor and they all run good.
Now if you want to spend some ‘serious’ money on a scale HO kit, Arbour or The Locomotive Company steam engine kits of the late 70’s/early 80’s have to take the cake. Next to impossible metal casting that were too brittle or too soft, and prices way out there at the time. I still see some of the kits show up at flea markets, and just ‘smile’ as the seller tells me about the fine craftsman kit he is selling!
Jim
Tyco in the 70’s.
Bachmann diesels up until a few years ago.
Actually, in the 1960’s Tyco made a reliable product. I have one that still runs today, albeit with a little help from “the hand of God.” Bachmann has gotten better. I keep waiting for the Bachmann locos my parents bought for my son a couple years back to conk out. It hasn’t happened yet.
I don’t know, I’ve always bought Atlas, Kato, Proto 2000, Athearn and Athearn Genesis.
IHM?
Wait… let me catch my breath… I keep… heaving.
T…y…c…o.
AHM
Old Bachmann steam OR diesel.
Dito. thats just what I was going to say. It seems like most of the earlier stuff was junk to me from most companies.
Bad/poor models are like foul weather days… they make us realise how good the good stuff is.
many of us would have never got started without the cheapo stuff.
Enjoy your trains… however nasty they are 
Im still gagging after 20 years.
So far, I’d say Marx has made one of the worst looking F2As in existence, and Model Power is still using the old Marx shell for some reason.
Tyco’s Power-Torque drives have to be the worst runners in existence. My Super 630 wobbles like a bobble-head.
With everything being made in China, good stuff gettin’ hard to get.
I can’t agree with you. I am certain most modelers would characterize BLi steamers as “good”, and they are made in China.
I got my son a cheap LifeLike diesel loco and it is just awful. Noisy, a dreadful runner and the detail sucks. Aside from that it is really good.
Tyco is absolute crap. Lifelke is serviceable, but there is much better stuff
alexander
What about Playart?..absolute complete play-crap
Amen brother. The only thing that Tyco’s power torque drive did well was to drive money out of your wallet!
I didn’t say you couldn’t find good stuff. I said good stuff gettin’ hard to get. As in model kits and so on. I have locos made in China that run very well. There are others that run like s—! Life-Like’s standard line diesels for instance. I had one of those that was given to me. Still in the box, box never opened. It ran for a week then went up in smoke, literaly, taking my $120.00 MRC power pack with it! I’ll never have a Life-Like standard line loco again. I like thier P1K and P2K lines though. Now that Life-Like belongs to Walther’s, maybe things will improve. Then again…