Beginner Help


C

CONFEDR8

New Member
Hello guys,

I am looking into N scale railroading but I need help. What company is the best for American, steam era locomotives? I work on the real things, but I need help with the modeling. Is Lionel good for N scale, because I know there stuff is good, O gauge that is, but I am not sure for the smaller stuff.

Thank you,
Zack
 
Lionel don't produce anything in N as far as I know. The big name brands are Atlas, Kato & Athearn, and then you have companies that don't seem to release as much/aren't as common like InterMountain and Fox Valley Models. That is for locos. For rolling stock there are a lot more players, but I would say Atlas and Micro-Trains are the big ones with the most variety. That is for freight cars, for passenger trains you can't go past Kato.

Looking at American steam specifically you still have several options. Kato have made quite a few popular steam engines, in fact their Mikado is pretty much the benchmark for steam in N. They've also produced a GS4 and just started shipping their brand new FEF last week. If you want big steam then Athearn is where to go, as they produced both Challengers and Big Boys. InterMountain has produced SP Cab Forwards but reviews were a bit mixed. Bachmann have also produced quite a few steamers, and I say Athearn are your go-to for big steam but that isn't entirely true as Bachmann put out an EM-1 last year.

If you're looking at the steam/diesel crossover period then Kato have produced some excellent F-units over the years. In the last 6mths I believe they put out some F2/F3s, and early next year they are releasing some more F3s. InterMountain put out some FT sets (A & B unit w/ drawbar) about 10yrs ago and they're great! Micro-Trains did the same but I don't have any experience with their version.

If you're getting into N you might as well go ahead and bookmark 'Spookshow' now. It is an incredibly useful site!! http://www.spookshow.net/trainstuff.html
 
Wow, thank you so much for all the information. It really helped me a lot. As for Lionel, I wasn't sure if they made N scale stuff, but I had to ask.
 
If your looking to buy some n scale stuff pm me and I'll send you a list of what I have diesel and steam passenger and freight.
 
Welcome to the forums, glad to have you onboard!

Unfortunately as already said Lionel does not make N scale. Lionel is of course making O and some G occasionally a special run of HO but not for several years now.

I can't give you much information about N because I only have one set. A Bachmann Spirit of Christmas steam passenger train Ready to Run (RTR) set. It has run great for the second Christmas now.

Here is a good supplier and many of the guys who work there are N scale modelers. MB Klein/ModelTrainStuff.com They are always happy to help, they have great customer service and they have the best across the board everyday pricing.

One thing I do and I recommend for you is to do an internet search before making any purchase. You never know who may have the best deal on any given day.

Thanks for sharing your hobby with us.
 
If you decide to buy any used N scale locomotives this is a must have resource! http://www.spookshow.net/locos.html This is a free website that lets you know if an older N scale loco is any good or not. Early N scale equipment was rarely associated with quality, both from a mechanical, as well as, a visual standpoint. Almost all locos made since the mid 90's are excellent runners and are very well made.
 
The nice advantage of N Scale, you'll find, is the power to weight ratio.

The tiny engines obviously has less pulling power than an O guage locomotive. But the cars they are pulling weight a fraction of the larger cars. So a mediocre N Scale locomotive can pull a long line of cars up a hill with relative ease. And a good n scale locomotive can pull a very long line of cars straight up a wall. (Okay...some minor exaggeration there, but you get the idea)

I remember as a kid playing with O guage trains that I needed a serious (and expensive) engine to pull more than 5 or 6 cars up a hill.

Now with N scale it's no challenge at all.
 
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