Brand Quality


elsner203

elsner203

Member
Hey guys, I've been trying to do a bit of homework on quality of brands for my new N scale layout, but haven't had much luck. The guy at my local hobby shop seems to have a hard on for Athearn and Kato, but I still haven't been able to find that they are "superior" to other brands. One positive is that he doesn't sell Athearn or Kato, so I know he's not just trying to dig deeper into my pockets.

So, I ask what brands you have a hard on for, I mean recommend. Is there such thing as a hierarchy of train brands? I worked on a friend's model train every Sunday as a kid and he was a "If it's not Lionel, it's crap" kind of guy.

I'm diving head first into a hobby I have spent far too much time away from and could use a little guidance.

For reference, my layout is small, 2' x 4' but have already started working on 2, much larger/interesting layouts. I am DC only so far, but look to upgrade to DCC on the 2 new layouts.

(All this cause my wife thought my motocross hobby was too expensive! Ha!)

Thanks! Have a good day!
 
Kato and Atlas are good brands. I try to avoid Bachmann and model power unless I can see the model before buying it. Intermountain, FVM , MTL and Exact Rail all make nice products.
The old saying about getting what you pay for applies here.

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I just won an auction for a Bachmann loco on eBay and have a Southern Pacific Spectrum loco that I picked up the other day. I've been paying close attention to the close up photos and reading as much on here as I can. It seems that Model Power just doesn't have the same craftsmanship as the others and the plastic wheels are poo too. I've got my bids in on a couple other loco auctions right now for Kato and Atlas models, so we'll see what turns up.

I'll have to check out the others you mentioned. Thanks.
 
As far as N Scale is concerned, I consider Kato as the top brand, Atlas a close second, Athearn 3rd, and Spectrum 4th.
While I'm in HO full time, my wife wants me to get her N Scale layout built. (I also dabble in On3, & G).

I'm been developing a roster for her, and anytime we can get a Kato, I will. Their mechanisms are IMHO, the best. Atlas mechanisms are almost as good as the Kato, I haven't picked up any Athearn yet, but I have heard good things about them. I have a friend who runs a, IIRC, 34' x34' N Scale layout and he swears by the Bachmann Spectrum Steamers.
 
In N scale, Kato, Atlas, Athearn, Fox Valley, in that order Walthers/Proto is usually very good, as well.. Bachmann in N scale is either very, very good, or very, very bad. I had a Spectrum 2-8-0 that ran like a swiss watch forever, and another one that wouldn't turn a wheel. I had a dash 8 that was very good, and a very smooth runner, and an SD45 that ran 5 feet and the motor burned up (complete with sparks and smoke). A friend and I both boght their 2-6-6-2 engines, even the same road number, and mine ran 30 minutes and croaked, his is still doing well after several years.
I've had Kato engines that died soon after getting them, and two Atlas engines did the same.
So, best advice, check reviews, ask places like here, and test run everything before you buy it.
 
My experience has only included Atlas, Kato and Walthers/LifeLike. I've put decoders in all of them and to me the Atlas and the LifeLike are tied for the best runners with Kato being a close second. It could be a result of the decoders themselves; the Atlas (4 GP7's, 2 SD9's) and the LifeLike (GP20) all have TCS decoders and the Katos (2 F3's, 2 NW2's) all have Digitrax. Two of the Katos are the noisiest locos I have but they are still much quieter than anything I had in the eighties. I still consider them to be very quiet, just that they are the loudest of the eleven locos I have so far.
I will continue to buy Kato and Atlas with no hesitation and Walthers/LifeLike if it's a Proto 1000. Also, Intermountain, Athearn and Fox Valley would be very high on my list. I'm on the lookout for an Intermountain F unit in CB&Q greyback scheme after I get my railroad funds built back up. I would buy a Bachmann if it's one of the new designs and got good reviews. For me, Model Power would not get my business.
 
For locomotives.....I like kato, intermountain, atlas. For rolling stock......kadee-microtrains, atlas, trainworx, kato intermodal. Best couplers are microtrains.
 
Wow, lots of good stuff. Time to do more homework so I know what the heck some of these models are! Tomorrow, I'm heading to a couple model shops to hopefully see a few things in person. Hopefully it will help me avoided running into the problems I'm having already
 
Also, the pecking order for rolling stock is different than the order for locos....and it depends on what era you are modeling. If you want to model transition era and use Kato equipment, you'll have an RS/RSC2 and a mikado steamer, and no rolling stock.......not really a very productive RR. And a lot of companies don't make both locos and cars. Microtrains makes a lot of great cars for all different eras, but no locos other than a few FT's which are mostly painted for their "collector series" (they just anounced an MP15). If you want to be brand specific, your best bets are Atlas and Intermountain because they have the most variety. When it comes right down to it, if you avoid any rolling stock with Rapido couplers and Model Power and non Spectrum Bachmann locos, you'll be OK. As RBMNfan said, you get what you pay for, but a lot of the money is in the details..........a $10 Atlas Trainman car will likely run just as reliably as a $30 Exactrail car, but it will have plastic wheels and be a lot less pretty. You mentioned that plastic wheels are Poo for you, which leaves out A LOT of what's out there.........plastic wheels are still the norm with Atlas and MicroTrains and pretty common on other brands as well. My personal rule is I buy what I need (if I need a certain car and the only one available is from a "bad" brand I'll buy it anyway) and then modify it to my liking.........wheels, couplers and things like that are easy to swap........I just adjust what I'm willing to pay for the starting point. I'll spend $10 for a car and put another $10 for upgrades, but i WON'T spend $20 upgrading a $30 car. If you want "the best", plan on doing some modifying.
 
I never really had an opinion about Lionel or knew about the quality of their trains. I never see Lionel in the N scale anyway, so I don't think I have anything to worry about.

I'm getting into this on my own for the first time and am in the same boat with the cheapo used stuff. I have no problem buying some stuff online and have found a few good resources locally to keep the budget in check. Hopefully I can start getting better stuff soon. I found out the locos and rolling stock I have are mostly from the early 70's! Here I am, playing with trains older than me and I didn't even know it!
 
Ive got mostly Bachmann, they are quite variable in how they run. One is very good, one is terrible the rest are in between .Then theres the kato,it runs beautifully, Now that I know what I were missing out on the first question I will ask when buying is "Is it a kato?"
 
I went to a shop the other day and talked the the owner about a whole bunch of stuff. He made some good recommendations. He recommended Bachmann because of the warranties and Kato because they're good quality and they're quiet. I told him I didn't have a problem with the way my Bachmann locos ran, then he let me see his Kato powered layout. So much quieter! Holy crap! I mean, granted, my Bachmann loco is from the 70's, but still. His Katos were super nice. I like the craftsmanship and detail of the Kato as well.

Cool thing I remember the owner saying was, "Buy what you're comfortable with. New if you can. If you make a mistake, don't cry about it. Fix it." -------Sounds good to me!
 
I have two katos an sd80mac and an sd45 very nice detail queit but not road specfic i ran them for 4 hour on he floor of a room two of them i wasnt there and also get kato unitrack from modeltrainstuff.com you can get a nice kato for
$54
 
Just a thought, and it has already been touched on here, no one that I know of is brand exclusive in HO or N. Excluding Model Power, all other brands are good, some better, and all "should" interface with each other. Bachmann has greatly improved over the last ten years or so, but they still come out with lemons on occasion, which is why they offer their generous warranty. Kato has many fans because they have good quality, but even their stuff sometimes fails out of the box. Atlas stuff is also considered high quality but sometimes their designs leave a little to be desired. Try a sampling from each, and see what works best for you. Some of the comparisons/opinions here on the forum are basicly Ford vs. Chevy; Honda vs. Toyota; or Audi vs. Yugo. FWIW Model Power = Yugo:D.
 
G'day all... I've only recently got some new Athearn Genesis HO locos, put off by some negative reviews initially , but have found them to be really good..I have three Intermountain , two BLI's , one Atlas...and a partridge in a pear tree...(joke)...and some Bachmann Spectrums too..also an MTH... ..No Kato yet....but in different ways they're all good. Totally personal preference I believe...Only risk are dodgy second hand ones....Cheers Rod..
 
If you get Bachmann, pay close attention to the warranty paperwork. Some of it is only good for one year.
 
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