what do I look for when purchasing a locomotive?


I

inTRAINing

New Member
I've just about got my first layout finished and I'm about ready to start shopping for locomotives. I have about 60' total of track in the shape of a B if that makes sense. I'm thinking about a modern loco like the CSX engines I see in my area but I'm not loyal to any particular company. I dont want to spend a fortune on my first loco but I dont want to go cheap either. What should I look for? What are ditch lights? By the way I plan to use a digitrax controller. Also, how many cars will a loco typically haul? I'll be glad to here any advice as I'm new to railroading. Thanks
 
I have little experience in HO but I can tell you that no two locomotives will pull the same. Some engines look nice but will barely pull a thing, others will have seemingly endless traction (which is really all it comes down to).

Ditch lights are small lights usually placed either on top of the pilot or mounted on the front of it. When approaching a crossing they flash to increase visibility of the train.

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Your gonna get alot of response on that questions because there are so many options!
First thing you have thought of "road name" so you have that solved. There are so many companys that make good quality engines so sky is the limit.
I always look for brand name and details. A good Genesis line from Athearns is a great starter engine. Get one already loaded with sound and DCC if thats the route you plan. You can get these $100-$200. Depending on the set up you choose. One thing to think about is what are your turn radius? If only 18in, I would choose a loco with 4 wheel trucks not 6. 6 will work better on 24in and above. Also looks better traveling the turns.
Ditch lights are the 2 lower lights on engine front (kinda like fog lamps on a car) and they can be on steady or flash back and forth at road crossings. These are controled seperately on a DCC controler. Hauling cars can depend on what type of rolling stock you own. If you are using plactic wheeled train set cars they have a tendancy to drag and won't pull as easy as quality ones with metal wheels. Also the length of the cars and weight is a factor, you can pull 4/40 foot good cars with metal wheels easier than a 1 cheap 80ft car so alot has to be factored into the formula. A good engine can pull 30-50 good cars and above if set up properly. And dont forget to subtract the total you can pull if you have any grades to deal with. (hills)
Hope this is some help and sure some other guys will beable to answer alot for you too.
Good Luck!
 
I spent the last 18 months getting back into the hobby after a 25 year absence and found there was A LOT that had changed. First, figure out your smallest turn radius on your track, and that will determine how many wheel sets your loco can/should have. Since you're looking at diesel it shouldn't matter much. Most any six-wheel diesel will handle 18" or even 15" radii (but it won't look realistic). After that determine what type of diesel you like - search wiki for all locos built by EMD (Electro-Motive Division) and GE (General Electric). Decide what units you like based on 1) maybe real-life success of the unit 2) which railway companies that you like used it 3) just the looks of the unit, or the paint scheme a certain railroad used.

Then search all around between the main MRR companies to see if they offered that model, such as Atlas, Athearn, Bachmann, Broadway Limited, Kato, MTH, Walthers Proto, and others. You can find a model made with simply DC operation only with no sound, or go all the way to DC/DCC with every light and sound possible (ditch lights are the two lower lights on the front of a diesel, usually at the deck level above the plow). Your price range would go from about $70-$300, depending on your shopping savy. A quality loco can haul 30+ cars, but your layout will probably decide how many cars as much as the loco will.
 
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Like the above guys said, you're going to get alot of advice, and most of it good advice.

My two cents...

If your looking for a great running engine and doesnt break the bank, buy a CSX GP38-2 from Atlas Trainman. About $80 new and they are DCC ready.

Have fun,

Brad
 
Hello there,


Assuming your going to model in HO, and since You are going to use a digitrax controller (DCC) and you don't want to go cheap either, if you are going modern I can recommend the Atlas Trainman+ NRE 3GS21B Genset.

Here are 3 CSX road numbers available at Model Train Stuff:

#1302 http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/10001195-NRE-Genset-CSX-1302-p/atl-10001195.htm

#1303 http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/10001196-NRE-Genset-CSX-1303-p/atl-10001196.htm

#1304 http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/10001197-NRE-Genset-CSX-1304-p/atl-10001197.htm

of course there are other road names as well.

They offer them at $80 and comes with ditch lights and nice detailing, runs smooth and hauls really well, and are DCC ready (I run my on DC, should be much better in DCC).

Another $73, you can get the MRC decoder made especially for this locomotive: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/MRC-HO-Drop-in-Decoder-Atlas-Genset-p/mrc-1916.htm

(although, currently out of stock at MTS, but I'm sure can be found elsewhere).


Welcome to the hobby!
 
For good tracking, reliability, quality, and solid engineering, Atlas Silver or Gold series of just about anything they have for sale, and the same for Kato.

Athearn Genesis, MTH, and BLI all make good diesels, but you may not find them in the DC version you want if that is what you want. Most these days come in DCC with or without sound, so $$.

Don't overlook InterMountain. They make good stuff.
 
inTRAINing said:
... I dont want to spend a fortune on my first loco but I dont want to go cheap either. What should I look for?... Thanks
Click to expand...

You've gotten some great answers so far, but in answer to your specific question of what should I look for, these are the basics of what to look for.

All wheel drive, all wheel pick-up. These will pull better, and with all wheel pick-up, no stalling on turnout frogs etc. Get DCC equipped, (and sound if you want it). Later on once you've gained experience, you can look at getting DCC ready locos and do you own installs, the majority of which, should be plug & Play.

At very least dual flywheels, 3 pole motor. At best dual flywheels and 5-7 pole motor, skew wound. The flywheels smooth out the motor, and can add to the coasting ability of the engine. The higher the number of poles in a motor, the smoother and slower it can run. A 5 pole motor is pretty much standard, but there are makers that use 3 pole motors. The skew wound motors also cog less, (that is jump from pole to pole as the motor turns) than a non-skew wound motor. On the better brands, this info is listed under features.

Adequate weight, or if on the light side, room to add more weight. Generally the heavier the loco, the more it can pull. I have a few single diesels, that can pull 100 or more cars easily behind them. I have one that has had 256 cars behind it.

While details are not my big thing on diesels, make sure the details it does offer are good enough for what you want. The fewer that need to be added, the better. Also unless you don't care what the number is, try to make sure that the engine number is correct for the diesel. (There are on line rosters that will show you what the numbers are for what diesels.)
 
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hold on , let me get this straight ...... you built a whole layout without owning any motive power at all??????????:confused::confused: that a new one on me , most of the guys cant attest to owning 30+ locos then building a layout :p
 
The factors you use to determine what engine are these:
What is the minimum radius curves on you model railroad?
What kind of rolling stock (freight or passenger) cars are you going to have making up a train? Are you going to use modern long cars in the 50' to 85' class, and how will they look on the layout without the locomotive chasing the last car in the train. I have a layout that looks like a revers G in a 14 x 14 room. I model the late 1940's-1950's, and about all I can get on a passenger train is a maximum of six car, most of them the shorter 72' and 75' cars from the old Athearn and the newer ConCor brands. For freight cars, I generally stick with 40' cars with a few 50' mixed in here and there. If I go that way, I can get about 10-15 on a train. If I make up trains much longer than that, it just looks rediculous. With the exception of some Proto2000 E-units, I pretty much stick to F-units, with at least two units in a consist powered. This handles my 4 percent ruling grade with easy. If I only go with a single powered unit, the locomotive can sometimes strain going up the steep grade. But if I was running on a flat layout, a single powered unit can suffice. With the exception of the E-units, I generally stick with B-B trucked units (four axle...two on each truck), rather than C-C (six axle) locos. The modern Athearn and Intermountain diesels are good ones.
 
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