Hey Everyone, I'm just getting into model railroading, the only thing I've really decided on so far is N scale. I was wondering if some of the more experienced people could share their opinions, good or bad, on the different model RR brands (Bachmann, Athearn, Atlas, Kato, etc.) Thanks! Walt
Basically it's all up to how much you want to spend. Of course the less you spend the cheaper quality your train will be. Kato and Atlas make the better diesel locos. If you want steam Kato, Life Like Heritage. I'll let others with more experience fill out the steam brands.
Walt, First off welcome to TrainBoard. Newbies are always welcome here. This is a great place to get opinions and advice. We have some of the finest individuals you'll ever hope to meet. The best of the best and... well...you know, those other characters. LOL :tb-err: You should get some excellent advice here My two cents worth. I don't think there is a bad starter set out there. I would however, recommend you look at the best product lines for a starter set. My comparative listing starts with what I consider to be the best to mediocre. Kato, Atlas, MicroTrains, InterMountain, Athearn, ConCor and Walthers. When it comes to Life Like, Rivarossi, Bachmann, Model Power, Mini-Trix and others... I would recommend you approach yellow over red...cautiously. I have some Bachman, Rivarossi and Life Like that runs sweet and some that don't. For example: The newer Bachmann are a big improvement from the older stuff they produced. (That would be true of most brands). Still they lack the quality of the standard setter...Kato. My best advice is to consider purchasing the better product lines. There you have it! :we2-policeman: Chuckling...these funny faces are something else EH?
Question, How does one become a Beginner in this hobby? I have not built a lay out to speak of tell the last few months, but I have been in this hobby from way back when I was just a pup. Trains have been in my blood for a long time. Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against new people in the hobby, I just wonder at what point di one wake up and say, "Hey I think I'll take up model railroading today?" Anyway that being said...... Most anything you buy now in N-Scale is good stuff, just rememnber you get what you pay for, if you spend $10 for a new loco, don't be too suprised when it goes wheels up. Of the brands out there, for motive power, I have had good luck with Life-Like, Atlas, Kato, Intermountain, & Micro-Trains. Tthe Bachmann stuff if kinda ify, some works OK others don't. I sold off most every loco I had that was Bachmann, I still have a non-running DDA40X for roundhouse display, and a running DDA40X in SP that works pretty well for now anyway. Con-Cor mades good stuff most of the time, but some people have had trouble with the AeroTrain, but I don't think a beginner will be looking at buying one of those yet. I have some of the U50 and Trubins, they run the same chassis, and they run good. As far as rolling stock goes just abot anything is Ok, just depends on how much detail you want, the Bachmann cars are kinda on the low end, with Micro-Trains on the high end. For a beginner I would say get Kato Uni-track, then go from there. the Uni-Track you can set up and take down many times tell you are ready to build a layout. Other types of track will not stay put on its own and came apart unless built into a layout. I find many beginner get turned off by this one thing, and the train go in abox and get forgotten, so if your going to be putting up track and taking it down, get Uni-Track. If your building a lay out a lot of the guy here have also used Uni-Track, but the newer Atlas code 55 if popular and I would be using it my self it weren't for the ton of Code 80 I have kicking around and lack of funds at this time. Ok I'll let other toss in a few words.....
Buy the best that you can afford. Kato, Atlas, Intermountain, Athearn are some of the best for locomotives and MTL, Atlas, IM are just some of the mfgs of rolling stock, there are many more. I would rather buy 1 of the better locos then 2 of the lesser quality. I also have some Life like and Bachmann locomotives but i would not reccommend them for somebody starting out. The Atlas N scale starter set is perfect for a beginner. It has track, cars, a nice GP15-1, transformer. Take a look. Most of all have fun. Dave
Welcome aboard first of all. Secondly a Sets for a Beginner is Kato, for product Rep, expandability, and fast to be up and running happily. Two would have to be Atlas same reasonong as with Kato but Second place. Other than that I would not buy a Set so to speak. Due to expandability more than other reasons. Locomotives, once again Kato, Atlas, Intermountain but look over closely prior to committing to purchase(QA issues) but good Locos when you catch them rite. Athearn, then Kato and all the others. Rollingstock is getting to be a larger market all the time. Micro Trains number one in my book, two Intermountain, Third a new comer to the market place is Exact Rail alittle more expensive but worth the extra Bucks; Accurate details. Atlas Mater then Trainman brands can't go wrong with for the price around $10 each. Walthers Proto 2000 is a good line, the other nicnames under Walthers are ok like Trainman. Bachmann I would stay away from, What I did was buy quite a bit of Kato Unitrak and a MRC duel DC Transformer and a loco ten cars of different types and a 4'x8'x 1/2" plywood board and off we went. Been having fun ever since. Above all get em up and running quick and the fun just builds from there; it's built rite in. I left a picture of my first layout after 30 years; it was HO not much to look at and far cry from where I am today. But I was able to get the trains running quickly which Spurred my interest further. Two years later I have a layout now that I'm quite proud of in N Scale though. lol
M.B. woo woo woo has the Atlas Trainman sets for $89.99. I'm just getting started in the hobby as well, but from all I've read I don't think you could go wrong there. Another possibility would be to purchase a Kato M1 or M2 starter set. It comes with Unitrack and the Kato Powerpack, rerailer/unijoiner tool, road crossing, some straights, and 12-3/8" radius curves to make an oval. The M2 set adds 2 turnouts, turnout boxes, and some additional track to make a passing siding. You would need to buy your loco and cars seperate for going this route, which is certaily not a bad thing. This is not the cheapest option, but it's a very flexible way to go with very high quality stuff that shouldn't disappoint. This is essentially what I am doing except I'm not buying a M1 or M2 because I'm going DCC. Bachmann starter set? Not saying you couldn't get one and be perfectly happy but after all my research that's about as rare as a unicorn. I had one about 10 years ago which was my only previous model railroading experience. Without boring you how that went, you have to figure it turned me away from the hobby for 10 years.
Yup...the Atlas Trainman sets for $89.99 is a good place to start. You can always 'expand' from there. My first n scale set was a LL starter set. I still have the UP GP 20 it came with...it's working in "T.H.E. Yard"...:tb-cool: .
Welcome to the hobby and this site. Havent read all the replies yet, so if I am beating a dead horse, I appologize. Spend what you can. There is nothing better at turning a new hobbiest away from model railroading than troublsome trains. So, even if you start out with a "Starter set" hold on tight, because it gets better as you grow into the higher end stuff. So, like someone else mentioned, there is not really a bad set to start with, but keep in mind, you do get what you pay for, so if you go for the "toyish" stuff, that is fine, but keep in mind, it is a toy, and may or may not proform for you as an adult hobbiest. If thats what you can afford to start with, then by all means, do that, and worry about the better stuff as you can. But, I would buy "piece by piece" after some homework. That way, you can get what you want, and save where you can. If that is the way, A good Atlas would work out fine for you. I would go with Diesel to start with, because Steam, as cool as they are, (I am a steam head by the way) they tend to be a bit more less forgiving. Find yourself a good F body diesel, or something of that nature to start with. Grow into the steam, and more detailed stuff later as you learn. If you are on a tight budget, Life-Like diesels can be found very cheap, and for the money, run very nice. Be sure you get one of the newer type tho, and not something from the 70's. I run several Life Likes, and if you are choosy with which one you get, you will do well. I have some that run as nice as the cadilac of trains (Kato), and a third the cost. A good Life Like E-8 are very fine runners, and can be bought for $20-$50. Pick yourself up a few cars to drag around. Dont worry about what yet, just something to drag around. Dont forget the caboose, <grin>. As far as track. This is a biggie. If you got the funds, buy a loop andmaybe a couple turnouts of Kato UniTrack. That way, you can set up a temp loop to run things imediatly. KatoUnitrac is kinda pricey, but VERY good quality track. Track is everyting in the small scales. Remember, any little gap, bump, or missalighnment is amplified by 160 times based on a 1:160 scale of N scale. So, if you have to skimp, try not to do it with track. Run your new self put together starter set around that Kato track loop a few times, get the feel of it, get bored, then start spreding your wings then. Ask any questions here, before and after purchase. Lots of good into and knowlegable folk here. Welcome again..
Welcome to TrainBoard. For starters, buy an Atlas or Kato four or six axle diesel in the road name you want to model. You must also consider the time period you want to model. Then purchase 8-10 freight cars in that same era. For best results, buy Micro Train, Atlas or Intermountain freight cars for starters. That is enough to get you going in N Scale. Then you have to decide which track to use. I suggest Unitrack. You can lay out the Unitrack in any configuration. I used Unitrack for a permanent layout, the JJJ&E which has been operational for nine years. You can see what I did with Unitrack on my website below. Have fun picking out your locomotives and rolling stock.............
Get a Kato Super Chief set. It will be all you need to start having fun with trains in N scale right now and all of it is top quality so you won't be tossing it aside for better stuff later on. That is what I would have started with if I knew a few months ago what I know now. Kato Unitrack is great to start running trains on, and Kato engines are some of the best. Now this is if you don't want to piece meal it and buy everything separate as Bob suggested above.
I started out by buying some track to make a small loop, a secondhand DC power pack, a pair of used LL SW 9/1200 switchers, and some freight cars. I still use that original equipment, but I know have a lot more stuff to choose from. To get the layout running urge out of my system I joined a club so I could run some trains in scenery and learn tips and tricks from some other folks. I am now building a layout at home and doing some hands on learning with a Digitrax Zephyr. It's a great hobby. Bachmann isn't all bad. I have been consistently impressed with their Spectrum line. I don't know if I'd bother with used stuff that wasn't Spectrum. I don't yet own any Bachmann Spectrum gear apart from one tender, but some of the folks in my club have Spectrum locos and they work well.
My only caution is that if you buy a "Starter set", the prices are sometimes marked up a bit simply for that reason, you're starting out. Also, starter sets don't really give you much options. A preselected train and an oval of track. I think what you should do before you buy anything is decide just how much you want this to take you. If you want a train room empire someday, you might want to research DCC and look towards the more prototypical flex track selections. If you just want a conversation piece, a simple starter set will suffice. As far as brand, well, everyone else has nailed it. Stick with Kato & Atlas to build your experience and knowledge. However one thing I have not read yet, go to your local hobby shop (if you still have one.. darn economy) and have them test run your engine before you buy it. Have them compair a Kato to a Bachmann for you. Look at detail as well as functionality. Good luck!
I have been told that in many cases it is marked down, in other words you get more value in a starter. In any case, I priced out the Kato set individually at MBKlien and it came out about the same. So I ended up not getting the set because I did not feel it was saving me any money and I already had some rolling stock from two other much cheaper sets. So I ended up getting a Kato Master 2 Starter set because it had a passing siding. I wanted to avoid the simple oval at this point that you mentioned, I did that with the Bachmann set. The Master 2 set came with everything I needed to start with Unitrack, and in that set you do end up saving about $20 on the Powerpack. I also bought a couple Kato engines separately too. I really started having fun after I got this stuff, which is why if I recommended the Super Chief set if starting out from scratch. It is a very nice starter(the F7A is one of the Kato engines I bought separately). But you would have to want a passenger train I guess. Otherwise an Atlas or Kato engine plus some rolling stock and a Master 2 set would be a nice start.
I've got a bunch of Unitrack. It's what's kept me in the hobby,since I really never could soldier track that well and figure out how wiring should work. All my L&N locomotives are Atlas,and they run great,if that too is an indicator.
Esther's Hobby Shop sells different levels of starter packs, featuring Kato Unitrack, an MDC power pack if needed, A Life Like engine and 5 matching freight cars. They even include a table if you need one. I picked one up after Christmas just to try out some of the Unitrack. It's been running pretty much non-stop since I set it up, with the exception that my Kato Mikado is doing the pulling. (Esther's Hobby Shop)
My $.02 Worth Hi, and welcome aboard. That's my first comment as well. I live in Baltimore, so woo woo woo's was my first stop for trains, period - and they've regretted it ever since! I drive them nuts (look at my handle, you'll understand). For a Train SET, I recommend Kato, mainly because you get both the Unitrack track system and a good-to-excellent locomotive, right from the start. The "power pack" is okay, nothing fancy there, but it will do the job for now, and if you move up to DCC, it's a good accessory power source. If you stay DC, it's good for a second throttle. Atlas has excellent locos, generally speaking; so does Con-Cor. Bachmann SPECTRUM locos are great; Bachmann standard are to be AVOIDED like the Black Plague. Athearn is getting better and better every time they bring a new one out; their Challenger was an excellent buy - I know, I have one and it is a STAR! I can't speak to the InterMountain units from experience, but I've heard they're pretty darn good locos. MicroTrains cars are beautiful, as are Atlas, Con-Cor, Kato, and most of the other big names. Rivarossi are sweet looking, but they still have Rapido couplers factory-mounted, where just about everyone else mounts MicroTrains-compatible couplers stock. Watch out. And that's about all I can tell you for starters - except keep reading here, and get a subscription to one of the big 4 model railroading magazines for more news and reviews; MR, RMC, N Scale, or N Scale Railroading. Or more than one of them.
Thanks to everyone for their feedback, I picked up a lot of good ideas, still researching stuff for now, reading, looking online, going to a train show this weekend, anyway thanks again. Walt
Can you tell us a little about your interests? Why you're interested in the hobby? Which type of trains you would want to model? What your modeling intentions are. Basically more specifics. This could give you a simple approach as to what direction you should go.
