This is a matter of opinion, of course, but what is the general take on the quality of the various manufactures of HO scale locos and rolling stock?
I'm not even aware of many of the vendors. Bachmann, Athearn, Model Power, Life-Like. None other come to mind at the moment. But I haven't been looking long either.
Currently I have a Bachmann #50440 USRA 0-6-0 (Smoky Mountain Express). I bought this in a rush to get a train under the tree since the Lionel Polar Express sets were all sold out at the time (I eventually got one on December 23rd, and 25% off to boot.) It was the only smoking steam loco the hobby store had, so I grabbed it. (I love smoke...)
The Smoky Mountain Express is cute, but seems kind of weak.
The other is a Bachmann #11322 GS4 4-8-4 Southern Pacific (War Baby). This has performed very well. On about 60"x70" layout it can pull a line of cars nearly long enough for the engine to couple with the rear of the caboose.
Which reminds me. I asked a while back about how many cars a loco can pull. Someone was kind enough to give a technical explanation about tractive power.
But what about speed? Is the speed of the loco limited purely buy it's design? Can a larger power supply make the loco run faster (given the same size layout), or are larger power supplies just for the purpose of powering larger layouts?
I don't have experience with Broadway limited, Mantua Classics, MRC, or retooled Roundhouse, etc, but judging from reviews they probably rank in category 2 or 3.
The speed of an engine is determined by its motor and gearing, and the voltage available to it. Its pulling power is determined by its weight on drivers, and its factor of adhesion. The engine will draw as much power as it needs, to the limit available from the powerpack. Most HO powerpacks, even the cheapies supplied with some train sets, have more than enough power for one or two HO engines.
At the nominal 12V maximum produced by most powerpacks, most model engines run at way too high a top speed. The cheap engines actually run faster than the expensive ones (guess why :-)), sometimes at well over
200 scale mph. Athearn's "Hustler" diesel of sainted memory clocked over
400 scale mph!
60 mph is 88ft/second. In HO (1:87), 60mph equates almost exactly to
1ft/second. In O scale (1:48), it's almost exactly 22" per second. A full scale length streamlined passenger car is about a foot long in HO, and about 22" long in O. So that should give you an good idea of how to estimate the speed of your trains. Few freight trains, even today, run faster than 60mph.
No flywheel, only motor on one bogie, wrong gearbox layout following to high speed at max power. Metal worm gear onto plastic cogwheel (wears out fast).
No, give me Roco models or Mehano in their professonal line.
So, about that last, Mehano: are they still made in the Czech Republic (formerly made in Czechoslovakia)? I've got several Mehano models from yesteryear, and all of them are pretty well made. Are they only available in Yurp? Haven't seen any here (US) for a while.
Keep in mind that Slovenia is the most affluent of the former Yugoslav constituent republics.
So from that page, it appears as if all the models in their "Prestige" (as opposed to "Hobby") line are European models. Any US models in their high-quality line?
As you may have gathered from Wolf's reply, quality locomotives are judged on how SLOW they will run smoothly. Toy quality trains are often geared to go way too fast, perhaps to please the toy buyer. There are even aftermarket re-gearing kits to enable some locomotives to be geared lower, for a lower top speed and smoother performance at 1 or 2 scale MPH or less.
Quality can mean different things to different folk. Ideally the quality model would never derail, never uncouple accidentally, be a faithful replica of its prototype in all dimensions, be completely detailed right down to the undercarriage, have even the tiniest details in three dimensions, no cast on detail, have all windows glazed, be weighted up the NMRA recommendations, have constant intensity lights, have full interior detailing, last forever, and cost next to nothing. Few commercial models are quite this good.
I have three personal classifications of quality
Really great stuff
Good dependable stuff
Stuff I won't buy unless the price is really right
The Really Great Stuff Atlas Kadee Brass steamers (if they are good runners or can be retrofitted to run well)
The Good Dependable Stuff Athearn Proto 2K Accurail Bachman Spectrum steamers MDC Bowser IHC steamers Mantua steamers
Stuff I won't buy unless the price is really right
Tyco Bachmann NON spectrum anything and most Bachmann diesels
Pulling power of locomotives, both model and prototype, is limited by the onset of wheel spin. The motors all have enough omph to spin the wheels. Tractive effort can be computed by multiplying weight on drivers by the coefficient of friction of nickel silver on nickel silver (or steel on steel). The coefficient of friction is in the order of
0.25 for either case, so in round numbers a locomotive's drawbar pull is about one quarter of the locomotive's weight. On the prototype sand is used to increase the coefficient of friction when needed. Some models use rubber traction tires for the same purpose. Adding weight to locomotives improves their pulling power. Most plastic steamers are light, and pull somewhat less than we owners would like. The older cast metal boiler steam will pull more. Model diesels pull more than model steamers, to the dismay of us lovers of steam.
Derailment is the limiting factor on train speed, again this works on both model and prototype. Most model locomotives will run plenty fast enough to derail on a curve. Many models top speed is in the order of
200 scale miles per hour, which is way fast. All model power supplies, even the cheapest trainset pack, will furnish all the current one locomotive wants at rated output voltage (12VDC for HO, maybe a tad more AC volts for Lionel). The power pack makers take care never to exceed the rated voltage at full throttle, lest bad things happen to customers trains, like lamps blowing out. For HO, 12 volts is the limit, and all power packs will produce 12 volts and no more than 12 volts at full throttle, give or take some manufacturing tolerances. For Lionel the same considerations apply, although I can no longer remember exactly what Lionel full throttle voltage is supposed to be. Might be 12 VAC, might be 16 VAC, might be something else. So, for a single locomotive, any power pack will make the train go as fast it's gonna go. For say a ABBA diesel lashup with all four units powered (no dummy units) you may need a bit more current than the bottom of the line power packs can furnish. The size of your layout doesn't make much, if any difference in the amount of current your power pack needs to furnish. One locomotive draws the same amount of current on a small oval around the Christmas tree as it does on a layout the fills a two car garage. Of course, larger layouts have room for more locomotives so in that sense larger layouts have larger power supplies.
And this criterion has existed for longer than many in the (amnesiac) hobby press would say. I used to have an RMC from 1967, containing an article on realistic operation which stated that a model locomotive must be able to crawl at no more than 1 SMPH to be considered realistic.
The real Trix loks (Diesel and electric outline) of the last ten plus years have had center motors driving both bogies. Of course Maerklin also labels their 2 rail versions of their coffee grinders "Trix" to ensure the brand never gets the credit it deserves.
The prototypes never could crawl at 1 mph, but we like our models to acelerate smoothly from zero. Cheap models tend to go directly to high speed which spoils the effect of great mass being accelerated which is the way real trains operate.
The VT858 is something of an oddity prototypically - it shuttles back and forth between a fiddle yard and an industrial yard (circa 2m) while I'm talking to viewers at exhibitions. I'd guess it's run about 1000m in the time I've owned it. Probably not a fair test on which to base an opinion of Trix products. OTOH my Trix steam locos have run much greater distances, other than the BR96 which is a Trix branded Ma product.
That's not much. We have over 1000 meter of tracks.....
Yes, I know that one - a "coffe grinder" We have it as "Märklin - Hamo", shitty product.
We allso have the Trix "Cargo sprinter", that is not a Märklin product, but is mounted with metal worm gear on the shaft of the motor pulling a metal cogwheel in a bogie that turns. There is som play between them, but guess, what wears down quickly.....
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