The world needs a Genesee and Wyoming locomotive without the logos on the nose and sides. Then, it needs to include a decal sheet with the logos of several g&w railroads so we can make a unit from our favorite. A bag of optional details to make it prototype specific seals the deal.
"Actually running trains is the most boring part of the hobby..." -You said it. I like to paint and detail mine. I usually get about halfway then I see a screaming deal on a locomotive. So I start selling off stuff for less than I paid for it. I buy new stuff, planning to model a different era. I have switched from HO to N and back twice now. In reality my layout is a 3 foot circle of crummy Power Loc track sort of nailed to a disc of plywood that's basically just a test loop for all the zombie Mantua switchers I end up collecting and bringing back to life against their wishes to just finally die in peace. If I run trains it's usually just to stare blankly at a short consist of the cars in my collection that are complete and can make it around the track without uncoupling chasing its tail and wonder how on Earth I got sucked back into this hobby after leaving it 20 years ago. Your videos are great.
Manufacturers need to focus more on making preserved locomotives Pretty much every manufacturer makes popular diesel locomotives but completely skips paint schemes and numbers that are currently In museums and thus would sell like hot cakes
1/64 scale autos are dirt cheap but 1/64 scale (not American Flyer) trains are pricey. Meanwhile 1/87 scale trains are dirt cheap but 1/87 scale autos are ridiculously expensive.
Lionel bought American Flyer from the Gilbert Company in 1967. This was the doom of S guage. Lionel had no reason to continue a product created to compete with them. Unlike O gauge, S was specific to one brand. The decline under Gilbert in the sixties and the disappearance of flyer for over a decade under Lionel ownership has relegated S to a small niche of the hobby. It is harder to work in S because the Gilbert only produced S guage Flyer for less than two decades. There is just a very limited amount of power and rolling stock to choose from. Some lower end Gilbert sets are very affordable and they can be great fun to run. I had always wanted trains to go with my Matchbox and Hotwheels cars and a simple Gilbert freight set serves this purpose well.
@@Wilbern-cq8lz ah, now that explains everything. Heard you couldn’t even get a plastic model of some “obscure locomotive” called the Sd40-2, only brass.
Carson RC does 1/87 cars (only German ones): - VW Beetle - VW T1 Trasporter - Mercedes Unimog - Mercedes O302 Bus (w Sound!) But the Faller Car System and the Viessmann CarMotion are much more popular…
It's fun and all, but quite expensive. And only the Carson is RC. The other two are based on a wire or a magnetic track that you need to lay in the road. Then the vechicle's front axel will follow the strip with another magnet. It's much more work, but after that the vechicles are basically "self driving". Probebly that's why European modelers are prefer those, they want to concentrate on the trains, I guess.
Bowser was the reason I was even able to start this hobby. They filled my niche with more detail than beginner cars, while not charging the prices of Rapido. As someone trying to model the 20's their gla-2 hoppers and gondola's were crucial to helping me build my first train.
The urinal headlight thing is such a pet peeve of mine, Kato does it on their GS-4 & E5 models & it absolutely bugs the hell out of me. They've even done the opposite & put no yellow filter over the headlights of some their models *cough cough* SD80MAC *cough Cough*
I can agree with you about fixing locomotives, I love tinkering with them and learning how they work. The other day, I fixed up an old BLI PRR 4-8-2 M1b. It is owned by the club I am part of and for a while it sat in non-operable condition. the original QSI decoder died and a failed decoder replacement attempt by a repair shop (it fried) left it sitting for some time. Until I asked an older guy named Gary who mostly repairs locos. I took up the challenge and I managed to get it running by completely rewiring the whole decoder harness to the correct tethers that plug into the back of the locomotive. It brought me joy to see the first locomotive I ever ran on the club layout ride the rails once more. Though, I put in a cheap nonsound decoder into it, but it runs fantastic now.
0:21 Yes thank you This statement should go about. And Lionel is getting sued For the use of model power tools? When model power was in business they were kind of like tyco I wish they would come back to life
I absolutely agree with the "sound should be an option and not be forced on the consumer". My primary model train collection is in a format largely unfamiliar to US-modellers, being three-rail H0. There is a nasty trend going around here in Europe with manufacturers producing non-sound and sound-fitted versions for two-rail H0, but only sound-fitted versions for three-rail H0. This means I would on average need to pay 80-100+ Euros more for a locomotive, despite the fact that most factory-fitted sound sets are of poor sound quality to me and I therefore don't want them. It is so annoying!
This whole video is an aggressive vibe and I love it, and I agree with so much of the video too. The awkward thing is i have a reverse problem to one you mentioned in the video, most of my collection is British and now I dont have any rolling stock to run behind my GG1.
Bachmann needs to make an actual model of the V&T Inyo since that's what their 4-4-0s are all based on. oh and someone needs to make a model of the Central Pacific El Gobenator idk what scale, gauge, or manufacturer it just needs to happen.
0:41 Whilst likely not exactly what you mean, as it was a slot car system and not RC, but Triang did produce a road system around the 1960s, compatible with their OO train system, Minic Motorways was effectively just a primitive version of the popular Scalextrix system, designed for building urban environments and complex road systems, whilst being compatible with their more popular OO train system through use of level crossings, a road railer system, and a car transport flatcar which can be parked in a bay, where electrical contacts on the wagon engage with contacts on the bay, so cars can drive up onto the flatcar
Good video! I have what I feel is an unpopular opinion. I love a toylike layout that uses Life Like and Bachmann stuff from the 70s. The super detailed layouts of today are nice, but I really enjoy a more toylike look. Plus all that old, unwanted, not as realistic stuff is wasy mor affordable to me.
Very interesting and informative. As for the opinion that "every knuckle coupler is inferior to a Kadee-made one", the folks at my model railroad club (and myself) are in complete agreeance, as for every piece of rolling stock they've had me assemble from a kit, Kadee couplers are substituted for the ones that came in the box.
@@vehicles_n_stuff Well, at the very least, your layout is up and running, whereas my home layout is still very much in the construction phase. Moreover, the Kadee couplers we have at my model railroad club are specifically used for rolling stock that is going on the club layout, and I don't think the club president would be very happy if members decided to take a handful of these couplers home.
May I stir the pot a bit and vouch for Sergent supremacy? Far more reliable and better looking than Kadees (with all respect to Kadee's commitment to quality, and their good sprung trucks) in my experience. Much less snatch at the end of trains too.
If you ever think the Bachmann Big Haulers 4-6-0 are that bad, wait until you realise that AristoCraft once made an "affordable" live steam G scale Mikado and an A5 switcher built almost entirely out of PLASTIC.
Every year at my train club, we see what’s the most ridiculous thing we can pull up the club’s helix, this year it was my Santa Fe 4-8-4 pulling a 12 car streamlined passenger car set
Maybe every single layout _doesn't_ need to be set in the 1950's? Like... I understand the nostalgia draw for the boomers; I feel it myself for the bright blue conrail GP40's that I saw when I was a kid, but there's just soooooo much room for creativity and uniqueness that i never see get explored. Where are the tabletop wargamers that also happen to like model railroading, and they cross-pollinate to add castles, battlefields, and ruins, or haul freight through a dystopian sci-fi future?
I agree. I want to model a modern railroad, yet good luck finding HO scale cars, trucks, and buses that are after 1955. Every vehicle on a layout is from the 50s maybe you can get a muscle car from the 60s or 70s, but that’s it.
I model with N scale and want to do something more modern, but most of what’s around is just long haul trains of auto racks, intermodal, and of course, unit trains going from long place to long place. It’s also difficult to find accessories like buildings and cars for this modern stuff as somebody else mentioned. I like D&D and play SOME war games and briefly contemplated adding some fantasy elements but doing more than a random hobbit hole is a pretty far end of a deep pool, plus a large investment. The only thing that drags me closer to the 50s is the existing supply of industries and cars, plus the fact that there were a lot more short run local trains delivering to small towns. If you want to do that now, it’s a short line that you’ll have to paint and decal yourself.
1"16 thats why i love the layout in rhinelander wi, they have a whole ass logging line and i beleive an entirely custom model of thunder lake no. 5 which was the only preserved locomotive there
3:26-Actually, MTH did an HO scale Dreyfuss Hudson back in 2009. 5:55-Athearn recently announced a Santa Fe F7 Bluebonnet in HO as part of their Roundhouse line! I will be getting one when it comes out!
I have a German 0-6-0 from Fleischmann that I got at a train show. It has american style couplers, screws in place of buffers, and i plan on keeping it that way
I have an E44 by Fleischmann that also has horn hooks- they're made of diecast metal and definitely designed for the model, it seems like it must have been produced for the US market. Someone removed the pantographs on mine tho which sucks.
S is a funny one isn't it? Theres the obvious American flyer, but Stadtilm, Bub, stromheim etc all made S, even Hornby made a few preproduction prototypes in the fifties, but it never really did catch the publics eye, it bankrupted poor bub who was one of the earliest manufacturers of trains, going further back than märklin.
For your BR Standard locomotive, I’d recommend a few MK1 coaches in BR Maroon or Blood and Custard for a passenger train or a random assortment of British steam era wagons from Hornby or Bachmann (Hornby made a Pepsi Tanker and I own one, it’s cool) for a goods train
I have to agree with you saying running trains is the most boring part of the hobby. As someone with a very small starter sort of layout with no potential for anything that resembles a operating session, mostly cause I only have one switch. When I'm running trains I'm generally either listening to music or listening to a video & just watching the train go around in circles. Customizing my rolling stock is way more engaging. Also why are there no good electric steeplecabs in ho, yet alone affordable ones, I love electric locos so that really bugs me.
I recently had a go dabbling in modern H0, seeing what I was missing out on. After all, I've often been told or have read that everything is available in H0, decent prices, it's a case of follow the yellow brick road. Excellent. Now, imagine my surprise when I look for an electric locomotive, my favourites. Okay, a gg1, and... and... um... But with my old standard gauge: I've got mighty bi-polars, workaday New Havens, pioneering S motors, and ubiquitious T motors. Where's all this amazing H0 range I'd been hearing about??? Sorry, my short-lived delve into dcc H0 has reverted back to the thunderous roar of prewar tinplate electrics. Although I must admit I enjoy running trains
I have seen BLI Paragon 2 Gen Dreyfus Hudson's go for under 450$ from time to time, so they can be gotten more affordable than the recent run a few years ago from Paragon 4.
@@Mark_The_Railfan If you are happy for the price of the Rivarrosi and level of detail and accuracy. That is fine. If you know how to upgrade it as well in order to run on most club layouts that is fine too. Bachmann's will be under 300$ when it comes out at tetailers, but in order to pull an accurate consist, that will probably not be it, but we shall see. I have heard good things about their normal J3A being able to pull decently well a lengthy passenger trains, so hopefully this new direction of new toolings goes well. I have the streamlined K4 that came out a few years ago from Bachmann and it could not pull an accurate consist.
As someone who works in the industry at one of the higher end manufacturers, I have several contradicting opinions on released products and the released train sets from other competitors.
TT scale is at the perfect balancing point between being small enough to fit a good layout into space and large enough to allow for practical scratch-building, and it's a shame it disappeared. Manufactures should be required to release at least five different underrepresented steam locomotive classes in between producing yet another Big Boy. I want a Forney, an 0-8-0, and a non-N&W Class J Mountain in N.
Good observation regarding tt. I've got a fair amount of the European tt and as you say, it really is in that sweet spot as far as size goes. Large enough to have that 'mass' that n doesn't possess, but small enough to still be useful for a decent train.
Good observation regarding tt. I've got a fair amount of the European tt and as you say, it really is in that sweet spot as far as size goes. Large enough to have that 'mass' that n doesn't possess, but small enough to still be useful for a decent train.
Heres one of my opinions All passenger cars with interiors SHOULD have scale people in them. They dont have to be super detailed people with individually hand painted clothes (which I have done, it took ages. Looks amazing when sitting still, at speed you cant really tell) Why? Because empty passenger cars look funny and when they're populated it looks like the train is serving an actual purpose
Keep on preaching about manufacturers only offering locomotives with dcc sound. I know dcc is in favor but I want to choose what decoder Im running. Shoot I love sound but a lot of the pre installed sound systems sound poor. Thats why Kato is one of my favorites, they sell dc locomotives fit for drop in decoders and you still have the option for pre installed sound
have you ever tried Sergent/Prototype couplers? Nowadays, I remove Kadees (and their lookalikes) with the same haste that most finescale modellers used to remove horn-hooks, as I found Sergents to be far more reliable, and far easier on the eye. I'd even recommend buying a set to play around with and use as scenery dressing!
Stories of Locomotives that where just bricks of metal makes me laugh." Can you explain this one at 6:24? On buying a UK prototype locomotive and not buying specific rolling stock behind it, I can relate. I do like it that it didn't stop you from running it with those North American style beer tank cars.
Well since we're talking pet peeves, if you can't paint a backdrop at least half as good as Bob Ross, then don't. Nothing ruins more great layouts than a crappy backdrop. A basic blue backdrop is better than looking at a 3rd grade level painting of mountains, trees and clouds.
What is the train on the cover? I have an n scale train that I found in my basement one day and it looks exactly like that but I don’t know what train it is.
The smallest wheel configuration on an ho scale & n scale locomotive (not thomas and friends) in the US is an 0-6-0 brand new while 00 scale receives 0-4-0 locomotives and 0-4-0 tender locomotives. Honestly small industrial locomotives in the USA for N & HO are under represented and would make for great locomotives in low cost entry level sets, being easy to work on and wouldn't care about 15" radius curves. HO switches (standard radius) in America are longer than the UK versions since they don't have an 1.5 inch overhang In the front. There is no standard set track HO track system with all types of switches ( three way, double slip, curved, and standard) Marklin was the only manufacturer to make Radius one switches. While N gauge has two (Peco and minitrix) The smallest plastic roadbed wye switch in N scale is 11.75" tomix track Can someone please make up their mind, either put a length of track on each side of a 90 degree crossing so that you can not make a double track crossing or leave the length of track out so you have proper track spacing. Both for N and HO
I'm getting one of the Dreyfuss Hudsons from Bachmann funny thing is I had planned to buy the old Rivarrosi Hudson the week Bachmann announced their normal J3A then I waited and my waiting did not fail I cant wait 1225 is waiting for a partner to run the line
Here's another one: Manufacturers should stop producing models with niche X paint scheme if they can't get the locomotive or rolling stock correct to said niche road (looking at BLI, Bachmann, Athearn)
@@hjmiller2689 Honestly, I beg to differ. Tooling something is expensive, and every model would cost you a kidney if they were all super road specific. Especially in the steam market.
@@cobramerciless I should re-specify: in the diesel market. If "new" tooled equipment is offered and stuff like bells, horns, light arrangements and trucks should be considered. ESPECIALLY if you're selling undecorated models (looking at Walthers and Athearn butchering some GP35's for years now). For steam, some sort of "base" model or massively produced model should be considered. Or if there is a popular niche model that is circulating too. Which is about right for some, but the steam market definitely needs a revamp.
@@hjmiller2689 : How do you feel about ScaleTrains' new "Hypotypical" line? They seem to think there's a good market for not-quite-accurate-to-the-paint-scheme locomotives that they don't have the detail parts to do accurately, but they are clearly marking the models as "not quite prototypical" so you know what you're getting.
DC Sound should also be an option only. It sounds terrible! Bachmann: once bitten twice shy. All of my 19th Century equipment was made by Mehano how many decades ago? We felt the same way when ModelTrainStuff (M.B. Kleins) closed last year. I'd been going to them for 50 years.
2:46 1:g scale aristocraft spring knuckles. (I have a bedroom g scale layout and am working on an outdoor g scale layout.) 2 I am working on something similar right now.... May not be an Xbox controller but potato patoto
The RC car thing was literally a thought I had within the past two weeks. Then I found a 1/64 RC drift car and now I want to build an entire HO layout around it. Actually, I now wish Mattel would bring Tyco back from the dead and Lionel would finally either sort their Model Power stuff out or partner with Mattel to come back to HO. Other than that, not really anything that I disagree with.
It's just the Lionel 0642 and 0605 that have that particular shitty drive. And what sucks about it imho is how you have to take apart the entire loco just to replace the drive belt, and then it takes a bunch of fine tuning to make the locomotive run. Mine runs really well, but it took a lot of trial and error to get there. The 0643 steam locomotives use a spring belt that you really shouldn't ever need to replace, the 0602 and all of the Pacifics have proper gear drives which work just fine, though some of the earlier models often suffer from cracked nylon gears. Lionel must have noticed the problem because they switched to mostly using metal gears c. 1963.
1. Some Lionel fantasy schemes are good actually 2. I'm sick of 30 million different people making the same locomotive, different manufacturers should do their own thing, have one make steam, one make modern diesel and one make vintage diesel 3. If you can put sound in it, you can put spinning bearings on it. 4. Shiny is good sometimes 5. There is nothing wrong with inaccuracy as long as the price isn't high 6. Sam's trains can be annoying sometimes 7. Vision line phantom train 8. I want a model of the Ps-4 that's accurate for a change 9. If you're being stupid with models, don't get butthurt when I say your repaint looks fucking atrocious 10. Just because you can customize it doesn't mean you should 11. We'd be better off if Lionel went bankrupt 12. More ALCos 13. More GEs 14. HOn3, ON3, SN3 and FN3 need to be more common and accessible 15. Brass models are overpriced, overrated garbage
We need another Casey Jones 4-6-0. I despite when bachmann uses the smallest fucking screws they can get. I want an entire train in the UP 1943 scheme. I want a Maine Centeal 470 that I don't have to put custom decals on. We need more 1800's style locomotives and cars. We need more ON30 stuff. I am going to get a bacgmann 0-6-0 and i am going to put a rio grande snow plow on it and paint it into a BNSF paint scheme and no one can stop me
loop layouts are boring as could be and i am tired of them. I love switching layouts but there are so few good one's that aren't track mania it is annoying Speaking of track mania. Why are marklin layouts and lionel 3 rail layouts all track and no scenery. Flat layouts with no elevation rises/ falls and very spaced out buildings are boring as hell
This is really good! Your delivery is very well done and you should do more. I could see this video being shared at a convention or a train show, even if they tend to smell funny.🤣
@@cobramerciless Well, you might be right but I think your opinions were stated in good fun. I've been modeling for 30+ years and I enjoyed them so don't be afraid to post more.
My biggest pet peeve is 3 rail O scale. I just can’t over look it. Lionel Vision Line engines have great attention to detail and realism that gets ruined once placed on unrealistic 3 rail track. I don’t understand the cult following this scale has.
Starting the video with a train with 10 cabooses has very aggressive vibes that was a perfect start to this video
Lol that member of our group is one of a kind for sure lol.
The world needs a Genesee and Wyoming locomotive without the logos on the nose and sides. Then, it needs to include a decal sheet with the logos of several g&w railroads so we can make a unit from our favorite. A bag of optional details to make it prototype specific seals the deal.
I have always thought this, and yet I’ve never seen any manufacturer do this
Indeed!
"Actually running trains is the most boring part of the hobby..." -You said it. I like to paint and detail mine. I usually get about halfway then I see a screaming deal on a locomotive. So I start selling off stuff for less than I paid for it. I buy new stuff, planning to model a different era. I have switched from HO to N and back twice now. In reality my layout is a 3 foot circle of crummy Power Loc track sort of nailed to a disc of plywood that's basically just a test loop for all the zombie Mantua switchers I end up collecting and bringing back to life against their wishes to just finally die in peace. If I run trains it's usually just to stare blankly at a short consist of the cars in my collection that are complete and can make it around the track without uncoupling chasing its tail and wonder how on Earth I got sucked back into this hobby after leaving it 20 years ago. Your videos are great.
@@GrandMerc89 I think you just need a proper place to run it
Manufacturers need to focus more on making preserved locomotives
Pretty much every manufacturer makes popular diesel locomotives but completely skips paint schemes and numbers that are currently In museums and thus would sell like hot cakes
Might have to deal with licensing that specific number
I want a MoPac 4502
I’ve always thought this about the Conrail GP30 2233 in the Strasburg Railroad Museum…I’ve never found a model of it.
Honestly, I’m surprised s scale isn’t more relevant. It’s the same scale as matchbox cars, so I don’t know what happened.
1/64 scale autos are dirt cheap but 1/64 scale (not American Flyer) trains are pricey. Meanwhile 1/87 scale trains are dirt cheap but 1/87 scale autos are ridiculously expensive.
@@GrandMerc89 yeah that really annoys me a lot. Fortunately for myself, 1/48 armor and aircraft are easy to find
Lionel bought American Flyer from the Gilbert Company in 1967. This was the doom of S guage. Lionel had no reason to continue a product created to compete with them. Unlike O gauge, S was specific to one brand. The decline under Gilbert in the sixties and the disappearance of flyer for over a decade under Lionel ownership has relegated S to a small niche of the hobby. It is harder to work in S because the Gilbert only produced S guage Flyer for less than two decades. There is just a very limited amount of power and rolling stock to choose from. Some lower end Gilbert sets are very affordable and they can be great fun to run. I had always wanted trains to go with my Matchbox and Hotwheels cars and a simple Gilbert freight set serves this purpose well.
@@Wilbern-cq8lz ah, now that explains everything.
Heard you couldn’t even get a plastic model of some “obscure locomotive” called the Sd40-2, only brass.
Yeah really. I just think Lionel won’t compete against themselves.
I'd rather watch a steam locomotive pull a intermodal and auto rack mix from Florida to Oregon. Than to see a 1 to 1 recreation of your home town
Carson RC does 1/87 cars (only German ones):
- VW Beetle
- VW T1 Trasporter
- Mercedes Unimog
- Mercedes O302 Bus (w Sound!)
But the Faller Car System and the Viessmann CarMotion are much more popular…
Well shoot, definitely going to be looking into those
It's fun and all, but quite expensive.
And only the Carson is RC. The other two are based on a wire or a magnetic track that you need to lay in the road. Then the vechicle's front axel will follow the strip with another magnet.
It's much more work, but after that the vechicles are basically "self driving". Probebly that's why European modelers are prefer those, they want to concentrate on the trains, I guess.
There a ho scale cybertruck.
Bowser is definitely a underrated manufacturer, considering they supply most of the PRR cabooses on the HO scale
Also alot of prr locomotive.
Their hoppers aren't bad, either. Great for filling out a fleet inexpensively.
Bowser was the reason I was even able to start this hobby. They filled my niche with more detail than beginner cars, while not charging the prices of Rapido.
As someone trying to model the 20's their gla-2 hoppers and gondola's were crucial to helping me build my first train.
Definitely yes to the Eggliners.
The urinal headlight thing is such a pet peeve of mine, Kato does it on their GS-4 & E5 models & it absolutely bugs the hell out of me. They've even done the opposite & put no yellow filter over the headlights of some their models *cough cough* SD80MAC *cough Cough*
This was the most fascinating train shower thoughts to ever binge on at 12:00
I can agree with you about fixing locomotives, I love tinkering with them and learning how they work. The other day, I fixed up an old BLI PRR 4-8-2 M1b. It is owned by the club I am part of and for a while it sat in non-operable condition. the original QSI decoder died and a failed decoder replacement attempt by a repair shop (it fried) left it sitting for some time. Until I asked an older guy named Gary who mostly repairs locos. I took up the challenge and I managed to get it running by completely rewiring the whole decoder harness to the correct tethers that plug into the back of the locomotive. It brought me joy to see the first locomotive I ever ran on the club layout ride the rails once more. Though, I put in a cheap nonsound decoder into it, but it runs fantastic now.
0:21 Yes thank you This statement should go about. And Lionel is getting sued For the use of model power tools? When model power was in business they were kind of like tyco I wish they would come back to life
I absolutely agree with the "sound should be an option and not be forced on the consumer".
My primary model train collection is in a format largely unfamiliar to US-modellers, being three-rail H0. There is a nasty trend going around here in Europe with manufacturers producing non-sound and sound-fitted versions for two-rail H0, but only sound-fitted versions for three-rail H0. This means I would on average need to pay 80-100+ Euros more for a locomotive, despite the fact that most factory-fitted sound sets are of poor sound quality to me and I therefore don't want them. It is so annoying!
This whole video is an aggressive vibe and I love it, and I agree with so much of the video too.
The awkward thing is i have a reverse problem to one you mentioned in the video, most of my collection is British and now I dont have any rolling stock to run behind my GG1.
The comment on S gauge really hit me to my core. I run American Flyer quite often.
These are all some solid takes man! Can’t wait to see what else you do!
Bachmann needs to make an actual model of the V&T Inyo since that's what their 4-4-0s are all based on. oh and someone needs to make a model of the Central Pacific El Gobenator idk what scale, gauge, or manufacturer it just needs to happen.
0:41
Whilst likely not exactly what you mean, as it was a slot car system and not RC, but Triang did produce a road system around the 1960s, compatible with their OO train system, Minic Motorways was effectively just a primitive version of the popular Scalextrix system, designed for building urban environments and complex road systems, whilst being compatible with their more popular OO train system through use of level crossings, a road railer system, and a car transport flatcar which can be parked in a bay, where electrical contacts on the wagon engage with contacts on the bay, so cars can drive up onto the flatcar
Finally someone who understands what I’ve been through
I'll stand with you on HO scale S160's and Eggliners
Good video! I have what I feel is an unpopular opinion. I love a toylike layout that uses Life Like and Bachmann stuff from the 70s. The super detailed layouts of today are nice, but I really enjoy a more toylike look. Plus all that old, unwanted, not as realistic stuff is wasy mor affordable to me.
Very interesting and informative. As for the opinion that "every knuckle coupler is inferior to a Kadee-made one", the folks at my model railroad club (and myself) are in complete agreeance, as for every piece of rolling stock they've had me assemble from a kit, Kadee couplers are substituted for the ones that came in the box.
I wish I had that sort of money. The best I could do was Chinese knock off kadees which work OKish but I will probably upgrade them one day.
@@vehicles_n_stuff Well, at the very least, your layout is up and running, whereas my home layout is still very much in the construction phase. Moreover, the Kadee couplers we have at my model railroad club are specifically used for rolling stock that is going on the club layout, and I don't think the club president would be very happy if members decided to take a handful of these couplers home.
@@Stussmeister my layout is definitely not up and running yet, as I’m still building it as well.
May I stir the pot a bit and vouch for Sergent supremacy? Far more reliable and better looking than Kadees (with all respect to Kadee's commitment to quality, and their good sprung trucks) in my experience. Much less snatch at the end of trains too.
If you ever think the Bachmann Big Haulers 4-6-0 are that bad, wait until you realise that AristoCraft once made an "affordable" live steam G scale Mikado and an A5 switcher built almost entirely out of PLASTIC.
Every year at my train club, we see what’s the most ridiculous thing we can pull up the club’s helix, this year it was my Santa Fe 4-8-4 pulling a 12 car streamlined passenger car set
Maybe every single layout _doesn't_ need to be set in the 1950's? Like... I understand the nostalgia draw for the boomers; I feel it myself for the bright blue conrail GP40's that I saw when I was a kid, but there's just soooooo much room for creativity and uniqueness that i never see get explored.
Where are the tabletop wargamers that also happen to like model railroading, and they cross-pollinate to add castles, battlefields, and ruins, or haul freight through a dystopian sci-fi future?
I agree. I want to model a modern railroad, yet good luck finding HO scale cars, trucks, and buses that are after 1955. Every vehicle on a layout is from the 50s maybe you can get a muscle car from the 60s or 70s, but that’s it.
@@danshobbies13 The place I've seen modern done _really_ well is Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg.
I model with N scale and want to do something more modern, but most of what’s around is just long haul trains of auto racks, intermodal, and of course, unit trains going from long place to long place. It’s also difficult to find accessories like buildings and cars for this modern stuff as somebody else mentioned.
I like D&D and play SOME war games and briefly contemplated adding some fantasy elements but doing more than a random hobbit hole is a pretty far end of a deep pool, plus a large investment.
The only thing that drags me closer to the 50s is the existing supply of industries and cars, plus the fact that there were a lot more short run local trains delivering to small towns. If you want to do that now, it’s a short line that you’ll have to paint and decal yourself.
I'm not a boomer but prefer the 50's. I can run steam, diesel, and electrics with a variety to choose from vs. modern day boring GEVOs only or Amtrak.
Stumbled Across This Video. Nice to find another modeller on the internet. You’ve earned a subscriber!
1"16 thats why i love the layout in rhinelander wi, they have a whole ass logging line and i beleive an entirely custom model of thunder lake no. 5 which was the only preserved locomotive there
Manufacturers should do more paint schemes of train games. I want a 4-4-0 and a 4-6-0 in all the RDR2 railroads
3:26-Actually, MTH did an HO scale Dreyfuss Hudson back in 2009.
5:55-Athearn recently announced a Santa Fe F7 Bluebonnet in HO as part of their Roundhouse line! I will be getting one when it comes out!
I have a German 0-6-0 from Fleischmann that I got at a train show. It has american style couplers, screws in place of buffers, and i plan on keeping it that way
hi wes
Hi
I have an E44 by Fleischmann that also has horn hooks- they're made of diecast metal and definitely designed for the model, it seems like it must have been produced for the US market. Someone removed the pantographs on mine tho which sucks.
I have one of their new heaven coachs.
S is a funny one isn't it? Theres the obvious American flyer, but Stadtilm, Bub, stromheim etc all made S, even Hornby made a few preproduction prototypes in the fifties, but it never really did catch the publics eye, it bankrupted poor bub who was one of the earliest manufacturers of trains, going further back than märklin.
5:27 - I'm still waiting for Atlas to re-release their Genesee & Wyoming MP15 and Rochester & Southern GP40 using their new tooling.
For your BR Standard locomotive, I’d recommend a few MK1 coaches in BR Maroon or Blood and Custard for a passenger train or a random assortment of British steam era wagons from Hornby or Bachmann (Hornby made a Pepsi Tanker and I own one, it’s cool) for a goods train
I have to agree with you saying running trains is the most boring part of the hobby. As someone with a very small starter sort of layout with no potential for anything that resembles a operating session, mostly cause I only have one switch. When I'm running trains I'm generally either listening to music or listening to a video & just watching the train go around in circles. Customizing my rolling stock is way more engaging.
Also why are there no good electric steeplecabs in ho, yet alone affordable ones, I love electric locos so that really bugs me.
I recently had a go dabbling in modern H0, seeing what I was missing out on. After all, I've often been told or have read that everything is available in H0, decent prices, it's a case of follow the yellow brick road.
Excellent. Now, imagine my surprise when I look for an electric locomotive, my favourites. Okay, a gg1, and... and... um...
But with my old standard gauge: I've got mighty bi-polars, workaday New Havens, pioneering S motors, and ubiquitious T motors. Where's all this amazing H0 range I'd been hearing about???
Sorry, my short-lived delve into dcc H0 has reverted back to the thunderous roar of prewar tinplate electrics.
Although I must admit I enjoy running trains
That is the best train video I've seen in weeks. Rodger on the EBay. I want it, prices are up. Budget gone, prices drop. IDK. Every time.
"I wanna drive my trains with an Xbox controller." Me to dude.
Fleischmann X2f couplers were known as "Kupplung 99"and were factory fitted.
3:26 Yesssssssss we need this rivarossi is nice but not the best, and its not like everyone can afford a 750 dollar hudson (im looking at you BLI).
I have seen BLI Paragon 2 Gen Dreyfus Hudson's go for under 450$ from time to time, so they can be gotten more affordable than the recent run a few years ago from Paragon 4.
@@officialpennsyjoe still it is 450 bucks. I got my Rivarossi one for 160€ in pristine condition, it still had the pieces of paper to protect it.
@@Mark_The_Railfan If you are happy for the price of the Rivarrosi and level of detail and accuracy. That is fine. If you know how to upgrade it as well in order to run on most club layouts that is fine too. Bachmann's will be under 300$ when it comes out at tetailers, but in order to pull an accurate consist, that will probably not be it, but we shall see. I have heard good things about their normal J3A being able to pull decently well a lengthy passenger trains, so hopefully this new direction of new toolings goes well. I have the streamlined K4 that came out a few years ago from Bachmann and it could not pull an accurate consist.
As someone who works in the industry at one of the higher end manufacturers, I have several contradicting opinions on released products and the released train sets from other competitors.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP THE S160 ISSUE
i STILL hate how us americans STILL DONT HAVE A HO S160
TT scale is at the perfect balancing point between being small enough to fit a good layout into space and large enough to allow for practical scratch-building, and it's a shame it disappeared.
Manufactures should be required to release at least five different underrepresented steam locomotive classes in between producing yet another Big Boy. I want a Forney, an 0-8-0, and a non-N&W Class J Mountain in N.
Good observation regarding tt. I've got a fair amount of the European tt and as you say, it really is in that sweet spot as far as size goes. Large enough to have that 'mass' that n doesn't possess, but small enough to still be useful for a decent train.
Good observation regarding tt. I've got a fair amount of the European tt and as you say, it really is in that sweet spot as far as size goes. Large enough to have that 'mass' that n doesn't possess, but small enough to still be useful for a decent train.
Every opinion you have here is so true and I agree XD
So many of your opinions are dead on, sir! The rest I don’t have any knowledge to have my own opinion on. 😂
6:39 I agree 100%, my HO B&O C-16 is somehow one of the fastest models I own
Heres one of my opinions
All passenger cars with interiors SHOULD have scale people in them. They dont have to be super detailed people with individually hand painted clothes (which I have done, it took ages. Looks amazing when sitting still, at speed you cant really tell)
Why? Because empty passenger cars look funny and when they're populated it looks like the train is serving an actual purpose
Keep on preaching about manufacturers only offering locomotives with dcc sound. I know dcc is in favor but I want to choose what decoder Im running. Shoot I love sound but a lot of the pre installed sound systems sound poor. Thats why Kato is one of my favorites, they sell dc locomotives fit for drop in decoders and you still have the option for pre installed sound
> "If it's too good to be true" doesn't apply to trainshows
CORRECT. Someone once sold me 160€+ worth of 1:87 Mercedes automobiles for 25€
Traction tires with at least a tender for pickup is a goated setup
have you ever tried Sergent/Prototype couplers? Nowadays, I remove Kadees (and their lookalikes) with the same haste that most finescale modellers used to remove horn-hooks, as I found Sergents to be far more reliable, and far easier on the eye. I'd even recommend buying a set to play around with and use as scenery dressing!
Stories of Locomotives that where just bricks of metal makes me laugh." Can you explain this one at 6:24?
On buying a UK prototype locomotive and not buying specific rolling stock behind it, I can relate. I do like it that it didn't stop you from running it with those North American style beer tank cars.
There Actually Is A Conrail Train Set! It's A Z Scale Set Produced By AZL And You Can Buy It Currently ☺️
Well, it's not beer can tank cars for me, but rather the slightly longer 40-ish foot modern ones (the 16 and 17.5Ks).
You need to make a part two of this sometime
@@TheGs4_4449 we’ll see about a future installment
@@cobramerciless nice
1:14 In my opinion, I vehemently disagree with this for the simple reason that I'm gatekeeping it.
I really fucking want a bluebonnet f7 in ho scale 5:55
My mantua 2-6-6-2 encountered a Bachmann ez track switch once, I now no longer have a Bachmann ez track switch on my layout.
For being a locomotive that was designed to run on really tight curves on roughly laid track it sure does hate 18" radius curves
On the NYC Dryfuss Hudson, BLI did announce there's in Brass Hybrid, and I do hope Bachmann gets around too making theirs.
I did want to mention it, but it wasn’t really a mass produced model
MTH made them as well as the Empire State Express version. I have both!
Well since we're talking pet peeves, if you can't paint a backdrop at least half as good as Bob Ross, then don't. Nothing ruins more great layouts than a crappy backdrop. A basic blue backdrop is better than looking at a 3rd grade level painting of mountains, trees and clouds.
What is the train on the cover? I have an n scale train that I found in my basement one day and it looks exactly like that but I don’t know what train it is.
EMD GP-10
The smallest wheel configuration on an ho scale & n scale locomotive (not thomas and friends) in the US is an 0-6-0 brand new while 00 scale receives 0-4-0 locomotives and 0-4-0 tender locomotives. Honestly small industrial locomotives in the USA for N & HO are under represented and would make for great locomotives in low cost entry level sets, being easy to work on and wouldn't care about 15" radius curves.
HO switches (standard radius) in America are longer than the UK versions since they don't have an 1.5 inch overhang In the front.
There is no standard set track HO track system with all types of switches ( three way, double slip, curved, and standard)
Marklin was the only manufacturer to make Radius one switches. While N gauge has two (Peco and minitrix)
The smallest plastic roadbed wye switch in N scale is 11.75" tomix track
Can someone please make up their mind, either put a length of track on each side of a 90 degree crossing so that you can not make a double track crossing or leave the length of track out so you have proper track spacing. Both for N and HO
It's a yes from me on almost every single one of these opinions. Love it! LOL
I'm getting one of the Dreyfuss Hudsons from Bachmann funny thing is I had planned to buy the old Rivarrosi Hudson the week Bachmann announced their normal J3A then I waited and my waiting did not fail I cant wait 1225 is waiting for a partner to run the line
Here's another one: Manufacturers should stop producing models with niche X paint scheme if they can't get the locomotive or rolling stock correct to said niche road (looking at BLI, Bachmann, Athearn)
@@hjmiller2689 Honestly, I beg to differ. Tooling something is expensive, and every model would cost you a kidney if they were all super road specific. Especially in the steam market.
@@cobramerciless I should re-specify: in the diesel market. If "new" tooled equipment is offered and stuff like bells, horns, light arrangements and trucks should be considered. ESPECIALLY if you're selling undecorated models (looking at Walthers and Athearn butchering some GP35's for years now). For steam, some sort of "base" model or massively produced model should be considered. Or if there is a popular niche model that is circulating too. Which is about right for some, but the steam market definitely needs a revamp.
@@hjmiller2689 : How do you feel about ScaleTrains' new "Hypotypical" line? They seem to think there's a good market for not-quite-accurate-to-the-paint-scheme locomotives that they don't have the detail parts to do accurately, but they are clearly marking the models as "not quite prototypical" so you know what you're getting.
DC Sound should also be an option only. It sounds terrible! Bachmann: once bitten twice shy. All of my 19th Century equipment was made by Mehano how many decades ago? We felt the same way when ModelTrainStuff (M.B. Kleins) closed last year. I'd been going to them for 50 years.
2:46
1:g scale aristocraft spring knuckles.
(I have a bedroom g scale layout and am working on an outdoor g scale layout.)
2 I am working on something similar right now.... May not be an Xbox controller but potato patoto
You should review the Menards o scale m and m’s rail inspection set next. It’ll give you a good laugh lol
We need the Hudsons in N scale as well!
The RC car thing was literally a thought I had within the past two weeks. Then I found a 1/64 RC drift car and now I want to build an entire HO layout around it. Actually, I now wish Mattel would bring Tyco back from the dead and Lionel would finally either sort their Model Power stuff out or partner with Mattel to come back to HO. Other than that, not really anything that I disagree with.
HO scale eggliner? That’s gives me an idea… ;)
I agree on a 1900s thing How did we not gotten a K2 in any range yet
6:36 It was going so fast that I couldn't read the number. Do you have to know the number of that British Engine.
*conrail gp8 with conrail rail gun with conrail caboose noises*
newer bachmann is great and yes bowser isnt talked about enough, excellent company
6:52
Is that bridge based on the Big Four Bridge in Sidney, Ohio?
Couldn’t tell ya
Cool video and channel just subscribed
Speaking of ATSF bluebonnets in HO, i actually have a running one, although it is beat up
5 minute people 👇🏻
It's just the Lionel 0642 and 0605 that have that particular shitty drive. And what sucks about it imho is how you have to take apart the entire loco just to replace the drive belt, and then it takes a bunch of fine tuning to make the locomotive run. Mine runs really well, but it took a lot of trial and error to get there.
The 0643 steam locomotives use a spring belt that you really shouldn't ever need to replace, the 0602 and all of the Pacifics have proper gear drives which work just fine, though some of the earlier models often suffer from cracked nylon gears. Lionel must have noticed the problem because they switched to mostly using metal gears c. 1963.
Preach
Nice layout
1. Some Lionel fantasy schemes are good actually
2. I'm sick of 30 million different people making the same locomotive, different manufacturers should do their own thing, have one make steam, one make modern diesel and one make vintage diesel
3. If you can put sound in it, you can put spinning bearings on it.
4. Shiny is good sometimes
5. There is nothing wrong with inaccuracy as long as the price isn't high
6. Sam's trains can be annoying sometimes
7. Vision line phantom train
8. I want a model of the Ps-4 that's accurate for a change
9. If you're being stupid with models, don't get butthurt when I say your repaint looks fucking atrocious
10. Just because you can customize it doesn't mean you should
11. We'd be better off if Lionel went bankrupt
12. More ALCos
13. More GEs
14. HOn3, ON3, SN3 and FN3 need to be more common and accessible
15. Brass models are overpriced, overrated garbage
I definitely agree with 6
Yup. Not enough locos for sale without sound.
We need another Casey Jones 4-6-0.
I despite when bachmann uses the smallest fucking screws they can get.
I want an entire train in the UP 1943 scheme.
I want a Maine Centeal 470 that I don't have to put custom decals on.
We need more 1800's style locomotives and cars.
We need more ON30 stuff.
I am going to get a bacgmann 0-6-0 and i am going to put a rio grande snow plow on it and paint it into a BNSF paint scheme and no one can stop me
If I saw you at a train show I’d either call you by your channel or something along the lines of a GP30
I LOVE BEER CAN TANK CARS!!!!
Ok but the Xbox controller thing is kinda true
It Would be funny as hell
Id be willing to try new bachmann, except their new releases dont have a dcc ready version, and theyre WAYYYY overpriced.
DCC should be replaced with a post-1980s tech that can be controlled via app
Agree with almost all of this lol!
2:55
this is 100% going to happen
Only L opinion is lighting the cars without interior (I just like lights💀😂)
0:46 it’s because it’s a pain to make and only a German thing
I have the Lionel 2-4-2 someone help me 😭🙏
loop layouts are boring as could be and i am tired of them.
I love switching layouts but there are so few good one's that aren't track mania it is annoying
Speaking of track mania. Why are marklin layouts and lionel 3 rail layouts all track and no scenery.
Flat layouts with no elevation rises/ falls and very spaced out buildings are boring as hell
This is really good! Your delivery is very well done and you should do more. I could see this video being shared at a convention or a train show, even if they tend to smell funny.🤣
I feel like these opinions would start fights more than anything lmao
@@cobramerciless Well, you might be right but I think your opinions were stated in good fun. I've been modeling for 30+ years and I enjoyed them so don't be afraid to post more.
Because people don't bathe and for some reason, they think their stench is "normal".
Every time I've tried bachman newer steam engines and their mechanizem sucks
My biggest pet peeve is 3 rail O scale. I just can’t over look it. Lionel Vision Line engines have great attention to detail and realism that gets ruined once placed on unrealistic 3 rail track. I don’t understand the cult following this scale has.
Whiner
@@Hotwheels.TrainGuys yay I’m finally part of the real model railroad world (:
What's your discord server?
Don’t have one anymore. It became a crap chute pretty quickly
@@cobramerciless oh real, I wanted to join your server cuz I enjoy your content and shit