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Are there any bad model trains anymore?
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- Опубликовано: 14 авг 2024
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“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;
don’t be happy when they stumble.
For the Lord will be displeased with you
and will turn his anger away from them.
Don’t fret because of evildoers;
don’t envy the wicked.”
Proverbs 24: 16-19 NLT
In 1973 my Father bought a Box of various model rail items in N scale from a colleague at work. There were several locos in that batch, including a Minitrix Brittania 4-6-2, which ran successfully for several years on our attic layout. Also in this batch were two American outline locos - A Rivarossi E8 in Santa Fe Warbonnet Scheme and a Bachmann F9 in Brown Pennsylvania scheme. As Dad modelled Uk Great Western region, he told me that the American stock could be mine and I still have these. The E8 never Ran but the F9 was fine. The chap who sold the box of stock said that he'd had the lot for about 15 years and his son had grown up and lost interest. The Bachmann F9 still runs to this day on MY layout. This means that the Bachmann F9 in probably from the early 1960s. I have replaced the bodyshell, as it was damaged during house renovations in 1987, but the loco still runs, and with it's newer Santa Fe Warbonnet Scheme it pulls my Supercheif. This loco is currently at least 60 years old!! How many people in our hobby have a working loco that is that old?!
I have an O Scale Pre-War locomotive. Runs perfectly!
Nice
I have my great-grandfather’s Lionel #150 from 1922! It still works perfectly too!
I think it’s important to also mention the intention of some trains- being entry level means they cut corners to keep the entry level low. And higher end trains for higher end budgets
I miss my $20.00 Lifelike f7. I could never have afforded the hobby as a kid at these prices. Thank you Kate for keeping prices relatively reasonable.
Yes, adults can argue that a $20 AHM, Tyco or LL loco is $200 in today's money due to inflation....BUT there is still the reality that, EVEN TODAY, you do not hand a 10 yo two Benjamins to go down to the store and buy a toy train.
I am a middle of the road guy, semi-budget minded, not needing hyperdetail spending a ton. It is easy to let the "I want" to exceed my budget these days! Thanks for great videos, Jimmy.
If you look at review channels like Sam's Trains, there's clearly still plenty of OO/HO locos still being released that are... questionable. Hornby seem to be one of the worst culprits of late, and while Bachmann have generally improved, there are still slips.
Hornby will never change, they are as bad as they have always been. They are the reason I quit the hobby.
@@channelsixtyeight068_Also a reason why N gauge is better. Hornby don't do it. 🤣😜
@@StockportJambo Funny you should say that. I had been contemplating getting into the hobby again, but in N-scale.
I've never liked OO-scale, compared to HO, it never looked right.
And yes, avoid anything that Hornby is involved in.
@@channelsixtyeight068_ Honestly, that's Hornby. From what I'm aware, Dapol and Accurascale tend to be better for the price in terms of detail and performance. Here in the US, however, it's rare for a company to so consistently whiff. In regard to Hornby's antics, it's like if Athearn kept producing locomotives of their old Blue Box level of detail and gave them pancake motors while still selling them DCC-ready for $250.
@@jimmyseaver3647 As well as American railways, I've always liked French, German and European locomotives. Jouef used to produce some excellent French locomotives, they unfortunately, are part the Hornby group.
There was an American manufacturer in the 1970s, who produced diesel-electric locos that ran almost silently and glided along the track, the running gear was that well made. Who were high-end manufacturers back then?
When I got my very first N Scale train in 1968, it was an Aurora set with minitrix written on the bottom. Ran great. Also some Graham Farish in ‘71. Still run great! I also have some Kato and Atlas new engines. My daughter just bought me a dcc ready engine from Australia and I can’t wait to get it running. Folgers coffee with sugar and half and half for me! Nice and smooth along with inexpensive! Happy N scaling Jimmy!
I agree, there is no bad trains anymore. The one thing I will say is the number of budget friendly model trains is dwindling though. But I actually attribute some of this to the very vocal section of the hobby as seeing anything less than 100% accuracy as a failure, while at the same time, wanting it for the price of a budget line locomotive! I mean lets face it, the more detail and features a locomotive has, the more its going to cost, I'm sorry, thats just how it is! If a person wants a budget model, you're going to have to give up at least some accuracy. I almost feel that some people (not everyone) has forgotten where we were just 20+ years ago, where most locomotives were a one body style fits all schemes and were DC only. Its amazing how far this hobby has come in a short time!
One old budget brand you forgot is AHM (Associated Hobby Manufactures).
I'm sure Bachmann still have some older items on the books, they've just re-released them with current equipment which makes them more expensive but still uses tooling from 30 years ago.
Hornby are still very guilty of this; their 0-4-0 chassis and range of assorted bodies are not exactly terribly good. But, most of their current sets are headed by one, or some other design which has been on their books since James May's time. Still, what do you expect from a company whose budget RailRoad range uses what is said to be tooling for old Rosebud-Kitmaster kits?
Lovingearth organic dark drinking chocolate.
I am a fairly new HO model railroader. I am into diesels and so far my collection includes Scale Trains Rivet Counter, Broadway Limited and Athearn Genesis. The ONLY downside to these models is I just cannot bring myself to weather them. I want to, they would look amazing.
Amazing how much better even the cheap trains are today than they were 20 years ago. Thanks for sharing.
I agree. My advice to newbees would be to start with a current starter set. Avoid old used locomotives.
It depends. There are lots of good n scale used older high end (atlas, Con Cor, Ravarossi). In the 80’s the only couplers were Rapido. You can add micro trains couplers if you want. The Rapido was quite reliable though went looking close you can see they are not prototypical. Bachman rolling stock (older in n scale) is much lower quality than Atlas, Micro Trains, Intermountain. So it is buyer beware and know what you buy. Like you said this is not an inexpensive hobby.
Unless it's a lima, Roco, Piko or Fleischmann.
@@raymondleggs5508 But if ai am not wrong with maybe the exception of Lima those were all European locomotives weren’t they?
In N gauge get a Kato starter set.
@@kenshores9900 Lima alos made several US locos Some Lima US trains even had european couplers if sold overseas, and so did mehano. European locomotives have a lot of variety of shapes and sizes and drive systems which makes them fun to buy.
I have 2 Kato HO engines from mid 90s and their motors are on a different level. Wonderful trains.
I am using their older motors to repower some Model Power units and they are as smooth as silk when repowered. So dependable.
Kato might have an extremely limited selection of HO units, and they might not be the most detailed in HO, but they are the absolute best running locomotives you can buy. If I'm remotoring anything, such as an Athearn Blue Box unit, I'm putting a Kato motor in it.
Great commentary today. You are right that it is very hard to find a bad locomotive or car today. The only exceptions are the old ones that you may find at trains shows, etc.
Hi Jimmy, I'm glad to hear it's all dandy across the pond 🙂 For models of UK trains failure is much more 50/50 - there are plenty of quality problems across multiple manufacturers here. For British N gauge the main manufacturers are Graham Farish (by Bachmann), Dapol and Revolution Trains - they all regularly have issues with brand new models - these days I buy half expecting to be returning or fixing what arrives (though haven't personally received any Revolution Trains items yet, so just going by others' videos for them). Dapol seems to be by far the worst.
I drink tea, of course - ALDI Red Label at the moment 🙂🫖
Good morning Jimmy I’m drinking my Italian roast espresso blend… Delicious by the way… I’m reading the comments and everybody has a story of Wayback win. Remember those days?? Way back when? I remember getting a psycho locomotive I don’t even know what it was I think it would as an F unit with couple of rolling stock cars and they had plastic wheels and to me. It was the best gift in the world because I got it for Christmas. And I remember running that loop underneath my twin bed partially so I can lay down and watch the locomotive go into the dark with that bright, shiny headlight on it. I never got too much into modeling after that because we didn’t have money for those kind of things. But one of my favorite things I would do would be to cut up an old shoebox orcereal box and make little buildings for my train. And my hot wheels, of course. Thank you for the memories everyone thank you for your channel Jimmy, and happy Trains! CMF.
Hey Jimmy, really enjoy the talks. I agree that trains are much better now, I started with a Tyco train in 70s, what crap. My dad bought a Lionel set we grew up with from the 60s, I got my own HO set, the Tyco, poor performance, poor painting, box cars included for advertising, green giant and popsicle, not stuff u see in reality. Hearing your talk reminds me of my young days and how much I loved that junk train!
I have a BLI set of SD40-2's that looked nice, but run like trash, and the couplers are at the wrong height. One of two arrived DOA. I would totally say there are bad trains still out there.
I won a BLI SD40-2 on eBay about 5 years ago as my first loco to determine if I wanted to get back into the hobby. It ran and sounded great for a while but became unreliable and eventually quit entirely. Now it sits as a slug on my layout. I wonder if more recent BLI models have gotten better but for now I’m gun shy.
I can agree with your viewpoints. Though i have to admit, that even some of the older rolling stock and locomotives can be upgraded nicely. For one example , i discovered in my recent tinkerings, that the current Bachmann 0-6-0 steam engines drive rod /valve gear sets can fit the older 1st and 2nd generation versions perfectly. I've re-motored numerous older Athearn blue box diesels w/ current motor and dcc tech. Life-like diesels remotored with new types and so on.
Back in the 1970s; Poor electrical locomotive pickup, was one of the most annoying problems in running trains
Most of the time one truck would have one half of its side conducting, well the other truck would have the opposite half of one side conducting.
Only much Later on ; Better built motors with flywheels, (a predecessor of keep alive circuits ),helped somewhat, along with all-wheel electrical pickups .
I'm a quality-over-quantity type; I'd rather pay more for a better quality loco with all the bells and whistles than go for cheap and be left wanting more. Some of my first locos still run great though--many of which were Bachmann from 2006-2010 (when I was in high school). These however were DC locos from train sets, such as the Hogwarts Express, Dewitt Clinton, and the Chattanooga Choochoo... and, naturally, some E units and such. I dunno if I could've ever gotten started in the hobby as easily if I had to pay 200 for a loco when I was a teenager!
These days, I'm more into operations than just plain loops of track, though. One of my favorite engines is the Atlas DCC GP40-2.
And for this morning it's Cafe Bustelo, with a spoon of sugar and a liberal splash of milk!
Just drinking some cafe bustelo. Thank you for these videos. I bought a walthers train set and expansion track. After watching a few more of your vids and the store taking so long to ship. I cancelled the order. I’m just going to buy the locomotive only, used the fb groups to get rolling stock. They’re from all over the timeline but I’m not concerned right now and ordered a Kato HM1 and side track and it all came in cheaper than my initial order by like 40-50 bucks.
Kato? One off glitch? My first Kato was the P42 that said "See Track Think Trains". The front truck fell out of the train, when I took it out of the box for the first time. It was a DC engine, and the instructions said don't run it on DCC, so I didn't. The rear truck was in backwards, which made it not want to go around corners. I turned it around, and it ran better, but not without issues. The rear truck had grinding noises coming from it. When the front truck didn't run, the rear one tried to dig a hole in my track, and not move at all. It also made a noise like the motor was running free, but the locomotive went no where. I returned it, and KatoUSA promised to send a replacement that never showed. They did refund my money, but that was all after about a month from the first order. So id that a glitch?
Also the trucks are powered by two different and independent motors that get their electricity from the same truck the motor is in. Both trucks do run at different speeds, when they run. This is why "dummy" engines were made for DC operation, and why we match speeds on DCC. I since bought a DCC Athearn P 42 with the same logo on it, and it has a much bigger motor running both trucks. A much better design, which will not try to dig holes in my track.
I also can't see how you can make this DCC.
I love your videos, but Kato has left a bad taste in my mouth..
Oh yes, im drinking some high quality coffee! (not) Pure coffee powder hits hard!
Hawthorne Village Bradford Exchange says hold my beer - if you want to over pay for cheap stuff - then it’s the one for you. The Walthers life like power loc track is the worst easy track I’ve ever used too. Bachmann use to do the stuff with Bradford Exchange but I think it’s switched to Walthers - very inconsistent quality
I’m a collector of bad vintage trains - Tyco is my favorite bad toy producer - love the gadgets
I refuse to accept the existence of Hawthorne and Bradford.
@@DIYDigitalRailroad lol
@@DIYDigitalRailroad 🤣
"The Walthers life like power loc track is the worst easy track I’ve ever used too."
Lionel's HO Magne-Track would like a word with you..
Lionel HO Polar Express...no place to go for problems, decoder unlisted, computer couldnt distinguish
You buy enough🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂. You'll get a few stinkers in there. Rapido is 100%blueprint, but it can make them finicky. Also, have a Bowser with a bad dead short. Run 2hrs,1st time. Dead out of the box the second. My HO scale purchases in high-end will be Athearn&Kato exclusively. I'll still buy my Junque pieces tho😅
Agreed, things are getting better although I have had major problems with a Fleischman loco that I bought about 4 years ago as part of a starter set from Germany. It still looks good though!
bad fleischmann? you must have gotten a defective one.
I don't think Scale Trains does the operator series anymore.
Just turning 79 next month, and, boy! did you light some memory fires. First, the standard of the "olden days" was probably Varney - they made everything, mostly well, but their Ma & Pa loco kit was enough to drive one mad. White metal, and a major need to understand everything electrical and mechanical. Tyco was a mid-level model, but Athearn was everywhere. Athearn made a lot of cheap(er) diesels, and should have been ashamed. All the detail and effort went into the body molds, but the drives were a disaster. The shaft of the motor was extended out, and a RUBBER BAND twisted around it went down to the axle. If a band broke, and you could even get the right size, replacing it required total disassembly of the power truck. I had one little switcher (shunter) a four wheel bobber that could easily make a scale 150 mph.
Lionel in HO was, at first, a toy, then a better looking product, but never quite got it.
On the other hand, Pacific Fast Mail brought in some of the best Japanese made brass locos ever built, but they were expensive! (Tenshodo comes to mind) Their ads on the back of Model Railroader were to drool over. Over two hundred dollars for a Pacific? No way. Yup, that far back.
The best things that ever happened to the hobby were 1.) Kadee couplers, 2.) code 70 track, and 3.) John Allen. 'Nuff said.
Many comments below mention Hornby for Brit stuff. Questionable quality at best, with wheel spacing apparently set by eye.
Note: I was born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, so my desired modeling has always been the BIG locos of the UP and the wide-open spaces, but in HO,the overhang of a 4000 or a Challenger just looks silly - to me - unless there's enough room for 60" or larger radius, and a full Streamliner set would almost reach the length of my house, so I discovered and now work in OO, with smaller locos, reasonable trains, and, guess what, the same scenic efforts and results.
I’m going to be trying some of the Dunkin Cold at home, but Kato, gosh I can’t see how people don’t complain enough to get Kato to put some actually good quality couplers on their trains. They don’t couple up with anything else so right away unless you’re running one of their passenger sets, you need to change at least one coupler, and it isn’t all that simple either, not like HO (most times).
You are not wrong haha! It’s the only part I don’t like about Kato.
yeah I agree with you man everything great about kato except their shitty couplers
I have some bachmann locos that can barely pull five cars with 2 locos together around my Christmas tree
Of course this applies to the U.S. market it seems. From what I have gathered it’s not the same in the U.K. what with companies like Hornby just now starting to try and listen to their customer base. While companies like Rapido are just doing their own thing and going “Oh you guys want J70s? Sure and hey we’re at it we'll put a coach in alongside it in an appropriate livery”.
That's just my observation.
If bad translates to poorer quality. I'd say Bachmann is still the last hold out for any "bad" locomotives in specific areas, mostly starter set steamers. I've noticed their HO diesel truck pickup wires are prone to breaking off the solder joints if not careful. That's mostly because the wiring is too tight on the chassis, but that's still a bad design in that department compared to Atlas, Athearn or Walthers
But you’re also looking at a starter set. I don’t think starter sets are really fair. It’s also incredibly complex to make a durable enough steam engine in any scale really. If you look at anything else they make, it’s fine.
@@andrewlaverghetta715 I do agree that steam is much more difficult to improve upon. But IHC used to make way better running steam models in the same market as Bachmann until 2008 and are still desireable now. Granted they were still plain DC. Nowadays it's accurate enough details and DCC/sound that's driving the market while I feel some of the mechanics could use a slight improvement. Yes, Bachmann is fine overall but they can still benefit from some upgrades
Drinking a large Signature Kona coffee, while i'm weathering a box car!!
Just getting back into model railroad where is a good place to shop for Track and controller 0:31
Look to hornby, dapol, Heljan, and Bachmann if you want a bad one. Not all of their stuff is bad, but there are some. But the problem with modern model trains is that there really aren’t that many options for budget ones.
Today I’m drinking peppermint bark by a new company called Elders Coffee. The founder is a cohost on my favorite true crime podcast called Going West
Our new models are great, but many of our older ones work well too. I actually wish we still had lower end models, more similar to Life-Like, older Bachmann and model power, as those models are good for getting people interested in trains. Without budget options it is getting increasingly harder to start the hobby.
Piko might be the outlier in this still providing inexpensive starter set trains albeit a bit better than those brands, if you like European trains, They even offer what is essentially the Athearn Hustler with rubber band drive as a DB shunter for $25.00 and in a $68.00 start set.
Bachmann was a bit mixed for me during the '90's, their "train set" style and early stand-alone locomotives didn't run very well when compared to some of the Life Like locomotives in my fleet during that time. Bachmann's "Spectrum" line of locomotives in the '90's were a step in the right direction in terms of reliability, but they were noisy runners due to how the mechanism was built (their SD40-2's to be specific). The majority of reliable locomotives in my fleet are split between Kato and Atlas, with 3 Life Like locomotives being the outliers (2 E8's and 1 F40PH to be specific). I don't have any of Scale Trains or BLI's offerings in my fleet as their prices far exceeds my budget.
For n scale, Scale trains is still on top as for detail on there rivet counter. Every one of there competitors need to catch up. For my best running engine is a newer Atlas GP-35. Not one of my Scale Trains or Kato engines can go as slow and quite as that GP-35. But my Atlas DASH 8-40CW with sound purchased last year was so noisy that i had to send it back to Atlas for warranty with no good result.
Last week I watched Daniel Cortipasi review of 2 of Rapido's recently released bulkhead flatcar. When he took it out of the box, it fell apart. The MSRP is around $55/ea. He showed all of the work he did to put it back together, then gave them a failing score. It was the first time he had ever failed a product during his review process.
BUYER STILL BEWARE!
I think that there should be "bad" (or simple) locomotives. Like you said, the way the hobby seems to be going, even most basic train sets include complicated locomotives. I don't think everyone wants a super detailed and or feature heavy model, and I especially don't think people want the prices associated with them. As a teen, I can't just walk down to the hobby store to pick up an HO locomotive with less than 100-200 dollars in my pocket. Cheap old used items generally present all that is needed for some people. I wish manufacturers would provide those cheap options again alongside super detailed models. Thank you! Have a good day Jimmy.
The problem is economy of scale. Back then you had a wider audience of people to try and sell to. You had people who fondly remembered using and riding the railroads. As long as there was A train available they were happy. All the major chain stores like Target, Toys R' Us, Wal-Mart, etc. carried model trains in them.
Nowadays, the only people in to trains anymore will be the hardcore, rivet counting, foamers who demand the utmost attention to detail who have the money to pay for it so the companies respond. They go to where the money is. The chain stores don't carry trains in-store and rarely online if that. Train stores are closing left and right.
I'm not saying the hobby is dying but it fell out of the mainstream so since there is no mainstream support any more there isn't a large enough market for lowest common denominator budget locos that were profitable in the past. The only people in to trains now are the die-hards and the die-hards want the utmost detail and are willing to pay $$$ to get it.
The closest thing to budget model railroading is to either switch to N Scale, buy old/vintage and upgrade when funds allow, or buy exclusively Bachmann in HO. Bachmann is the only one making budget-friendly models.
@@OriginalBongoliathwith the considerable comeback of American rail now and in the future, I think the love of railroads will get stronger once again. Good points on economy.
Coffee - I roast my own, mostly use Tanzania Peaberry.
I've done a lot of research in regards to newer engines and it seems they all perform at a great level to begin with. As like anything, there are some duds from the factory but thats why you buy from a good place that will do exchanges.
Funny, it seems there is nothing so underrated these days as a Kato SD40-2.
While I agree trains have improved drastically from what I had in the 80s and 90s I do find modern ones still have issues. I owned and still have Life Like and Tyko model trains. They did not age well and even when knew were not great. With modern models I find they still have quality control problems. I have yet to have an issue with anything from Kato, Microtrains and Bachmann but have had issues with Atlas, BLI, and Athrean. In the case of Athrean and BLI the issues were bad and consistent.
For Atlas I have had some rolling stock have out of gauge wheels but for the most part the wheels are in gauge. Minor annoyance I wish they would improve in QC. For Kato, Microtrains and Bachmann wheels have always been in gauge. Due to how consistent those brands have been I have purchased a large amount from them. The fact that they are the largest sample size and yet have always been without issue is why I will continue to buy from them.
Got an Athrean Big Boy and Challenger that both had problems out of the box. The wheels on both were badly out of gauge and although that was easy enough to fix that shouldn't be something the buyer should be doing at how much they cost. The bigger issue is both had bad motors that needed to be replaced. Yeah it was likely bad luck on each but they were different models, bought at different times and different runs yet had the same problems. Both were not cheap models.
With BLI the issues have been far worse. Out of 6 BLI locos I have bought 100% have had issues and 5 of them bad issues. Even when it comes to rolling stock 100% of the rolling stock I have bought from BLI has had issues. For the locos the 5 that had issues all had decoders fail and replaced. Two had decoders fail a second time. Note that BLI locos are the only ones I have ever had a decoders fail on. Two of the locos were bought at the same time and were the same model so I can understand they could have the same fate. That said the other models were bought at different times, were different models of locos and even different generations of decoders. That being Paragon 3 and 4. One of the locos that had a decoder fail twice has maybe ran for 20 minutes total so it never ran long before failure. 100% of the locos and rolling stock had wheels out of gauge. For a "premium" brand that isn't acceptable. The only reason I kept on trying them was because they had a lot a specific models I wanted and I thought it was just bad luck on early models. I am simply not willing to buy anything else from them any more.
So yeah QC is in my opinion an issue. Yeah still an improvement over cheap design and bad QC from the past.
In N-scale, yes, today's trains are greatly improved over decades past.
In HO, I'm divided. We've gained better motors, but lost many dummy locomotive offerings. Not every A-A, A-B-A, or A-B-B-A string of F-units, mid-train helper, or end of train distributed power, needs to be powered (with related DCC decoder and added electricity consumption), but tell that to the manufacturers.
It's too expensive today. AND NO, I am not referring to the MSRP of today's models. Without the option of nonpowered models, each powered model adds to the electricity needed, that leads to needing additional power boosters, further complications to layout wiring, more 110v electricity consumption, higher layout operating costs, more electronics that can malfunction or burnout, etc. The old fashioned KISS method of keeping things simple is nearly as faded as memories of buying $15 Athearn blue box POWERED locomotives from Train World at its original location in Brooklyn. 😢
Mayorga Café Cubano dark roast. My problem is while all these detailed models are great, they can be out of reach for the budget modeler. Especially N scale steam IMO. I’ve bought two of Bachmann’s “generic” N scale 2-6-2 locos and while they are speedy (maybe too speedy), they really struggle going up an incline. I would really appreciate more models in the middle ground between the Bachmann generics and the hyper detailed BLI-like steam locos.
Unfortunately English/British N gauge brands have not been a good experience for me. I Have purchased several brand new Dapol locos in recent years and their running has been generally poor, or arrive with the motor trucks falling out.
Havent had much luck with a number of brand new Graham Farish (Bachmann) either, they typically run fairly poorly as well. The same cannot be said for the American or Japanese brands though such as Bachmann, Athearn and Kato where they run very well.
Drinking a brand of coffee from ALDI that I found, and it is _addictive._ I went through an entire bag in under a week.
There are a lot of beautiful models available these days, and that's great for people who can afford the super detail... But what about those of us who are trying to do this on a tight budget, or want some cheaper (but not necessarily used) models to share with our kids? Is anybody still making anything like Tyco or Life-Like used to? I'm having a hard time finding toylike models in HO scale. (I tend to buy used when I can but that comes with its own problems.)
Drinking Aldi store brand Adventure Blend medium roast this morning.
Good, and walthers?.
Thanks.
Hey jimmy, have a question. I had asked earlier about the availability of people figures in n scale. Do you know of any resources that has a good selection without me refinancing my house? Surely with all the 3d printing going on, someone must be making quality n scale figures. Any help or referrals would be appreciated.
Noch make good N scale figures I've found.
The best deal you will currently get is to go to Euro Model Trains or Euro Rail Hobbies and look for the white plastic mass sets of Preiser figures. 3d printing is not a very economical means of fabrication; to save a lot of money you will need to buy a resin printer and use it a LOT.
ModelU starts at nine pounds for a pack of 3, in British N (though you can request a custom scale), and then there is the nonsense of the Royal Mail's self-dictated postage costs; There's Miniprints, but the cost is still comparable.
The same can’t be said for British model trains, especially the brand Dapol, whose quality control is nonexistent
Dunkin donuts holiday blend, i just can't afford high price trains
While I agree with your assessment of modern trains, there are however, still gems among the older breeds. Tyco/Mantua switch engines which run pitman style motors are reliable especially if they are the later models. I am turning some of these into modern marvels of a sort. Model Power Specifically, while I agree with the general assessment, has gems like the E7's, E9's, Shark Noses and their FA 1's and 2's. Full 8x8 and 12x12 drives. While nowhere near the detail of modern trains, for true hobbyists, are good platforms. I have been repowering the MP units as their enormous cans are hungry. I am curious on your thoughts of modern Bachmann sets. I have not purchases any sets. Their units from the Bradford Exchange appear reliable and dependable and their 50 yr anniversary Amtrak if spectacular. You stated that the separate units are good but I am curious about the sets as the quality is usually less on these. Thank you for the Video as I find it accurate but those Ebay units are quite less expensive if you have the time and know how to keep them running and like to customize then yourself. My only beef with modern locos if they are basically "plug and play". I had fun back in the day, putting these things together and seeing what made them tick.
For current production Bachmann sets I would only trust their DCC Sound, Bluetooth, and Amtrak sets. They at least use Soundtraxx Tsunami decoders (their non-sound DCC decoders are trash) and the models in them are good working, good detail, and reliable. The only exception I would give even though it is completely inaccurate is the Durango and Silverton set since the 2-8-0's in it are excellent and is a Spectrum model. Also their On30 sets are the gold standard for On30 modeling.
For out of production sets, look at Spectrum or Silver Series marked train sets. Anything outside of them is complete garbage.
Strongly disagree.
There is a lot of overpriced trash out there these days.
When you buy a $300 locomotive with DCC and Sound, you should expect:
1) runs smooth out of the box
2) You shouldn't need to reset the decoder to factory settings
3) Ease of maintenance and accessibility to trucks to clean gears and wheel contacts.
4) Handrails that don't disintegrate when you brush against them.
BLI, Rapido, and Scale-Trains: I am looking at the 3 of you!! You could learn something from Atlas, Kato, and Athearn.
Hornby have been reliably producing crap for decades. It just looks a bit more refined now.
Any bachman steam is bad via motor
Agreed
Lionel HO scale is pretty bad
They are now the flagbearers of the Tyco/Model Power/Life-Like era!
@@OriginalBongoliath except the models they make from those tooling are worse than the originals!
you mention trains, but what about track? i bought a Walthers trainset and have regretted it ever since. the way the track connects is dumb. ive had so many derails that i dont use that track any more. i bought bachmann and am much happier. Walthers should stick to rolling stock and stay away from track.
Dapol. Dapol still makes bad trains. Zero quality control, antiquated manufacturing techniques (motors in the tenders connected to the locomotive via driveshaft) , and no integrity when it comes to owning up mistakes (using grease that actively interferes with conductivity). That's all for the N gauge stuff, I hear their OO and O models are ok.
Rapido?
I find if you buy new in your budget you won't be disappointed, if you like fixing, buy used.
bro make a video how to make trains
Trains Trains and more trains
Some of the Bachmann DCC on board (with generic decoders) are not so great, minimal speed matching and buzzing. Mechanicaly sound, really it is just ther factory decoders that are bad.
If there is a bad train made it will most likely be the one I buy.
Still only water.
BLI diesels. All three of mine have died. My Steam, though , those engines work (2 of them). What??? That’s a pretty high failure rate: 100% of diesels. That sucks as a business model. Avoid them. I do.
Were they Paragon 3 or Paragon 4?
Hello
Lionel HO is bad. Overpriced to all hell. It should be priced like a budget model.
Tyco model trains was the worst
After getting back into the game at nearly 56yrs.,old I’m easily impressed. I bought a Athearn roundhouse loco just to have something to run and it is far better than that stuff was when I was a kid. Also a good idea for beginners.