Now, this may sound crazy but is true. My teacher’s dad was the founder of Stewart hobbies. She has loved hearing the stories of the Stewart locos at my club! If you have any questions or stories with them, put them in the replies and I’ll pass them on to her!
I agree with all of these, with one caveat: if you buy a Bachmann USRA 0-6-0, make sure you get one manufactured after 2009. The earlier ones had a split axle design that was a ticking time bomb, and after a few years, the wheels would simply fall off. Later ones use metal axles and are very solid and reliable runners.
The bachmann USRA gets unbelievable anounts of slander just like any other bachmann profuct from uneducated individuals who just want to jump on the bachmann hate bandwagon to seem like they know more about model trains than the average person and have progressed beyond the "bottom of the barrel". So glad this mentality is finally being squashed and that bachmann products are getting thr love thry truly deserve.
I would honestly give an honorable mention to older Atlas locomotives. A notable example would be the older releases of the Trainman GP38-2s. Silky smooth mechanism that is shared with the more expensive Master Line products, and easily upgradeable to DCC.
My first model locomotive was acually from broadway limited imports It was a BNSF swicher as I loved the BNSF back then because it had my favorite color. Orange And I was pretty good at switching trains at Silicon Valley lines ops in San Jose I forgot what type it is It runs good that’s for sure
I will say this, I have had far better luck with Bachmann diesels (those that have the all wheel drive chassis) than their steam locomotives from that same era. One locomotive I would add to this list is Atlas' U33/36C. They feature Kato drives, which makes them silky-smooth performers, and they have a decent amount of heft so they can pull a respectable sized train, and they generally sell between $50-$80 if you look in the right places. Plus they come DCC ready so you can easily convert them to DCC if need be! Lastly, the Proto 2000 E8/9 locomotives were pretty cutting edge for their day, they had a functional Mars light (as per prototype) which actually used 2 small bulbs that were wired to alternately flash simulating a mars light, pretty cool feature for a non DCC locomotive!
Thanks for including the P2k locos in your list! Fun fact: the P2k shells are 95% interchangeable with Walthers Mainline locomotives (minus some of the early E-units and possibly the BL2) so you can Frankenstein the two together to have a modern Walthers chassis/driveline with DCC/sound but with the better-detailed P2k shell...and then you can sell the Mainline shell and P2k chassis for like $70 and you'll have a loco that competes with modern Walthers Protos for half to two-thirds the cost of a new Proto. Source: I've swapped four P2k SD60s and four P2k SD50s to Walthers Mainline chassis because I could, lol.
Makes me think of “Toy Train Tips and Trick’s Budget friendly o gauge diesel video”. We just need one guy to make one on budget friendly N scale videos, and the trio is complete. Also I’m surprised Athearn blue box isn’t on the list. Those are hyper popular.
Amazing video. My 3rd steam locomotive was a Bachman 0-6-0 from that Chessie special set. She still runs amazing and I’ve never had a problem with it yet. Although it’s a bit noisy it’s a great runner and it’s currently in an N de M paint scheme. Soon to be in a little series I’m making. They may be hated but they are reliable af
I just got one of the Stuart Hobbies F9 sets last month and it is by far the smoothest, quietest runner I’ve ever owned. Still on the lookout for a spectrum 2-8-0 though…
Now, this may sound crazy but is true. My teacher’s dad was the founder of Stewart hobbies. She has lived hearing the stories of the Stewart locos at my club!
Nice list, I would have personally put the Trainline up much higher, with no cons mentioned having something like the Proto2000 ones that have "always have cracked gears" seems almost criminal. Plus the Walther's trainline also are affordable in new condition. Great advice about staying away from ebay too, a $10 ticket for a train show or something will save you so much more money, and they don't tend to slap the word "vintage" on old Tyco trains as if that some how means they should be worth more 🤣
Stewart Hobbies runs good because they're built on Kato drives. I believe they may have ended up with Bowser eventually Simple bodies with minimal separate parts, but very well detailed and scaled I can't tell you how many F units I've owned
I have a IHC 2-8-2, it has been dressed as Texas state railroad #400, I also have a spectrum 2-8-0, dressed as TSR #28, the IHC probably has 10k miles on it Lmao and it’s still going strong
The yellow box Era bachmann is the pre- bad gears era for the most part except for the GS-4 or any steamer which always had the bad gears. Also The Lionel HO from the 70's had bachmann drives but had gears made of a different plastic. Also mehano locos are easy to get running.
And I went to svl when I was a lot younger They allowed young people to open houses and I remember running a long oil tanker train too Back to the story I wanted a SP sd40t-2 but because everyone is lazy nowadays and no one wants to build it from the ground up they don’t sell kits anymore and they rather pay the full price instead of building it So I went to this show There where a lot more Lionel trains than ho scale I found a few ho scale so sd40t-2s they were old and in pretty bad shape I doubted they will ever run And they just scam you Cause there are instances at a train show where you can buy a really expensive locomotive for a lot of money. Only for it to not work or have a defect And when you try to get in touch with them they don’t respond or they say your a “ pervert “ and try to hide And basically your stuck with a broken train you can’t work with Then I found a brand new ho scale sp sd40t-2 It’s in the box all brand new. Despite me seeing multiple others at another stand So me and my father tried to buy jt but for some reason All of the ATMs nearby DIDNT work So we couldn’t get it but eventually my dad went to a local bank to get it And we finally got it .
As for locomotives not recommended for beginners any of the early diecast ones with open frame motors like Mantua or Roundhouse would definitely be on that list. It takes a lot of work to get one sort of running most of the time.
Also with your “ train show buying “ In this train show in the Bay Area there were more venders than displays and that’s because at the time christmas was around the corner and they wanted everyone to get something Of course I was used to looking at displays since a lot of the venders were always so expensive And usually my parents never want to buy me one since it’s “ too much money “ But since they live in California where you have to be a goddamn millionare to buy a regular fucking house They might be a millionaire but they are just too lazy and are like lazy hogs to not do it What I do not get was that I was too young earlier As you need to be 14+ to be able to own your own mode train collecting yet I got a Lionel polar express when I was 5 or 6 it came with figurines
my first ho steam locomotive was a mehano 4-8-2, this thing is so cool to run but I unfortunately have to sell it because it is waaaay too big for my layout
Now this is my take on starter engine… Just get a bowser steam kit or athearn diesel. No I’m dead serious. You have to be _incredibly_ stupid to kill them because all of us up and down in my club agree that they are unkillable.
