Dan - This type of head-to-head review is not often done and is highly informative. It helps consumers and also serves to prod manufacturers to improve in those areas in which they are deficient. Nicely done. Ted
Well-done. I remember some 40-50 years ago, the best-detailed locomotives (from the factory, not super-detailed by the modeler) were often the Kato brass in the hobby shop's glass case. Now, it seems as if the Kato models look the most toy-like. Their level of detail has slipped considerably compared to the current competition. It's amazing how high the bar has become. A long way from the Athearn Blue Box models of the '60s....
The level of detail on modern plastic models is definitely higher than plastic models from decades ago. It's great that we can now buy a model that's got most of the work already done. Thanks for watching!
This is one of the best review I’ve seen between the different companies. I’m just now getting back into HO and everything is a world of a difference from the last time I bought a locomotive. Thanks for this review.
Dan I love all of your videos. The reviews and the ones where you show how you build your models. I appreciate your honesty in your reviews and how you keep them "real", without sucking up to the manufactures. I consider you the best at model train videos, period. I appreciate you and please keep up the excellent work.
Wow, thanks so much. I've basically been told I'd get more free models if I was a little less straightforward in my reviews, but I don't care about that. I don't see the point in doing a review unless it's honest. Otherwise it's just an ad. Thanks for the kind words and for watching!
Great review Dan! Two things pull me towards ScaleTrains. The most important is how much quietly they run compared to Athearn. Another smaller thing but important is that they come with capacitors installed so they don't stall over dirty track. These capacitors are not inexpensive and sometimes difficult to find a location for inside the shell as you know. regards, NS.
I am starting to use capacitors in all my new installs if I can fit them. They're especially helpful on shorter wheelbase models that don't have as much pickup area. I like the ScaleTrains units for that reason, too. Thanks for watching!
I'm glad you liked it. I did this one because I happened to have these three models and I thought it would be interesting. I'm not sure how often I'll be in that situation, but if I can, I'll do some more. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dan.It is good for the consumer, to have such good competition, with high end models which, theoretically, keeps each manufacturer,competitive., especially on a pretty popular model. They are a far cry from the old "blue box" models. Thankyou for the comparison review. Regards Michael NZ
Yes, you're absolutely right, these are way beyond the old blue box version. I recently sold off my last two blue box Dash 9s. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Really nice and detailed review! It's interesting seeing all the differences among these models, and things have definitely come a long way since the 90's when your non-brass options were Athearn Blue Box, Kato and Rail Power. The only thing I'll say about the pricing is that Kato still makes their models in Japan, so the wages and production costs are quite a bit higher than the Chinese production used by Athearn and ScaleTrains.
Another beauty of ST locos, is that they give you a lot of options, that no one else offers.......Rivet counter with sound, rivet counter DC. Operator series with sound & rivet counter DC. The only issue with ST,is their couplers.They only accept whisker couplers from KD. The "ole #5" s dont work. Now I know this, I keep whisker couplers, on hand. That goes for their freight cars, as well.Just a small gripe, but a big issue, at the time, lol. Regards Michael NZ
Loved this comparison video. Could you do one on the AC4400s? As for your own locos, split them up. One video on the four axle ones, one on six axle Emds and one on the six axle GEs. Then maybe one on different makes of decoders. This could help modellers select the corrrect one to suit their needs and wants.
I'm glad you liked the video, and thanks for the suggestions. Right now I only have 3 AC4400s and they're all SP units from ScaleTrains, so I can't really do a comparison. I did a review of those models recently. I could maybe do some videos about some of my other diesels, but I only have a few I can think of that would work in a comparison format. Thanks for watching!
Great job on this review. According to ScaleTrains the SP did not have ground lights on the dash 9’s. They are all good models, each to their own. Thanks for the comprehensive comparison.
Amazing comparison video. I love how the scoring system is set up as well. Would love to see more comparison videos like this. Such as one for the HO scale Tier 4 GEVOs from Intermountain and Scaletrains.
That's one I've had in mind to do. I already reviewed the ScaleTrains units, and I have a pair of InterMountain units. It would just be a two-way comparison instead of three. Thanks for the suggestion!
One thing I love about the scaletrains model is that they make it so easy for you to remove the shell without damaging details. Almost always comes down to removing the couplers and pull the shell. Athearn chains always break when I try to remove the shell.
It is nice to just have to remove the couplers to take a model apart. The chains can be problematic on some of the Atlas Dash-8 models, too. I have a few that are broken and need to be fixed. Thanks for watching!
That could take a while. I probably have too many to cover in a video of reasonable length. We'll think about it, though. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching!
I have several SP dash 9 locomotives ABB KATO MTH and Scaletrains all have Tsunami 2 upgraded lights details weathering i like them all they run well sound good
i noticed a few things you didnt mention (nit picky). the Kato? headlights and front door window are different, plus its hose connections are black on the back and it doesnt have hoses on the front. also the front door handle is in a different location with regard to the "P". on one its in the red part of the "P" and on the others its in the white. so the "P" is in a different place or the door handle is in a different place. im partial to color so i prefer the paint scheme on the BNSF and UP the most then it would be either Santa Fe or CSX. being from California originally and seeing SP and BNSF trains as recently as 2009, those are probably why i prefer them. or maybe they just look cooler to me.
Thanks for pointing that out. It's can be difficult sometimes to decide how much to mention vs. how much is too much. I like the Santa Fe warbonnet Dash-9s too. Thanks for watching!
I hope Kato fullyreturns to the ho market someday. Kato had was the first to offer many details like lighted number boards before anyone else and their handrails where individual pieces that made them easier to put back together if separated then the one piece handrails that everyone else does.
I have always liked Kato engines because they run so well. I have some that are 30 years old and they still run silky smooth. I think the challenge for Kato in today's HO market is that their models don't have the same level of detail as some competitors' model's that are available at the same or lower prices. I'd like to see them keep at it, too. Thanks for watching!
What I don't like about loksound is the sound is not loud enough espeially comparing it to Athearn . In order to change that you need a lok programmer to change any sound. Athearn just a few CVs and its changed.
I've found that volume and sound quality are very dependent on the speaker and enclosure, regardless of brand. I like the horn to be fairly loud since they are in real life and they're not all going off at the same time usually, but I always turn the diesel noises down. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi that's possible because I'm basing it on a friend who bought a SD40-3 in HO and he complained it was softer than other ones he had purchased. Maybe it was the speaker position.
@@markhayes6407 It could have a lot to do with it. It's difficult to compare different decoders in different locomotives. A better test would be to have different decoders in identical locomotives, to rule out the speaker as a source of differences. It could be that the LokSound decoder volume is lower by default than Soundtraxx, but I don't know that. I've had some LokSound engines that are super loud, and others that are softer, but again, I think a lot of that is the speaker setup.
Yes, I've been planning to do that as part of my SP consist build series, but I have a couple other models that need handrails. Maybe I'll think about doing a separate video just about that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Hi Daniel - I purchased a Scaletrains AC4400 DC only recently. I noticed that the head lights do not come on still 2V or some time after the train is creeping to speeding up; if at 1V the train creeps really well at say what could be close to 1 or 2 scale MPH, but while creeping the lights are not on. I think the KATO trains come on really early in DC mode. Wondering have you noticed this before on the scaletrains - and in this case - what would a DC operator due for slow speed creeping - just live with out lights :(
All of my ScaleTrains locomotives have DCC and sound, so I don't have any experience with the DCC ready versions. If the models have a constant brightness circuit for the lights, sometimes those require a certain amount of voltage to get the lights to come on at all, usually in the 1-2 volt range from what I understand. I'm not sure what to suggest unless you wanted to bypass the factory electronics and install your own lighting setup. Before I switched to DCC, I had a couple of locomotives with constant lighting chips in them. Those may still be available. As I recall, those also needed a certain amount of voltage to start working. One of the many reasons I like DCC is that the engine lights can be on even when it's not moving. Thanks for watching!
Some. I've done reviews of their recent SP GS-4 and longer ago a GN 4-8-4, and I liked both of those. I also have one of their SP cab forwards and that's also a pretty good model. I had a couple of their diesels way back when and I was less impressed, but they may be better now. Thanks for watching!
Joseph, you can make the ground lights brighter by changing CV61. It defaults to "50", but you can make it brighter by choosing a higher number up to 255.
The ground lights seem to be a railroad option. I didn't see any LEDs for that on my Athearn model, but it's possible that SP didn't have them on their Dash 9s. I still haven't found a definitive answer yet. If CN Dash 9s had them then I would expect Athearn to include them. Thanks for watching!
I’ll take the Athearn over the ScaleTrains as their DCC ready boards don’t force you to use a specific brand of decoder to access all lights on a model. That’s not a problem if you prefer that brand but I do not and never will. Thankfully Athearn uses the brand I prefer but I still like the aftermarket style over the factory style decoders. It just baffles me how manufacturers that also use the same brand that ST does for their factory decoders use motherboards that allow access to all lights with different decoders but ST uses proprietary electronics which kills my interest in their engines. Rolling stock is second to none but engines still need work.
It's good that there are choices with these models. If Athearn and ScaleTrains push each other a little bit because of competition, the end result is better models for us. Thanks for watching!
There are a lot of reasons. The motor control is superb. The lighting effects are fantastic, and there are no restrictions on function key assignments, so any lighting output can be assigned to any key you want. You can also have "not pressed" key assignments, which I haven't seen in other brands. I use that for things like number boards, so that they're on unless I press a certain key to turn them off. And of course the sound is awesome, especially the new 5 series which has Hi Fi quality sound. Having them be reprogrammable is another bonus. If you want to change the sounds in a model, it's easy to do. That can be useful if ESU releases a different sound file that may be better for the particular model you've installed a decoder in. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dan. I remember you've reviewed the Rapido Trains SW1200 (SP Model). I also remember your desapointment on some features of that engine but I would like to know if you recommand it or not. Thanks.
Well, I sold the SW1200 I reviewed and wouldn't buy another one. So I guess the short answer is no, I wouldn't recommend it. There were a lot of issues but the deal breaker for me were the triangular areas near the steps. They were the wrong shape and there's not an easy way to fix that. Even the old Proto 2000 models from the 90s got that part right. It's not a bad running model, so for someone less concerned about accuracy it might be okay. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Many thanks for answering my request. I was looking up to Milwaukee road SW1200 scheme. As I'm stocked with tight curves and lack of space, I can't think of 6 axles engines. I told you once that I'm not a big fan of Rapido's engines. You gave me an honest point of view of the situation. I appreciate. Keep on your great work.
Motor control was the biggest reason I lost interest in the original Tsunami. I think the Tsunami 2 is a little better but I wouldn't trade in my Loksounds. Thanks for watching!
Higher prices seem to go hand in hand with high-detail models, unfortunately. I do agree that Kato is pricey for what you're getting compared to the other two. Thanks for watching!
