so the u25c i bought was meh the handrails broke otherthan that amazin im ready to expand i want a switcher looking on ebay i found some compellin offerings for 60 bucks i waslooking at bachmannalco switcher any advice for good cheap switchers under 65 used ill do but only in perfect condition are the kato switchers anygood the arnold sw1 was compelling but i cant find enough detailed info on them so i about the bachmann alco are they good smooth fast slow runners any help for any switcher would be amazin thx steven
My mainline power consists of switchers mainly the Bachmann 44 and 70 tonners and they can be found around the $50 range. Most of the SW class switchers are also good and those would be the SW-8, 9, and the 1500. A little larger are the Atlas and Kato RS1, 2, and 3. All are in my fleet and have been trouble free for years now. Both the 44 and 70 tonners are slow speed runners and regardless of how far you advance the throttle they only run so fast that is why I don't mix them with other locomotives. A Lifelike SW will be a speed demon on full throttle easily doing three times the speed of a 70 tonner at the same throttle setting.
This may be a nutty idea, but if you are a DC guy and want to go low on the dollar scale, the old Minitrix FM was a great switcher. The model dates from the early 1970s, but was a good runner for its day. M-T might have even made a conversion kit for it.
A number of locos today have dual mode decoders that run on DC or DCC. The 44 and 70 tonners come with that along with the S-4 and probably the recent S-2.
so you know about the arnold sw1 switcher i own a couple of the new arnold hornbyn scale trains and they run nice do you think thatill be betterthan the bachmann idk if im allowed https://www.ebay.com/itm/N-SCALE-AR...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 but thats the one im talking about lemme know ur opinion between this and bachmann the spooky review said it was a amazing runnner
after some looking around i found a walther http://www.spookshow.net/ limited edition newrelease walther is pretty good ill pick that up thx for everyones help
New Walthers SW review here on Trainboard: http://www.trainboard.com/highball/...new-sw-1200-is-able-but-shows-its-age.116479/
LOVE the GP20s !!! I have about a dozen in different roads. I don't use them as yard switchers, but I'm sure they would do fine. Some other switchers out there are the Atlas VO1000, ConCor SW1200, and the ancient Arnold-Rapido S2. The VOs are REALLY nice !!! The ConCors can be hit and miss. I have three that are fantastic. I have a cow & calf set that can pull your house. The fourth SW is over 40 years old and is for "exhibition use" only. It runs like a slot car !!! It sets land speed records and has NEVER been beaten. Some day it get a Richard Petty paint scheme !!! My three S2s are great, but you have to do the NWSL transplants.
Love my Atlas RS-3 and Atlas VO-1000 for switching duties. Not sure if you are looking for something bigger but my Atlas GP-7/9 and Atlas RS-11 run great too!