Which loco is the ROBUSTEST LOCO ? I mean: 1)Dynamic properties, and ability to pull long trains 2) Best Current pickup. 3) Stable coupling and ability to pass heavy radiuses. 4) large working time and realiability! ------ I have only LifeLike RS2 It's not so good at 1) and 3) But dependable. Please tell about Your's --- Vadim.
The Kato SD90MAC or the SD80MAC are the best pullers and best running locomotives I have. They satisfy all of your points 1-4. And aside from that, they are about the quietest locomotives I have as well.
loco HI eny 6 axle kato and older kato 4 axle and older atlas/kato engines are great pullers. my kato gp60 made from a gp50 pulls my 50 trailer roadrailer train.
Just a gentle reminder that this is an English language forum. Of course common idioms and sayings from other languages are permitted. NCjones decided to make a political statement in the binary form of zeroes and ones. That is a language other than English, and his statement has been removed. More on topic, I would nominate the Life-Like FAs as the most robust engines I have owned.
I agree with the SD80Mac. I don't have any long term experience, but the Athearn FP45 are really heavy, should be good pullers, and hopefully will last a long time.
I have a pair of Kato U30C's that are great pullers, and are rapidly approaching 20 years of age. I also have 2 SD40's from Kato that are nearly as old, with the same good results. The SD40's seem a little more forgiving of tight curves than the U30C's.
I don't own any but I have been very impressed with a friend's Kato PAs and PBs. He uses them to pull the full Kato Daylight train (all 18 cars) at open houses around our NTrak home layout. They pull without a problem. He usually uses an A-B-B-A set, but we've had the occasional uncoupling resulting in one A-B-B set and the whole train then being pulled by one PA. They've been running at weekly open houses pretty much all summer and have shown themselves to be great pullers and runners.
I forgot about the Kato PAs and E-8s. After many hours of running, they started to squeak and squeal. In fact, most of my Kato diesels have, after many hours of running. It's dry bearings around the shaft.
I'll go along with the Kato PA's and E-8"s. The new BLI E-8's, E-9's and F-7's also pull very well. For steam, honors go to the The Athearn "Challenger" and "Big Boy".
For steam I will go along with the Challenger. I don't have many hours logged with it, but I have so far been very impressed with my Athearn FP45.
As far as 4 axle power I have been pretty impressed with the Atlas Dash 8s that I have. I don't have enough room to run more than 20 50ft (average)cars at a time. The Dash 8-30BHW will pull the 11 car California Zephyr without a problem. I only have a couple 6 axle machines. The ones I have are the Kato SD70ACes and they are great units.
I own pretty much at least one or more of almost every loco ever made,I think any of the Life Like FA/PA locos are the best overall performers out there.Maybe not the best looking,but best pulling,and always good runners.Never really seen one break,either..
I would have to give a vote to the Life-Like FA's as well. They pull great, run forever, and can take punishment and survive (even after a dive off the layout to the floor). I am also impressed with the capabilities of my Intermountain FT's - so far they share a lot of the characteristics of the FA's, though I have discovered I have to be careful with the etched metal screens on the sides. Other than that they pull awesome, look great, and seem to be destined for a long life on my layout. As for current pickup, I haven't had any problems with either one, though I do run almost all of my F's and FA's in ABBA sets so a quick loss of current in one isn't all that noticeable.
I've got three Kato C30 chassis and eight Kato SD45's that carry the majority of my heavy trains. I got them about six years ago. Used, at auction. These Kato-built units are the only locomotives I'd ever advise buying used, a great value, and just keep going and going and going, tough, and pull like mules. Likewise I have four Kato F7's, and other than an annual lube, never require anything, and pull like crazy.
The Kato SD70Ace is not bad as far as new stuff goes. The old, original Kato F units fit all the points mentioned, they were full of weight, (real weight, not the stuff they use these days), had nothing fancy in them to go wrong and fairly easy to hardwire decoders into. A four unit set will almost drag the whole layout away and they run forever. Today's Intermountain F's are much the same.
Of the six axle loco's, I concur with the Kato E-8's they run smooth and steady and pull like a team of work horses. Second place is a tie between the Kato SD-45 and the Atlas FM Trainmaster. Of the four axle, the Atlas GP-35's and Kato F-7s are among the best.
1970s (?) ATLAS SD-45 I blew mine up by taking it apart to paint when I was much younger. However- that loco with its rubber traction tires could haul 46 cars up a grade that- well, was like a ski jump. 4" height in 18 inch run, on a curve- no less!!! The smell of PermaScene and ozone drifts through my memory.
All of my locos have been purchased in the last 3 years, so I can't comment on older models. For me, the Kato SD70M, SSD70MAC and AC4400CW can't be beat. They pull everything, always run flawlessly out of the box, and installing decoders could not be much easier. Atlas locos are very good, but Kato is the undisputed #1 in my book when it comes to performance. (When it comes to looks, Atlas jumps ahead of Kato, but again both are very good). Jamie
One set I have that would pull a brick outhouse apart , is the Like Like PA. Powered A unit only, but seems like it would pull anything put behind it! I never had the room to see what it was capable of doing though. Did manage 40+ cars on a 4% grade, with curves! No slipping.
