I find I have been pretty disappointed with new locomotives I have purchased. I am a steam fan, but do run 1st generation diesels, too. I have found that diesels generally come from the manufacturer and run fairly well. However steam is a different story. There really isn't very many HO steam locomotive manufacturers anymore. If I look at what is available from some train store I find 5 manufacturers represented. Bachmann, Broadway Limited, Hornby, MTH and Scale Trains. I have to eliminate Hornby as the are manufacturers of European type locos, MTH, as I don't buy from them because of their Proprietary DCS system, and Scale Trains as what the show for sale is there Gas Turbine loco. So, the reality for me is that only Bachmann and Broadway offer stuff I might want. Now, I am firmly into DCC and want DCC/Sound Steam Locomotives. I have many Bachmann locos and I've found that all of the Bachmann Steam locomotives I have needed a bunch of tuning to get them to work at all! I've only had two Broadway Locos and found them to have problems also. I like to re-work, kit bash and repaint my locomotives to represent my Northern Pacific Layout. I do not do any of this until I have a good running locomotive. I have some that I doubt will ever get there. So, what do you expect from a new steam locomotive purchase?
What, Athearn dropped their steamers again? But they were doing so much better than those oddball Pacifics they made in the 1960s!
Athearn did not show up in the selections at some train store, nor did Athearn's other product line, Roundhouse who did make some steamer, also. So, I just went ahead and paid a visit to Athearn's website and I found it to be pretty confusing! I was not able to ascertain if they produced any steam locos; or, not right now. I really don't pay much attention to manufacturers that want me to Pre-pay for their wares, while they consider if production is worthwhile; or, not!!!
Doesn't matter to me if it's steam or diesel, I just expect smooth trouble free performance. Been a DC shop but getting ready to dig into DCC soon and I hope I don't find a world of issues on that track.
For the price we pay, somewhat 50% more than the price of pro-groomer dog clippers, which I'm sure we'd all agree are going to work well right out of the box, why can't the engineering and assembly be better than it is? If one says, "Well, there's always brass,", even brass has its problems, more now that the details in HO plastic, metal diecast, and hybrid models are nearly as good by comparison. I think someone is ripping someone off somewhere along the line, and if I'll share some of the blame for continuing to support those importers, they have to take the lion's share of it for not striving for better product reliability. It's not like it's rocket science, or that it's a brand new hobby with new technology. It's all old stuff by now. They should be able to get it right. On the other hand, the CBC's Marketplace programme just aired a weekly show where they dealt with the abysmal reputation in the large household appliance industry. Failure rates are increasingly common, and service is terrible. For one thing, about the time your extended warranty expires at the four year mark, and you go to get a new part, presto....they're fresh out. Darn, eh. My mother's Speed Queen washer and dryer from the 60's lasted 30 years. Let's face it, they're toys, and we pay toy prices. I think if the items were jacked up to $700 each, and BLI or MTH took $150 profit from each, they should be able to sell, service, and to warrant something for at least three years, if not more. But, after discounts, we get them for about $200, give or take $100, and that leaves slim margins for the importer and the low cost sellers. Remember, many of those $200 steamers come with DCC/sound, which, if you purchased it at retail to install yourselves, would set you back close to $90 all by itself. Very slim margins, and it means we get toys. Cheap ones. Enjoy. [ edited per retailer policy]
It sometimes seems that locomotive prices don't relate to their quality. I see ads for stunningly beautiful units at stunningly high prices, then read of troubles borne of poor quality. The situation is made all the worse by today's pre-order process, where an owner learns of problems only after it's too late to cancel their order.
There are still warranties/guarantees; but, there is absolutely no repairs. If you send a loco back because a driver is slightly out of quarter, you get a complete new locomotive, which means any work you did on the original (paint, decal, add details) is gone, out the door, never to be seen again! Because I model the Northern Pacific almost every locomotive I have has been (Re-painted, Re-decalled and re-detailed)! This is additional money down the drain for the customer. So, I understand why manufacturers don't repair as it is cheaper for them to simply replace. The point I have just made is another reason that Manufacturers need to produce higher quality products! I'm surprised at the responses here. On the old forum I frequented there would be people with limited experience coming back and telling me that my experiences are absolutely wrong! It's good to see that there is more reality here. Thanks everyone for your opinions!
i expect all my locos new ones to work right and work good if not im dont with that co. and them locos.
Since the INDIANA RAILWAY is 100% STEAM POWERED, I'm ALWAYS on the look out for new power. I have learned the hard way, DO NOT buy the FIRST EDITION of a new engine. A certain issue of an 0-8-0 was issued and I IMMEDIATELY place an order for 2 of them. The engine was beautiful! But it wouldn't pull worth a darn. 5-6 cars on level track, don't even take it upgrade. But the SECOND edition, ran great, looked great and would PULL. So now, I don't buy 1 edition issued engines, especially if I can't try before I buy. THANK YOU SPOOKSHOW for all the reviews. Spookshow: http://www.spookshow.net/trainstuff.html I don't feel that I should have to work on or rework a NEW retail engine to get it to run decent. I'll let somebody else be the guinea pig for new engine testing. And with the price of some NEW engines, I now wait to see how things run before I purchase.
I agree, First offerings of a locomotives are a No-No, for me! I am a DCC guy and really like sound equipped locomotives. The current steam locomotive I am having problems with screws up when I give the locomotive the address I will use on my layout. This is a locomotive that has been on the market since the early 2000, so the bugs should have been worked out of it long ago! What happens when I give the loco a 4 digit address is: NDOT gets reversed and the headlight will not come on. I have done a Factory Reset and this gets the loco operating correctly; but, address 03 won't work for me. Also, the drawbar and umbilical of wires running between the loco and tender tends to lift the front of the tender making it light, so the front truck derails easily. By rights this locomotive should be sent back to the Manufacturer! But, with help from my DCC vender, I am attempting to fix myself. I'll let everyone know how this works out!
After having the problems with this new loco that I mentioned above, I have gotten things sorted out and have now run the loco to break it in and it has been running very well. I shouldn't think that the customer should have to sort out the bad traits of their new locomotive as this should be done by the manufacturer! However, I believe this to be very common that problems come newly manufactured steam locomotives!
When my local hobby store was Caboose Hobbies they had a glass case for locos. It was amazing how much oil dripped out of the Atlas locos on display. Most new locos are actually over oiled out of the box to make sure they turn nicely. I am partial to taking them apart and cleaning them anyway. As to running or not. Most manufacturers are pretty good about support. With the exception of the occasional lemon, our options today are amazing. So many different things being made. We have it too good and we've gotten a bit spoiled if you ask me. I think back to both my HO Tyco F9?, or my Atlas N scale f9 way back in the day. I'd be glad to demo some real crap units to those who want to complain about today's models. All you guys need one of these babies! Look at the detail! And it has two speeds ON/OFF! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mantua-Tyc...694756?hash=item2635c27964:g:jKYAAOSwr05eUErc
I realize a lot of different locos are needed on a steam layout. For the money, I think the Life Like switchers are amazing. Find one on ebay and you will not regret it. My 0-8-0 made my jaw drop to the floor based on detail and slow running. As I said my previous post, I think we expect a lot today. The bar has been raised so high and we forget what it was like back in the old days.
I have the LLP2K 0-8-0 switcher and you are right it was one of the few that ran right out of the box. I don't think the BAR is high, I think the manufacturers that I have purchased from fall far short of the BAR. At the very least their products should meet some type of minimum requirements, the first one being that they should be able to make a round around the tracks without any problems!
And then Life Like got bought out. ;( I'm on a retro train kick and I just collect what strikes my fancy. I bought an old Rivarossi 0-8-8-0 a while back. It's truly vintage, but still fairly high detail. The thing is amazing IMHO. Granted i'm on a european train kick so this is Bavarian Railways 1920's era? ... You see, I saw this set of Passenger cars on sale cheap and I ended up with all these 1920's extras... I thought, gee I want an articulated on my layout... likely totally non prototype, but it's awesome! Anyway, there are still nice older locos out there too. But you have accept lower detail level. As someone else stated, I too will read lots of reviews and do big web searches before I buy a new loco. If it has problems, you can be sure people will talk about it online. I bet you could search all your locos right here on TB and find out a lot.
