I am just starting to buy some new rolling stock and was wondering what the best is? I have just received some walthers cars and think they are pretty good in terms of weight and quality, but I am curious what others may be using? Any thought would be great.
Welcome aboard, Lowrider_33! First, Walthers cars are usually not the best you can buy in N scale. The best detail is found in manufacturers such as Micro-Trains Line, Intermountain, some Atlas products, and many others like Trainworx. What era do you model, what road, and any particular preferences? We can help you decide what cars to seek.
IMO, the best quality is Intermountain (though a bit pricey) and the best value is Atlas (though a bit less quality, but still very good). My all-time favorite piece of rolling stock in N is the Red Caboose autorack. Jamie
Without knowing what your goals are, I will put out a warning against the course you might be taking. You should maybe identify the cars that you will need and then find which manufacturer makes it, if any. There isn't much overlap when it come to N scale rolling stock. You pretty much just get one choice. The reason for this 'warning' is that you have a chance, just starting out, not to end up down the road with a bunch of cars you don't need (which means money you didn't waste). I'm not trying to say there's a right way to do this, I just know that I ended up with way too many of the wrong cars because I didn't stop to ask questions and look at photos for the car types I should be getting. On the plus side I can now strip all those Micro-Trains cars cheaper than I could by new ones. :thumbs_up: FWIW, Jason
There are many answers and many opinions (cf. Dirty Harry). Important considerations I keep in mind when shopping: - Price. Current ranges for new cars are from under $10 to $30 or more; if you're willing to buy pre-owned cars from reputable sources you can stretch the budget considerably. - Prototype fidelity. Nearly 100% of N Scale equipment has some sort of compromise attached to it, whether it be details not modeled for practical reasons, paint schemes not matching the exact car (and "exact" is relative) and trade-offs needed for operability on tight radius curves. Every brand has its advantages and disadvantages, its proponents and opponents. - Quality. Ideally, a piece of rolling stock will run reasonably well right out of the box. This is the case the vast majority of the time, however there will be cases when wheels are out of gauge, couplers aren't quite right or details will be sloppily applied. These are the exceptions, but they do happen. - Fit into the time period / railroad operation. Some of us enjoy doing research to understand more precisely what would have operated during the time period we're trying to model. It's very much an inexact science but the explosion of information available in print and online in the last five to ten years has certainly made finding some answers much easier (although sometimes that just leads to more questions). - Personal preference. "I like it" is often the primary reason for purchasing an item. Certainly it's mine in many cases. Don't overlook that or "Rule #1" - It's Your Railroad.
To make it easy as you start out and if money is not too big an issue then Microtrains has to be the easy answer. The reason I say this is because they are of high quality and they offer the largest selection of different body styles and roadnames althought there are other manufacturers that fill the gaps as well. For specifics just check back here for great answers from the best N scalers anywhere. Ans welcome to trainboard where the water is always warm.*S*
First , welcome on this forum Lowrider_33. You are in good hands here. The members of the TrainBoard N scale subforum are very helpful , friendly and behave properly. Jason ( wcfn100 ) is offering sound advice here: " You should maybe identify the cars that you will need and then find which manufacturer makes it, if any ". My choice is even more limited here because : 1) I'm specifically modeling Canadian railways so I have less choice than fellow N scale U.S. modelers. 2) My biggest layout is quite small ( 25" X 36" ) so I'm limited to 4 axles engines , 40' boxcars , 2 or 3 bay hoppers. 3) I'm modeling the 50s-60s era. I have both Atlas trainman. Inexpensive, not much detailed. Good for weathering tests. Micro-trains and Intermountain are more detailed and more expensive. PWRS ( Pacific Western Rail Systems ) offer specific Canadian rolling stock. When purchasing your rolling stock, be sure to check the type of couplers. Knuckle type is preffered to the old Rapido type. Here is a useful link about couplers type. http://www.nscaledivision.com/information_on_couplers.htm If you must absolutely have a specific car with Rapido couplers, Micro-trains offers a range of replacement knuckle type couplers or the complete truck assembly with knuckle couplers. Jacques
Heck if you replace the trucks. Even the Cheap-os (Model Power,Lifelike, and Bachmann)are decent runners. And you can buy them by the bushel on ebay.
IMHO the Atlas trainman line would have to be the best value for money as far as freight cars go. MTL do have a wide range of body styles and roadnames but you have to remember they are not all always available because of the more limited runs than most manufacturers. When you have to explain to a newcomer what is available you realise just how much we have in N scale. (Though there are things we haven't got)
Although I don't work in N scale maybe I can help. I like to scratch build and so I use to buy those cheapo ones and then muck them up. After a while I got rather ok at it and then added great trucks and kadee couplers to a few and they looked and ran great. Not knowing if you want to scratch build or not I am not sure if this will help at all. However, if you want to paint them and weather them it is better to practice on 2 dollar ones then the latest brass model Just my opinion. I hope it helps
I agree, just to bulk up your rolling stock that you can later use to scatter around in yards for scenes once you get into it more, buy a box of bachmann's on the cheap on ebay. Upgrade them to MTL trucks and couplers, and you are still cheaper than some of the new offereings. Some of the Bachmann are decent stuff contrary to popular belief IMHO. I have some of Bachmann Siver series stuff, and they are not bad stuff, better than Walthers. But, As far as rolling and coupling, Micro-Trains trucks and couplers, as far as cars, I like many from many manufactures. If money is no object, I do like Intermountain, and MTL, but even the life-like and bachmann cars can be detailed to be just as nice. I am not crazy about Model power.
Be sure to watch for train shows in your area. You can buy cars for a couple bucks from table vendors.
I guess I will go against the flow and suggest buying the better grades of freight cars since a Bachmann car will cost more then a Atlas Trainman car and for a few dollars more the better cars can be had..Why skimp? Also the higher end cars has a better cash/trade return if one decides to change scale.
If ya want... I have TONS of rolling stock. I dont want this to sound like "solicitation" because it isn't the goal. But, I will set ya up with as many of the cheapies (Bachmann, life-like, Model Power, older Atlas) ya want for $2 per plus shipping. I have lots to choose from if you let me know what you are looking for. I have boxes and boxes of that stuff, that I have been wanting to clear out anyway. It will get ya rolling, and give you some stuff you can beat up and experiment with like mentioned above while you figure out what you really want. Tear up the cheap stuff, and learn on that, then move onto other better stuff.. PM me, if you want to rummage through my boxes...
I think I'm gonna have to go with Brakie on this one. I would look "value quality" versus quantity. When I say "value quality" I don't necessarily mean top-of-the-line (although in some cases that could be the case) but really just nice cars that have good if not great details and good paint jobs. I've noticed that even on the "value line" cars like Atlas Trainman and the retreads from Athearn that the paint and lettering has gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better. And of course they all come with knuckle couplers as well. For me, coupler installations are DEAD LAST on my list of things I like spending my hobby time on. The ONLY reason I would buy the "cheapies" is for practice cars for detailing/painting/weathering so if you screw up you're not out much. Other than that I would try to go quality. It's hard to see now because you don't have a big collection, but eventually it might get that way. So the question is, "would you rather have 200 cars that average 4-5 on the quality scale (1 to 10) or 125 cars that average 7-8 on the quality scale?"
I have just recieved my first Fox Valley models and they're top dog and I got them for $11.50 ea not bad as here in the UK I would have to pay around $30+ for one of them. The detail is fantastic and they run well too 10/10 Shaun
Normally I agree with the higher quality argument, but that is easy to say when you have 600 peices of rolling stock. Sometimes, it is nice to know you have a bunch and a variety of rolling stock to run, even if it is cheaper stuff when you fist start out. that is the exception. Later, when you get rolling, and start figuring out what you really want, THEN spend the big bucks on the good stuff. That way, you dont end up with hundreds of dollars invested in stuff you really didn't want to begin with. But, then, when you do start the better collection, you have the cheapies to cut up and experiment on. It is much easier to take a dremal tool too a $3 car, than it is a $15 car.. heheh.. I agree, nothing beats quality, but in some cases, the cheap stuff also has a place.
Good points Tudor but,some of those "cheap" cars isn't that cheap and we are talking maybe $5.00-6.00 more per car over the Bachmann car and in some cases the Bachmann cars are higher price then the Atlas Trainman cars and that's all I am saying. For the record as of now I have less then 50 cars at the club.Why is that? N Scale has become my primary scale while HO slips into my secondary scale and I sold off roughly 35% of my HO in order to buy more N cars..
