I have been away from HO scale for awhile (I bounce between HO and N). I'm interested in getting pointed in the direction of locomotives I should look at for my new switching layout. My three criteria: Good slow speed operation Working ditch lights Sound. What are some brands/models I should take a look at before purchasing? I know common brands like atlas & Kato. Who am I missing? Thanks in advance.
I would take a look at Rapido and Athearn for SW locomotives. I use both on my layout. They are available through several of the advertisers on this Board.
Watch some videos on Athearn SWs. I don’t have any, so I can’t test their slow speed operation. I have one Athearn Genesis model, the F45 (in my profile picture). The slow speed is a bit sketchy, although it may just be the decoder speed steps. I have never really looked. It jumps after a few speed steps, which may be inconvenient for switching. If other Athearn sound-equipped models have the same issue, then I would go to Rapido like what dalebaker just said. Their GMD-1 and SW1200 look pretty cool. They would make a nice centerpiece for a small switching layout. Does it need to be a Switching Locomotive per-se, or just any roadswitcher (GP40 etc)? That would open up your options a bit more. Rapido has the B36-7 as well. It is expensive, but looks great and has ditch lights too. If you can dial-in the Genesis decoder, they have a good amount of GP and SD model locomotives with ditch lights. Look for more modern paint schemes because models of older locomotives don’t have ditch lights. KATO drives are super solid, but the way their light tubes work, it is hard to make the ditch lights flash alternately on most models without doing your own decoder/LED installation. Their SD40-2 was designed to have flashing ditch lights, so that is an option too. If you are modeling a specific railroad, you could always work backwards and find a suitable model once you know the prototype.
I have the Genesis GP15-1 in GMTX livery, it has ditch lights on both ends and does pretty good slow speed operation. I’m using a custom livery on my POCR layout and use BLI and Rapido painted for the Port.
