I am sure this has been done in the past but I am looking to hear from others what the three locos in your collection that you would never give up and why. I am have been thinking about downsizing my collection and these thoughts come into my head. Here are my three. 1. Kato RDC in Rock Island. My Dad gave me this many years ago. Runs great. 2. Atlas GP35 custom painted for Nebraska Central. I bought this on eBay probably at least 15 years ago and the paint job is great. Runs great and you just don't see anything for Nebraska Central. 3. Con-Cor Pioneer Zephyr. I bought this when they came out and it is just so quiet and smooth. One of the few outstanding releases from Con-Cor.
Well I don't have much, but at the moment my favorite 3 are: 1. Kato DCC CSX GE ES44DC - have 2 of them #5250 & #5407, but count as one 2. Kato DCC P42 Amtrak Operation Lifesaver 3. Kato CSX Gunderson MAXI-IV Double Stack Car 3 Unit Set - have 2 packs, but count as one And an extra one a very, very, very old LifeLike DC E6A Item #7353 and whatever IC #4003 means? I am going to try and get rid of everything except those above. I don't have much. And buy the Amtrak P42 Midnight Blue, and I'll be done for some time. I think. The LifeLike E6A DC, love this thing NEVER ever run it now! Don't think I will ever get rid of it. Not really sure why except every time I ran it on my old DC layout it ran fantastic . All the others died at some point. And here it is, List Price, sure it was bogus $65.00, Now - $29.99 and doubt I paid that for it Matter of fact I am going to display it on my new shelves. Of course the list can change in the future
Wow, like saying which is your favorite kid. The others will be upset. Well, anyway, here goes. My favorite train is my Sunset Limited, so the diesel on the point would have to be a favorite. Kato PA. Next up would be the lead locomotive on my Texas Special. Kato E8 with Con Cor E7 shells grafted onto the Kato cab. Fluted sides added. Then I would have to chose a Steam Locomotive. My kit bashed P14 Pacific that pulls my Sunbeam. A Con Cor/Kato Hudson that has been severely kit bashed.
My first would be my N SP SW1500 kitbash with custom drive and ESU sound decoder, because of how much work was involved and because the SW1500 is my all-time favorite locomotive. I grew up with these things roaming around the neignborhood..... Yes, the numberboards are illuminated! My second would have to be my N SP SW1200, again because of the work involved and because these units were just too cool with the frogeye lights! It has been re-motored, has an ESU sound decoder and, yes, the number boards are also illuminated.... The third is really tough! I have 5 other SW1500 bashes (non sound but all DCC) and several other bashed locos including a second SW1200 but, if I could only grab one more loco on the out of a burning house, it may have to be this.... One could argue that my 3rd choice is not a loco, but it is powered with one of those Kato "pocket" drives. It's not DCC and runs like a$$, but it does technically run. It was built with an older Showcase MOW truck and was inspired by the Ron Bearden model. I consider it pretty much irreplaceable.
Like Tehachapifan’s third pick a couple of mine aren’t locomotives but are powered and DCC. The Alco and rail detector have sound. The first is the 25 ton American self propelled crane done from a heavily modified Stewart models kit. The next is an Alco HH660 scratch/bash The third would be this 1940s built Buda Rail detector set mostly because of the story behind it. Honorable mention goes to my scratchbuilt EMC/EMD Model 40. I’ve got plenty of other one-off and very special locomotives so it is very difficult to pare it down to such a short list.
Choosing my 3 best is a Sophie's choice. But... I realize after thinking about this I'd be a steam only RR. 1. Kato Mikado. Was my first non Bachmann steam in the 90s which turned me onto the brand since it ran so much better than any n scale I'd ever owned at the time. 2. Athearn Big Boy. Pinnacle of North American steam and captured so well in N scale. 3. Atlas 2 truck shay.
1. My BLI N&W y6b. 2. My Athearn Challenger (Clinchfield #675) 3. My Bachmann Chesapeake & Ohio K4 Kanawha. All DCC & sound. Honorable Mention: Three CSX ET44AHs, two Scaletrains, one BLI. Speedmatched and consisted. Took a loot of trial and error to get the BLI to play nice with the BLIs. Run them in a distributed power mode. Also all DCC & sound.
B&O Power 1. BLI USRA light Pacific 2. BLI USRA light mikado 3. E-R Sharks. (I assume that I get to keep an A and a B and count it as one.
Yea...OK...only 3...LOL 1) This awesome 'Diamond Painting' My wife Jean did for me ! There are 16,800 small sparkly beads glued onto the canvas !!! 2) Santa Fe 484 #3783 A gift from my friend BarstowRick. It wouldn't run and Rick gave it to me because he knows I like to 'tinker' with things. It still doesn't run right and now resides in "THERR Railroad Park". 3) MT U.S Navy FT A&B set. DCC and speed matched. Gift from my friend DCESharkman. He sent me the whole Navy Train set !! A 12 car set of 'navy ships' boxcars and the caboose. No pics but here is a video... .
This is a question that should not be asked! What would one give up? Buuuuttt; My wife chased down a loco back around 2001 with limited guidance, found, and bought it. Then a new version came out and she completely understood when I replaced it. I did get about what she paid for her purchase. So, I may never sell my Kato GS4 Daylight with sound and ten lighted car train. I will never sell any of my tunnel motors. My pre-teen years were spent in Lancaster Ca. and those things were flying through town all the time. Even though my current project does not have tunnels, those motors were everywhere. The last one would be the four SD9's the little woman bought me for Christmas. She went way over budget, so she is a keeper. The wine cooler I bought was not neer the same. That said we have been married since the Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian was number one on the charts. By the way we have not bought a decent gift for one another for almost 20 years. This was nice. I criticise, but this is a good post that makes one think carefully about the purchases and how they fit into the themed project. Model Railroading is fun, because it just is.
He we go.... Life-Like D&H PA-1 as it runs so nice and I had a hand in the paint scheme Atlas D&H C-628 as these ( well mine do) run nice , are very "clean" looking and the Lightning stripe scheme is perfect for them Atlas or Kato D&H RS-3 they run well and pull quite a bit, plus they are D&H I do have some other locos I like... Life-Like FA-1/FB-1/FA-2 and FB-2 They are really smooth runners Kato PAs, not as nice as the Life-Likes, but Very nice Then there are the Atlas C-420s, S-2s, U23Bs and a host of others.... Bruce
1. Kato C44-9W custom painted in Operation Lifesaver from railfan photos that I took in Coatesville, PA, while it was awaiting permission from the Brandywine Valley to enter the plant. It was painted by my buddy Jack G. 2. Kato ALC-42 AMT 301 50th Anniversary, ESU sound decoder. 3. Atlas GP 39-2 Reading with factory ESU sound decoders.
That's both easy and hard. #1 - Atlas RS3 that was my very first N Scale engine I repainted it Southern not long after getting it. I don't even remember the original road name #2 - Atlas RS3 that my mom gave e for Christmas that same year. It's factory in a N&W blue scheme #3 - Atlas B32-8W that my wife bought me for our anniversary one year It's the Amtrak Phase 4 scheme. Honorable mention is a Kato SD45 that was custom painted by Craig Martyn (Yeah, that one). It was possibly his very first BLMA customer paint job.
I know what you mean. I have a custom 'Trainmaster' done by Ron Bearden. It was on my list but getting it down to only 3 was hard...lol
