loco review - what are they like in service?

chris m01

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In a certain other recent thread a question was asked about the quality of Newd coaches. Although quality is a rather subjective thing - what is important to one might not be to another I thought it might be interesting to start an honest, constructive and polite review of various locos. So here goes, based purely on what is important to me. Others may have had different experinces.

USA Trains - all BoBo locos. I have 5 different locos within this category. Its fair to say that they get used a lot and give sterling service. They pull incredibly well and are very quiet and smooth runners. They have given me no grief at all but they do need a clean of the electric pick ups inside the bogie once a year. They are pretty good to scale and the detail is quite fine. The down side of this is that they are a little fragile and have left a few bits of detail behind in the garden on occasions. Overall I love em.
USA Trains - CoCo locos. I have an SD70 and an SD40. Both are well detailed, close to scale and pull extremely well. Both have a tendency to throw the first wagon off the track on anything less than 12 foot diameter curves. In my limited experience I would say the bogies are not rock solid. I have had one gear strip and another one can sometimes be heard to slip so is probably on its way out. This could be down to me taking them apart and not putting them back together perfectly but they don't seem to be as strong as the Bo units. They have both done plenty of running and are very smooth and quiet. I can't rate these so highly as the BoBo s because I am not 100% sure about the power blocks.
Aristo locos. I have found the USAT locos to be pretty consistant across the range but not the Aristos. The later designs are far better than the earlier ones.
FA1 - can't bring myself to buy one - they look wrong
U25B - This looks Ok but the detailing is clunky compared to today's standards. Although a strong puller and a smooth runner it has a perculiar bogie mounting and is the only loco which falls of my track.
RS3 - I like these. The detailing isn't as fine as USAT but again they tend to be strong pullers and smooth quiet runners
SD45 & E8 - Both good looking and better detailed than the ewarlier stuff. Once again the CoCo bogie does not appear to be as good as the BoBo. Both of these are quite noisy compared to the USAT locos but they don't throw wagons off the track.
GP40 - I can't find any way to criticise this loco. Best detailed, very smooth, brilliant puller.
RDC1 - It works well although it wobbles a bit on my track. I have rebuilt the under carriage as it is completely wrong as supplied and added an interior. The new RDC3 does not have either of these problems.
Bachmann Locos
Davenport - Cute and well built. Detailing not great, lamp rather big. RUns nicely but, due to short wheelbase, can stall on points
Small 2-6-0 - Cute but could not pull the skin off a rice pudding. Also the connectors between loco and tender have fallen apart.
Connie 2-8-0 - Nice and meaty. Not a bad puller although well short of USAT diesel standards. Very smooth and quiet. Well detailed but rather big for my stock. This has shed quit a few parts across the garden so design / buld quality could be better.
LGB I have only ever owned one LGB loco and that has now gone. They all seem to run smoothly and quietly and of course are renowned for longevity. I just wish they were built to a constant scale. ALso, for me, the detailing is often a but chunky, but at least it doesn't fall off so easily.
Piko No experience. I do wish they would state a scale for each loco - I suspect they don't because they are approximations. They do seem to be very good value for money but the detail is poor compared to LGB.
 
Hopefully the above will be of interest as an honest and open overview. It is just my personal experience and opinion and I'm sure others will differ. Life woul dbe boring if we all thought the same!

I wouldn't want to see any bashing of any brand and I'm sur ethe moderators would not allow that anyway. Just experience and sensible reasons why you see something as good or mediocre.
 
Brave move Chris and, yes, I think the Mods will be keeping an eye on things.
That said, my experiences.

I only own LGB and Piko locomotive and it is agreed that they both use the rubber ruler.
Recent models show a significant increase in detail. It is fair to say that models such as the older Harz 2-6-2 used to be rather limited in detail - much of the detail is moulded to the boiler. However, the 2-10-2 has a great deal of extra pieces giving great detail. But as you say - they are tough.
Piko seem to bounce between detail and price. The 80, 0-6-0 steamy is a bit brief with pretty poor valve gear, however the new Diesels are pretty good. Longevity we will see.
 
USA Trains. I have three, an NW2. Unfortunately this loco has been badly damages due to water getting into the chip. But, when it was a runner, it had superb pulling power. But do tend to agree that you had to keep the skates and wheels clean for trouble free running. Did find that they were quite delicate, hand rails are very easily damaged. I also have 2 20 Tonners, and again, for small loco's they pull superbly well.

Aristocraft. I have an RS3 and a U25. Agree with everything that Chris says about them

Bachmann. I have 2, a Bachmann Porter. This loco is nice but basic, a good runner, has spent many hours on a shuttle line, and has worked well. A Tram, nice little model, but the motor definitely leaves something to be desired. It is 12 Volts, the same as the 00 loco's. This motor failed, so will be replaced with something more robust.

LGB. I have 4 of these. A V52, Cambrai and 2 Stainz. The Stainz are a nice loco but tend to fail on the points, so these have now been converted to battery power. The V52 a good puller, but not as good as the Aristo loco's. The Cambrai, runs well, nice loco. But I do think that the detail is not quite as good as some other loco's. Without a doubt, the worst loco I owned was a V200. The wiring was thin, very easily snapped, repaired it several times before re-wiring it.

Piko. Have 1 of these the Class 218. Very basic, no finesse about it at all, but a superb puller.

These are my findings with the loco's here at the EM&BHR. They all have there own character, I think they're all great. After all, what we like is to see trains running, no matter what make they are.
 
i only own LGB and a single, first run, bachman shay
the shay-now repaired with new bogies-broke within 2 hours of running light
spent a day making it serviceable and it lasted some years with sporadic usage

replaced the original plastic  bogies only a month ago with the mew metal versions
-so far is runs great-
details despite very careful handling-will simply fall off -plastic is brittle and unforgiving 
detail is breath taking-smoke unit is ok-overall a nice model when it works 

(after it broke the first day, and i had spent 400 (not including new power trucks at 100 more) i swore never again-only LGB-)



lgb is often toy like-no arguments
liverys can be wonderful or lame or wonderfully lame


detail varies -as do technological levels-i have come to see the cup as half full rather than half empty after many years of lamenting why were things not more sophisticated -class lights, and other finer details and features

however, it is bullet proof-will take a great deal of handling, will run in any type of weather, is reliable and virtually maintenance free 
owner servicing is easy for the most part

the reason i like it is i hate broken toys and i have enough to manage in life-so these are a real joy for my needs -they answer the call to service after lying dormant-never a problem

LGB is diverse in the models offered-this can be a joy or a frustration depending on your goals-

in all honesty i gave up 'modeling' in g scale because of this and mentally compromised
now I simply buy and run 'trains' that i like -
i love the product as much as i love trains 

LGb seems to holds it value better than most things 
 
LGB I have only ever owned one LGB loco and that has now gone.
Just felt this might need clarification. I don't own any LGB or Piko pureley because I decided to go contemporary (ish) American. The LGB Crocodile and Piko Railbus are both at the top of my items I would love to have but won't because they don't fit in with anything else and anyway I've run out of storage space list.

I'm wondering about other manufacturers.
MTH I know make nice looking models which are full of sophisticated electronics but I have no idea what they are like in service. (The Triplex is available at a bargain price at the moment by the way).
I have never heard any reports about Hartland locos.
Does anyone have a Newqd? The Euro steam loco looks ok but what about the running and the sturdiness? My expectation, due to the price, is that they will not be great but I could be wrong.
Accucraft electric powered locos look great but again do they run as well as they look? My only experience is a Bagley (can't spell it) which looks good and runs fine but could do with a bit more weight. Also the pick ups were not right as delivered and needed a bit of fettling.

I guess my comments show I'm a runner rather than a collector. My reason for raising this topic is that you can tell what a loco looks like before you buy but you can't tell how it will run or last. We know that pretty much all LGB will be fine but there isn't a lot of information about other brands.
 
Oh, here goes then!

LGB - I only have older models, early Harz, Mixnitz, etc - they run very well indeed, rather basic in detail, but are bullet proof both in terms of reliability and robustness. 'Scale' doesn't bother me outdoors (my HO line is pretty 'correct') , so the rubber ruler doesn't bother me, nor prototype. Like Steve, outside I run 'trains'.

Bachmann - Only have an early Big Hauler, which is...poor in all repects. In the process of being chopped up to make a mogul, which I have lost interest in. One day.

IP Engineering - A crude, tough bulletproof diesel shunter (Jessica) which provided that you build the gearbox EXACTLY to the instructions, has proved to be a superb runner. Quieter than an LGB mechanism, and will pull a steamie that's out of gas..... I've made a few of these for other people, and am generally impressed, shame he's withdrawn the model. The earlier Jessie is similar, but the bits don't fit quite as well and the design makes them a bit more difficult to build. I also have a simple Punch shunter, f/r control only, another crude but effective little loco - it's always first out to clear the line and take a few wagons out.

Accucraft - the Baguley, OK for the money, I put a speed controller and rechargables in one for a pal, which sorted the weight out!! Don't go over the top with weight and they're OK. Nothing like as robust as LGB, nothing like as expensive, yer pays yer money.....! Beyer-Peacocks, well GHW had a few of these, not as powerful as you might like, beautiful detail, robust, colour not quite right on the indian red ones in my mind. Caledonia, even better detail, colour better, long wheelbase causes some issues. I think a few early ones had some issues, but they were sorted. Look simply goregous (bias? Moi?). Steamies - robust, good value and very solidly built and good, powerful, steady runners, but the nuts and bolts sometimes (OK, often!) come slack - always worth checking around. Burners noisy, mesh helps. Poor detail on generic models, very good detail on newer scale models - eg Countess.

Roundhouse - detail can be crude, those *&^%$ slot head screws are annoying, they run beautifully and keep on doing so without any issues, bits just don't fall off these! Expensive and getting more so. Unbelieveably good customer service. Really, it's as good as their reputation.

USA Trains - I have 2 locos, GP7 and an NW2, both have run gazillions of miles on an exhibition layout, fautlessly. I agree the handrails are easily damaged, and the swing links on the blomberg trucks on the geep. Powerful, but current greedy - you won't run these on an old H&M Safety Minor!! Nice detail, bargain for the money.

Aristo - friends have a lot of these for the above mentioned layout, older ones can suffer with surging at low speeds, axles out of true I think. Later ones are OK, detail not as good as USA but they are perhaps tougher, and certainly less current hungry. I don't think the FA1 is that bad a model???

Personal views of course!
 
Okey dokey, here's my contribution

LGB - I have 8 LGB Locos of varying ages, the youngest of the bunch is 7 years old now. There's 2 Stainz, Ulok, Corpet, 2091 Diesel, Spreewald, Saxon Meyers, Elias Tram. All perform very well. Due to it's short wheelbase the Elias can stall on pointwork (but my Stainz aren't that bad for some reason). To me they all look fine and have plenty of detail. As folks have already said you can leave them in the box for months and they run fine afterwards. Little maintenance and it's relatively easy to do.

Accucraft - I have a Caradoc and a Baguley. The Caradoc took a bit of running to achieve relatively realistic slow running speeds but pretty much runs straight out of the box following a bit of Gas Oil Water. Detail not great but easily and cheaply enhanced with lining, nameplates, handrails etc. For the money it's just the job.

The Baguley was part of the set that Accucraft/BMS produced. I've been lucky with this one I think. Runs reasonably well but the wheels to have to be absolutely squeaky clean. Needs a bit of additional weight and detail is adequate but I would like to have seen a cab interior. Still as Neil says yer pays yer money - the set (Baguley plus two L & B wagons) only cost £169 so you can't expect super detail for that money.

Also owned a Caledonia which went to a new home last year. Lovely loco but my trackwork needed a lot of fettling to get it running right. Would do R1's but yer track had to be damn level. I loved it though and was very reluctant to sell it.

Piko - I have the Piko Railbus. Basically it's great. Runs well, enables me to get a train out on the line quickly without phaphing with wagons or coaches and you can pretty much stick on the track and leave it running while you enjoy a brew or tend to jobs around your line.

Playmobil - I have a scratchbuilt steam tram which uses the Playmobil 0-4-0 chassis as its power plant. No idea how old the original motor block is but it performs really well. Again the occasional slight stall over pointwork but on the whole a pretty good performer, and you can make a very realistic looking loco out of playmobil stuff.

Hartland - I've got a kitbashed Railbus which started life as a Hartland woody. Great little runner, simple layout and wiring so easy to maintain and bash. As a hartland woody it ran fine, wheelbase is slightly longer as a railbus so probably better over pointwork, (though I didn't notice any issues before the kitbash). No complaints.

IP - I too have the IP Punch. Mine is a little underpowered but I think that's because I fitted a simple 4.5v R/C system and I only have 3v powering it. May remove the R/C or up the voltage. Can derail on LGB pointwork but if negotiated carefully it's generally OK.

Bachmann - I have a scratchbuilt Baldwin tank loco based on a Bachmann 2-4-2. This is a poor runner and probably the reason why I haven't finished the build. Maybe battery conversion is the way to go with this one, not sure because the motor/greabox assembly looks pretty crude. Probably one of those projects that never gets finished or will be revamped on a different chassis.

Also owned a Bachmann Annie which I loved. Great runner, made nice noises and gave a good plume of smoke from the funnel. Bought it completely on impluse and only sold it cos it just didn't fit with everything else so basically got confined to a bookshelf for 12 months.
 
Also owned a Caledonia which went to a new home last year

I think I know where she went - somewhere not far from back2bay6 shop. She seems pretty happy especially now the one curve has been widened and she has a nice rake of IOM 4 wheelers to pull. Yes she is a nice loco.

It has been said that a Calendonia will help you find where your track needs attention. I guess this is because the chassis is not so flexible as others. The chasssis does have more of a scale look to it though. You can't have it all ways!
 
Chris M said:
Also owned a Caledonia which went to a new home last year

I think I know where she went - somewhere not far from back2bay6 shop. She seems pretty happy especially now the one curve has been widened and she has a nice rake of IOM 4 wheelers to pull. Yes she is a nice loco.

It has been said that a Calendonia will help you find where your track needs attention. I guess this is because the chassis is not so flexible as others. The chasssis does have more of a scale look to it though. You can't have it all ways!

That would be the one Chris. How's the line coming along? Was looking really promising when I saw it.
 
re The IP engineering locos - opening the back to back out a bit helps with LGB points.....;)
 
How's the line coming along?

It s not my line, its my brother's. Its progressing well with plenty of new development.
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i overlooked my aster lgb frank s and roundhose -both have been trouble free and highest quality
i agree Roundhose is a joy and customer service excellent, as is the product


Chris M said:
LGB I have only ever owned one LGB loco and that has now gone.
Just felt this might need clarification. I don't own any LGB or Piko pureley because I decided to go contemporary (ish) American. The LGB Crocodile and Piko Railbus are both at the top of my items I would love to have but won't because they don't fit in with anything else and anyway I've run out of storage space list.
....

you know Chris -i originally wanted to model US trains, C and S narrow gauge-but there was so little offered -for a while not even a caboose or freight cars to match the loco

but i fell in love with so many LGB locos just because i liked them, or on clearance sale they were very very affordable

-now i have a great collection hodgepodge of toys i like to play with

i think you should get a croc even if you dont model swiss trains-they are a great model
 
Here's my 2p worth:

Roundhouse - I have a 1999 "Billy". Still going strong despite my inept driving. Barely any detail, but rugged as a breeze block. Nil works attention needed, other than tightening up the odd nut - hardly surprising after several years' use - and replacing the pressure gauge after forgetting to remove it in a freezing shed over winter! Definitely good quality, though were I buying again, I'd go for a Lady Anne instead, simply because of the extra weight which translates to greater hauling power.

Piko - my reviews of my own Railbus and BR80 can be found elsewhere on GSC. Both are sturdy, solid items that I suspect could take a lot of punishment. Detail on the BR80 is sparse, but in many ways that makes it perfect for a kids' starter loco. Rugged is the best description. It would make an ideal battery conversion item. The railbus is a very good model: excellent detail and mine was (and is) smooth as silk after initial running in. Having seen the diesel shunter and 218 on my line too, I would have no issues in buying any of Piko's mainstream items. Quality of detail and the motors are not on a par with LGB, BUT they are perfectly adequate for normal usage and I'd be less concerned about minor "dings" given the ready availability of spare parts and relative cheapness of the original items.

LGB - Materials and detail unquestionably the highest quality of any items I own, but performance and electrics not necessarily to the same standards as the outerwork and of course it all comes at a substantial price. Note that all my LGB items have been pre-2006 production. Examples I've seen of subsequent loco production are not - in my opinion - to the same standards of design and production engineering.
Over the years I've had: Stainzes; U class 0-6-2T, Harz 2-6-2T, Rugen 0-8-0T, Schoema diesels, 2095 diesels and several (!) 0-6-6-0 Mallets. All the single motored locos except the 0-8-0T needed more weight and had inadequate pickups to ensure smooth running outdoors. All worked fine if worked in pairs, or using the "accessory socket" to get power from a trailing vehicle. These days, I would think about battery conversion. The 0-8-0T also had problems picking up due to its short wheelbase, but was a delightful loco and more than adequately heavy. I'd certainly try another of those, knowing that battery power is an option. Both the U class and the Harz 2-6-2T also had problems with their leading/ trailing trucks as those were simply too light. Seems to be a problem with other locos of similar design too (e.g. Spreewalds). I wouldn't have any LGB locos with 2-wheel trucks again.
By contrast, the 2095s and Mallets are the mainstay of my line and absolutely first rate. The 2095 is somewhat light, but that's easily fixed. Removing skates makes a huge difference to performance too.

Hope that helps: just my experience over the past 12 years!
 
Bachmann
Nice locos in detail and performance but I've had cracked gears on about 50% that I've owned due to the gear being to tight on the splined axle. One positive is that I've used bachmann's spare parts department several times and had excellent service so a loco has only been on the bench for a week or so waiting parts.
I sold up the collection and went to On30 when that range became bigger and offered more of the D&RGW locos.
Eureka and 3 trams left though and happily running still.
The Thomas range is superb too, really good chassis and very tempted to convert some to UK or even 7/8ths outline.

LGB
Well spares now more of a problem so it's good they are so robust.
I can live with the small compromises in scale as they look right and offer some of my favourite locos. Would love to see the end of the chrome looking wheels as paint never seems to stick to it well when I try to tone it down.
A little dubious of the value for money on it new these days when compared to what Accucraft, Piko and Bachmann can do for so much less even taking the running quality into account.
I note with a slight worry that the electronics on around 40% of Neils locos have had some sort of failiure which has resulted in new chips at £150 a pop. Things like complete fail of the sound card or the pantograph controls. I'm hoping my identical models are luckier.

Accucraft
The Baguley is superb for the money and with a moderate addition of weight quite happy if a bit noisy. Detail wise nothing between it and LGB and about a 1/3 the price.
Caledonia, Gorgeous in looks and running. It likes fairly level track but not as bad as I heard before I got one. This loco meant I leapt to order a Countess so fingers crossed it gets produced and is as good as this. Even the new higher prices seem good for what you get. A good balance and excellent value for money.

Live steam, I dabbled with it again when the Excelsior came out and apart from burning the fingers on the regulator it was a beautiful loco to own. Reliable simple to use and easy to control although a tad bigger boiler would have been the only improvement I would have wanted to give it a bit more grunt. Still it happily stopped for a steam up and carried on when ready. Another one that found a new home through GSM when I moved on.

Aristocraft & USA trains
Not much to choose between them with their recent models, powerful and reliable and only had one loco have an electrical failure that was quickly sorted under warranty.
If I had the space I'd have a huge modern layout with 40 odd wagon trains, really capture the feeling of the big brutish modern US locos.

Piko
Well the first one only arrived this week so I can't comment on long term reliability but they certainly impress on the detail front. They seem to have a more agricultural mechanisim so a I'd compare them to Accucraft UK in terms of value.


Overall I can't help feeling that LGB are now a bit overpriced but if you want that loco then that's the option. I do feel however that if the likes of Piko or Accucraft were to offer the same models within their range then they would hit LGB hard. People are prepared to maintain these models as with my experiences of Bachmann and I think they are lucky that the other manufacturers tend to play fair and not duplicate their stuff.
 
Rather than add yet another long list of toys owned, let's just say that I've examples of varying age, from LGB, Aristo, Bachmann, Hartland, Playmobil and been happy with all of them, from little 0-4-0's to big diesels and mallets, mikados etc. (My wife would say way more than I need!)

Some things which stand out for me personally:

LGB does seem to have a certain little extra quality of materials and "feel". Only a minority of my locos are LGB but they'll all good runners, I feel confident that even the older models will give long service.

Bachmann Spectrum recent stuff (Shay, Connie, Mallet etc.) all seem to run very nicely and look good. Generally my son's favourite locos, they need just a little more care when handling due to the details. I try and use the original plastic bag as a sling to transfer from box to track and v.v. I love the weighty little Davenport diesel.

My Aristo steamers and diesels come out to play regularly as they've proven to be dependable. Old motor blocks not as smooth as the newer designs and some wheels have lost plating but run fine if kept clean.

Playmobil (old track powered stuff) has nice simple reliable chassis blocks, I lke these as toys.

My Hartland Mack is simple but robust. I've an ancient Kalamazoo 4-4-0 (Hartland ancestor) which is a bullet-proof toy train, I can see how this trait has continued into Hartland's products.

Not too impressed with the wheels on my Accucraft Baguley diesel - they seem to have rapidly lost plating and are now somewhat "ridged" on the treads, requiring frequent cleaning. It's rather graunchy and underweight as others have mentoned - but it's relatively cheap.

The only "bad" loco I have is an early Bug Mauler, but I only paid £15 for it so don't expect much from it. It does run when called upon!

Almost all locos have been DCC fitted without problems.
 
Bachmann ........Annies, K-27 and Connie :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Aristo .......Mike and Dash-9 :thumbup: :thumbup::thumbup:

USAT ........SD40, F3A/B, PA/PB1, GP30, NW2 and GP-9 :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I think I'm leaning towards USAT stuff with the K-27 runner up.
 
I'll throw another shout out for HLW, I have several Macks, an 0-4-0, and the 2-6-0, each has been every bit as reliable and durable as LGB, in US profile to boot!
 
I fancy a few HLW things, if someone just but sold them! Dragon has had them on his site for months now, but no prices or in stock details!
 
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