What is / Was your favourite G Scale loco?

[stevelewis]

I know a lot of readers on GSC have been in the hobby for many years.... when i was leafing thero' the LGB 'LOK' book i got to realising just how vast the range has been over almost 50 years since production started.
I have owned quite a few of the various typed, but by no means every type!

It got me wondering what other users favourite loco was and why, I have a favourite and have always had one ( or more) despite at some times it not being appropriate to my current theme!

So what are other users favourites and any reasons why?

 

[David1226]

I will have to give a bit of time to think which is my favourite and come back to you. I must assume that the loco that started a huge number of G Scalers off, in its various incarnations, was the Stainz. It must therefore have a place of affection for a good many.




David

 

[Zerogee]

Very hard to nail it down to one..... I guess my favorite two (hard to choose between them) are my DR Aster/LGB Mallet, which falls squarely into the `so ugly it`s beautiful` box:



....and my green Ts3, which as well as being unusual is just a really pretty, well-proportioned loco in my eyes:





Mind you, the slightly-modded Heidi (with brass handrails added) behind the Ts3 in those shots comes very close behind them in my list.....

I`d find it VERY hard to part with any of those!

Jon.

 

[ebay mike]

I always hankered after a 9F - preferably 92220 (Evening Star). Had two in N gauge years ago. Saw a coal-fired gauge one example some time ago but it had a 5 figure price tag which placed it well out of my reach. Second choice was something French. A Chapelon pacific maybe? Then this came along a few days ago and I just HAD to buy it. Now all I need is a rake of CIWL pullmans to finish it off.

 

[owlpool]

Still has to be



Not the best runner, but enjoyed the mods and the painting. Still a very attractive engine in prototype.

 

[Neil Robinson]

Again difficult to choose as each is special in different ways.
However the LGB/Aster Garratt is most likely to be No.1.

 

[maxi-model]

Bachmann K-27
Big, reliable, climber, pulling power, presence
Amazing value when bought 2nd hand​

Max

 

[David1226]

I`ve had a little think and the answer was staring me in the face, literally. It`s the picture I use as the screen saver on my computer. Like Neal, my favourite loco would have to be the LGB/Aster Garratt. This is a photograph I downloaded from t`internet some years ago of a weathered model. I posted it several years back on a thread to do with loco weathering. It was severly critisised at the time as being unrealistic, a point of view that i strongly disagree with, I think it looks wonderful, and very brave of the owner. I did`nt think the original photograph did the model justice as there were bits of track and other distractions in the background. I played with it in Microsoft Paint and ended up with the picture you see.



David

 

[sparky230]

Just has to be a stainz, thats why i have over 50 of them

 

[stevelewis]

Its a funny thing with the Stainz you either like them or you dont!

When I firdt bought LGB around '78 availability of the range was erratic items were quite hard to source, so my first purchase was not a Stainz, It was a Zillertal 0-6-2 U class ( + 3 4 wheel coaches, 2 points and enough track for a large oval + loop on the patio total cost £157.00 New not s/h!)
The next locos in order were a 2095 Bo-Bo diesel, a 2015 USA 0-4-0 tender loco, 2040 Crocodile, then a Stainz and next a Schoema 0-4-0 diesel. I quickly realised that the performance of the last 2 locos was not as good as the larger locos, When I say performance I refer mainly to their ability in the power collection dept compared to the larger locos. It has to be rmemebered that in those early days control was analogue and the digital advantage of having constant 22Volts and higher amps was a thing of the future.
The 2 small locos were sold off after a year or 2 and since then it has been large locos for me.

I appreciate there are many who collect large numbers of Stainz locos though, although some users have wired theirs to run in pairs by arranging a connection cable between the pickups of the 2 locos, so that each loco will collect power for both locos thus reducing pickup problems.

 

[stevelewis]

David........ re the Garratt, I totally agree with you it looks fine, one thing that gets me is when you see articles in Magazines not particularly in 'our' scale but 00 mostly where everything looks like it has just come out of the box, very unrealistic I think.

I often kick myself for not snapping up a Garratt from a well known retailer for less than £1500 ( Dig & Sound) it was s/h but you really could not find any signs of use on it

 

[The Devonian]

If, I had a Shay or a Bachmann Mudhen one of them would be my favourite loco most likely, but I don`t have either.

Based on what I do have and use, it has the be the Alco RS3. I have three of them, they are versatile, run in either direction (and look right) they also fit R3 type curves adequately. They might run around smaller diameter curves but I don`t model a narrow line or an industrial complex where tight curves are quite frequent.
Having two motors they have a reasonable pulling or pushing capability but I impose a limit of seven cars usually.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Spectrum Climax, without a doubt. Probably because we had the prototype running here in NZ (we never had Shays), and, besides that, the exposed running gear is delightful. In our group, we could probably rustle up half a dozen Climax locos for the annual Climax Sprints (a version of the the Shay Races)

 

[PaulRhB]

Favourite? They are all favourites when I'm running them but I suppose I have a top 4, HSB 2-10-2, Rhatia, Heidi and of course the RhB Krok

 

[stevelewis]

Spectrum Climax, without a doubt. Probably because we had the prototype running here in NZ (we never had Shays), and, besides that, the exposed running gear is delightful. In our group, we could probably rustle up half a dozen Climax locos for the annual Climax Sprints (a version of the the Shay Races)








I had some Climaxes ( the locos that is) and A Shay in my US brilliantly slow powerful locos,, The climaxes were a bit of a pain to Digitize with all the capacititors in the bogies!

 

[beavercreek]

Wow this is difficult....
I really like my Climaxes, the shays and also my hard working GP (30/38 and 9) diesels. But my real new favourite has to be the Bachmann 1:20.3 scale C19.
A lovely model, really well built and specifications are high.

 

[Dtsteam]

Gotta be the LGB Krok. I was never keen on the big engines, so for 20 years the DR 2-6-2 was the biggest engine in the fleet. I had always wanted a Krok but never got round to it. In the late nineties I was offered one for ready money, but I declined as I'd decided to buy a new one with my 21 years service award in 2001. Anyway, come the year, I was told to forget it - cost saving etc etc. When I told SWMBO, she just went out and bought one, to make sure I got my loco if nothing else.
As a postscript, it transpired a few years later that I had been unfairly treated, so the firm ended up paying for a Mallet instead !

 

[ntpntpntp]

I suppose my favourites come from two extremes: Bachmann 3-truck Shay `cos it`s so fascinating to watch as it crawls along (and has a decent QSI sound card in it), and my little LGB `Chloe` and `Olomana` suger-cane 0-4-2s which are cute, remind me of locos I saw in Fiji in 1974, and look just right with short trains of Hartland V tipper kits!





LGB Mikado comes out quite a lot, so that`s high on my list too.

 

[55.5]

The 3 Bachmann geared locos stand out for me above all others with the Heisler being the favourite had to hardwire both the Shay and the Climax due to niggling conductivity issues but the Heisler never missed a beat.

 

[stevelewis]

Interesting to note that (understandably I think) Bachmann's Logging locos are gaining a lot of 'likes' on this thread