Help finding right locomotive

[Beatthe9ers]

I'm a novice at this, I got a Bachmann set a couple of years ago as a Christmas present to run around the tree.  I have a couple young kids and thought it would be fun.  It is.  This year I got a few freight cars as gifts and my interest is officially sparked.  One piece in particular has me interested.

I got a Branchline brand freight car, part of their Blueprint ACF Wood Reefer series.  I really like the 1920's Era Billboard URTX Cars (http://www.branchline-trains.com/blueprint/reefers/urtx_reefers.htm).

So what I would like to do is get a bunch of these billboard freight cars to eventually run in some kind of layout.  I'm not usually a stickler for historical accuracy, but in this case I would like to get a locomotive that might have actually pulled these types of freight cars in the late 20's, early 30's.

I've been looking on the web but seem to be running in circles.  I'm finding it difficult to match up rail lines that utilized these cars and then find out what type of locomotives they used at the same time.  It certainly isn't helping that I don't really speak the language at all (again, I am a novice).

Can anyone point me in the right direction or just throw out a suggestion of a locomotive that might be accurate for that time period and these cars?

Thanks in advance.

[Conrail Quality]

I've never claimed to be an expert on steam locomotives (electric locomotives are my domain), but if I'm not mistaken, Bachmann's 2-8-0 would be a reasonable locomotive for this.

-Timothy
-Conrail Quality

[TonyD]

These cars were usually hauling west coast fruits and veg's to all points east. Even people in Nova Scoita wanted California lettuce in the winter, a wholesaler at the end of a counrty shortline would get a car of produce regularly. so what ever RR you want to model, in the 20's to, well I saw, and took a snapshot of a wood sided - I think PFE reefer in +/- 1970, one of the last I bet. Yours- your 1st- isn't the propriatory? 'billboard', which were phased out and painted over in the mid 30's, so all but the latest generations of power is -not really wrong. What looks weird, or atleast unusual, it old steam pulling modern rolling stock, but old cars seem to hang on for years and years. Don't get too technical, have fun! And don't let the kids break it! 

[SteamGene]

For a 1920s-30s reefer train, try these:
BLI light or heavy Mikado
IHC light or heavy Mikado (but only the NEW ones)
IHC Mountain, but NOT any one with a Vanderbilt tender or flying pumps.  The Vanderbilt tender is the one that looks like a coke can lying down and flying pumps are the pumps mounted on the smokebox front itself)
Bachmann light or heavy Mountain (to be historically accurate, do not select the C&O J-2 heavy Mountain as they only pulled passenger trains until their final days)
Bachmann Kanawha/Berkshire
Mantua Mikado
The Bachmann Consolidation is a fine, fine model, but it would probably not be doing reefer duty in the '20s/'30s as it was too slow.  Likewise articulateds back then were drag freight until the end of the '30s and the advent of the Challenger and Santa Fe/Texas were also.
I hope this helps.
BTW, there is a picture in the Strasburg Railroad souvenier booklet of one of their locos - the Russian, I think, hauling a train of 100 ton covered hoppers to their one online industry, a chemical plant. 
Gene

[Beatthe9ers]

Thanks, Gene.  Those Berkshires certainly are attractive locos.

What does the BLI and IHC in front of the Mikados mean?  Are those different manufacturers?

Another thing I am wondering about:  As I look around, I am finding steam locos of similar types running anywhere from $150 to $500.  What, generally, am I paying for if I go with a more expensive model?  Is it just more detailed?  Made of metal instead of plastic?  Is there a difference in the 'on track' performance?  Are cheaper models more likely to break or wear out over time?

Sometimes in life you 'get what you pay for' and other times you end up paying a premium for a brand name that ends up meaning very little, (I often hear that Bose speakers are overpriced to help them pay for all the advertising they do).  Any opinion on that as it relates to model trains?

Thanks again.

[wade]

IHC (International Hobby Corperation)engines run well enough but lack detail and sometimes prototype.

BLI (Broadway Limited Imports) engines run very well but have a range of detail depending on price. They follow real prototypes but are expensive.

Bachmann is as good and often better than BLI in most respects but not every road name offered  follow prototypes. This is a good compromise considering price. ( Not a problem for me - I model M&P)

Proto 2000 Series by Walthers are well detailed and prototypical but are sometimes not the best pullers and are somewhat expensive.

Someone else take over - I've got to go to work
Wade

[Pacific Northern]

I would suggest that the locomotive you choose should be in porportion/scale to the layout you intend to build.

If you are looking at a smalerl 4' x 8' layout I would suggest a small engine such as a 4-6-0 Spectrum, if your layout is going to be larger with wider radius curves (such as 22") then larger engines would be appropriate.

The large engines do look out of place on layouts with the smaller radius curves.

[SteamGene]

The newest IHC Mikes are much better runners and have more detail than the older issue.  They are models of the USRA light Mikado, though IHC has lots of road names that did not have USRA light Mikes.   Cost goes up these days generally in proportion to the amont of detail and accuracy of the model.  Other factors are how compatable to DCC the engine is and whether or not it has sound. 
BTW, if you like the Mike idea,  do not get the Athearn Genesis.  Some are okay, but there are a lot of good looking dogs.
Gene

[Jim2903]

BTW, there is a picture in the Strasburg Railroad souvenier booklet of one of their locos - the Russian, I think, hauling a train of 100 ton covered hoppers to their one online industry, a chemical plant. 
Gene

Gene,

Good suggestions, but a minor quibble: The Strasburg's 2-10-0 isn't a Russian. The Russians were built in the late teens; the Strasburg dec is a 1924 Baldwin off the Great Western.

Jim Dudlicek
Hoffman Estates, IL