Locomotives we would like to see in N scale

[johnTom]

I am still desprate for the Ten-wheeler and Russian Decapod.

Oh boo, oh hoo,
Charles

Me  too !

Tom

[Alex Butner]

4-6-0 Ten Wheeler (Similiar to HO scale Version)
Richmond 4-4-0
GP-7 and GP-9
4-4-0 "Leviathan" (Same as Jupiter, but red)
4-4-0 "General"
4-4-0 "Texas"
4-4-0 No. 999
4-6-0 "Thatcher Perkins"

[johnTom]

Since there is a nice quantity of EMD F units out there ,how about a EMD E6A ,E7A,E8A, E9A and the EMD FL9.

[brokemoto]

Life-Like sold plastic frame E-6, E-7 and E-8/9. They were a good locomotive, especially for their street prices.  There are still many out there at dealers as NOS, many more are can be found at shows.

LL/Walthers sells metal frame E-8/9. They are very good locomotives.

Kato sold and continues to sell E-8/9 locomotives.  They are excellent.  Some roadnames are hard to find, others are out there, either at dealers for newer issues or shows for older.

Broadway Limited (or whatever their N scale company is called) sells E-7s. You can get a very basic locomotive, or get one with decoder, sound and all sorts of whistles and bells. They look nice, but I have never owned any.  They have gotten mixed reviews.

I have never seen an FL-9 in N scale.  The only B/A-1-A cab unit that I have ever seen in N scale is the old Atlas/Rivarossi FM unit.  It had that awful can motor that lasted maybe ten hours, if that long.  They never did run well.  I would not mind seeing someone do an updated version of that one.

WKW already sells the FM C-liners that they inherited from LL.

There are brass EA, E-1 and E-5.

N scale has many E-units, already.

[S.C.L.EDDIE]

How about some Seaboard Coast Line u36b's. I have the original Spirit of '76 and an AUTO-TRAIN U36B!! They are both still mint and I will never part with them.


Eddie

[S.C.L.EDDIE]

Also how about the GS-4 in American Freedom Train in N scale -

Eddie

[brokemoto]

If you see the GS-4 in  American Freedom Train, it will probably be from Con-Cor or Kato, since both of them have issued GS-4s.  C-C's is on a GN chassis, but it is out there.  I suspect that Kato jumped into the 4-8-4 business because it felt that it could build a better mousetrap at a better price; not the first time that such a thing has governed Kato's product choice.  C-C issued a GS-4 on its GN chassis.  It performs acceptably, but for a three hundred banana list price, you expect better than 'acceptable.   Further, you expect a correct lettering font.   Kato's GS-4 has a lower list price, performs much better AND has proper lettering font, although there was that debacle with the DCC, which Kato did address. 

There are times when the manufacturers avoid issuing something that another one has issued.  Then, there are times when they will issue the same thing.  The E and PA comes to mind.

Atlas sold the first E-units in N scale in the United States.  The E-8 had a horrid Rivarossi power chassis with an awful three pole can motor that lasted five running hours if you got a good one.  They sold an E-7 with a shell manufactured by RR but on a drive manufactured by Roco.  It was not bad for its time, but it had only four speeds:  fast, too fast, very fast and not at all.  Later, C-C sold the same locomotives, but on drives that were knockoffs of its PA power chassis, that Kato manufactured originally.  It was not a bad power chassis, but it did seem to work better on the PA than on the E-units.  The C-C copy was never as reliable as the Kato, either on the Es or the PAs.   Kato finally issued its own E-units on an updated split metal frame power chassis with flywheels.  They were and are excellent.  Life-Like entered the market, first with E-8s, later with E-7s and E-6s.  These were on a plastic frame with flywheels. 

What the LLs appeared to be were economy versions of the Katos.  LL took the plastic frame and gearing from its successful FAs, added some more modern items such as flywheels and addressed some of the archaic construction methods that had persisted in the FAs:  they eliminated the flexing wires attached to pivotting trucks.  They were weighted heavily, which gave them excellent pulling power and gave you eighty five per cent of the performance of the Katos and sixty five per cent of the price.   Mind you, this is list price, not street price; the LLs were even better when it came to the street price.  LL seemed to have found a niche in the N scale market:  decent power at a very good price.  In fact, the LL was probably a better value for the dollar than many of the other products out there.  Why LL ever decided to go to the more expensive power chassis, I do not know; they seemed to be doing well with what they had.  Do not take this the wrong way; LL power is good, but its price went way up, especially the passenger cabs, when they upgraded the chassis.  There was also improvement in the performance, but did a fifteen per cent increase in the performance justify a thirty five per cent increase in price?  Now Broadway Limited is in the E business, but its units have all the bells and whistles (literally and figuratively).

C-C had the first PAs.  They were good for their time, but the drives had been superceded by better ones.  Still, C-C never updated.  Kato issued PAs that had a drive similar to their E units; again, excellent power.   LL issued PAs with the plastic frame with the same qualities as their E units.  LL later decided to upgrade them.  Again, did a fifteen per cent increase in performance justify a thirty five per cent price increase?  Broadway Limited has announced PAs, again with all of the literal and figurative bells and whistles.

C-C did finally upgrade its PA chassis and did take care that it would accomodate the older shells, which allows those of us who have them to continue operating them.  I have a pair of custom painted P&LEs that I would hate to see sidelined.  (and on those PAs, the manufacturers all do NYC lightning stripe, as it does look good on them, but none have ever done P&LE, which has the same paint scheme.  The only difference is in the lettering:  NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM and P&LE over the road number.)

I do have to wonder why N scale seems to need all of these passenger cabs, although each would have had its niche, had LL not decided to go to the split metal frame.  And all of this time, N scale had lacked a decent ,  'entry level' F-unit.  The plastic frame LL FA was not bad, but it was not an EMD F-unit.

I suspect that one reason that the manufacturers will choose to issue the larger steam and diesel power is that it is easier to work with it, although MicroAce and MDC/Athearn have done wonders with their nineteenth century steam and the B-mann 44-tonner is a real gem.

Atlas sells so many of the RS-configured diesels that the other manufacturers must scramble to find something different.  Witness the different versions of the FM roadswitcher.  Atlas had the older version, and, I suspect had considered the newer version, except B-personn issued it first.  While it may not be SPECTRUM, it still is pretty good.  Thus, I doubt that you will ever see the other version from Atlas.

Model Power has done USRA light pacifics and mikados.  For that reason, I doubt that another manufacturer will do them, although the MPs have their problems.  Too bad, because Kato did a better job on the Es, and I suspect that they chose them because they felt that N scale modellers wanted a better mousetrap than the one that C-C was offering them.  Sometimes a manufacturer will issue the same power because it thinks that it can do a better job.

The above is one reason why I wonder about the F-unit.  For years, there was not a decent one.  Kato finally came out with decent F-units, but issued them only every so often, and only in certain road names.  It will never cease to amaze me that it took Intermountain, a relative upstart compared to the other manufacturers, to pick up the gauntlet, and at so late a date, at that.  Still, IM keeps crankin' 'em out, and people keep buyin' 'em.

B-mann does have two 4-8-4 chassis out there, one a Standard Line, the other a SPECTRUM.   Both are reputed to be pretty good.  I do not have one, as a 4-8-4 is larger than what I would want.  Still, I would suspect that if Bachmann were to put another superstructure on either 4-8-4 chassis, it would be a NYC niagara, something for which there has been a considerable demand.  I would suspect that if B-mann did not retool either 4-8-4 chassis, it would use the Standard Line for the niagara, as the drivers on the SPECTRUM are far too small for a niagara.   I would prefer that B-mann put a shroud on its USRA heavy 4-8-2 for a N&W K class, as that would not require retooling the chassis.  N&W K classes were original and copies of the USRA heavy 4-8-2 to which Roanoke later added shrouds.

If you want an N scale Freedom train from B-mann, expect it to be the Reading Company T-hog.  If you want the SP, look to Kato or C-C.  In fact, I am surprised that C-C did not issue it in Freedom Train;  they issued it in PRR.

[johnTom]

I remember the train set I think BACHMANN produced it for LIONEL (LIONEL HO-SCALE) back in the 1970's- early 1980's, if I am not mistaken.  Also I would like to see a TEXAS TYPE,MASTODON "the 4-8-0" and the Central Pacific RR built El Gobernador ...
Please see the following link http://www.steamlocomotive.com/4-10-0/

TEXAS & PACIFIC RR    2-10-4
CENTRAL PACIFIC RR   4-10-0
BUFFALO ROCHESTER & PITTSBURGH RR 4-8-0
N & W RR 4-8-0


Tom

[Williamson]

Life-Like sold plastic frame E-6, E-7 and E-8/9. They were a good locomotive, especially for their street prices.  There are still many out there at dealers as NOS, many more are can be found at shows.

LL/Walthers sells metal frame E-8/9. They are very good locomotives.

Only problem with the LL/Walthers E units is that the nose contours are all wrong. The only exception to this possibly is the E6.

Mark