Best HO Scale Diesel?

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Wed, 2012-06-27 13:42 — Steam Donkey

Hi Everybody!

Before I open up what may be a can of worms, I should give you a little background.

My latest desire is to model contemporary BC Rail in HO scale. Yup, my proto-freelance layout assumes BC Rail did not get gobbled up by CN in 2004, but continued to thrive and acquire some massive modern diesel power. Also need some CN motive power to go with the BCR gear.

So back to the point, I need to buy some engines. I've been a steam guy up to now, but know very little about diesel models, specifically which HO scale models are the most detailed, best running, most reliable, etc.

Does anybody have any opinions? (silly question, huh?) Hope you can help bring my up to speed.

Cheers,

Stan

Well...

Wed, 2012-06-27 15:45 — skiloff

But Rapido's upcoming FP9's will be one of the most highly detailed plastic locos ever...

http://www.rapidotrains.com/fp9_1.html

Kato also has some pretty spiffy units...

http://www.katousa.com/HO/SD90MAC/37-6367.jpg

http://www.katousa.com/HO/AC4400CW/37-6475.jpg

But you probably want a BC Rail loco, don't you? Bowser has some very nice C-630M's:

http://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=172785

http://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=199303

Or the Atlas blue scheme:

http://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=176424

Overland Brass is also coming out with one if you wanted brass (too rich for me, though):

http://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=167347

Dave

New HO Plan Coming Soon!
HO Scale '70s/80s era
N Scale "Collector" '70s/80s era
GMT-6

Great!

Thu, 2012-06-28 21:19 — Steam Donkey

Thanks Dave, this points me in the right direction. Looks like the old adage is true, you get what you pay for. I'll bet that brass stuff is pretty sweet....

Cheers,

Stan

Recommendations

Sat, 2012-07-07 07:03 — jarhead

Follow Dave's advice, he gave you the cream of the crop.

Nick Biangel

BCR

Wed, 2012-07-25 10:16 — kengoudsward

Hi Steam Donkey,

I love your concept of BCR alternative history! Are you painting and decaling or just looking for R2R? IMHO the BCR 2-tone green livery is one of the nicest schemes ever. There are a couple of really beautiful custom painted locos for sale at the hobby shop here in Prince George. If you are interested I'd be willing to take some pictures and send you the info.

Cheers,

Ken Goudsward

Bc rail engines and schemes

Wed, 2012-07-25 15:05 — cv_acr

He did say "contemporary" - the FP9 and C630M aren't really contemporary engines. (although the Rapido and Bowser are very nicely detailed)

Also, the old British Columbia Railway green scheme was replaced by the red and blue BC Rail in 1984.

in generalities, Atlas and Kato units have excellent drives. So do the Bowsers. They're also well detailed. The Proto2000 line (originally from life-like now walthers) is also well detailed and decent runners, although they never made a modern unit. The older Athearn "blue box" units could be a bit hit or miss, but I believe the newer Genesis units are pretty good.

Chris van der Heide

CPR Sudbury Division (Waterloo Region Model Railway Club)

Canadian Freight Car Gallery

You mentioned massive

Thu, 2012-07-26 08:35 — Marc W

The following are good choices for large contemporary diesel models that are extremely common in service today:

AC4400 - The Kato ones run the best, hands down. They are fairly well detailed, although the grabs are all oversized. Since you have to apply them yourself anyway it's not too much extra work to replace them with wire if you wish.

ES44AC/ES44DC - Intermountain is your only choice for plastic GEVOs. They are really nicely detailed but mine doesn't run as well as my Atlas or Kato locos. Still not bad though.

SD70ace - The Athearn Genesis models are nice. They run well and are nicely detailed. The sound is not the best, however can be improved by adding a baffle to the factory speaker mount. I bet an SD70ace would look good in the red white and blue scheme that BC Rail used on their GF6Cs.

As far as 4 axle power, the Atlas B40-8 that Dave linked above is another excellent choice. Not quite as contemporary but is a fantastic model that runs very well. As a plus it even comes factory painted in BC Rail scheme. Even less contemporary but also excellent models are the Atlas GP40 and GP40-2s. I guess it just depends on what year you want to model and how freelance you want to be with when particular locomotive models were retired.

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