PVincent342
New member
Im wondering about N Scale? What are good comapnys for N Scale Trains. ???
N Scale?
- Thread starter PVincent342
- Start date
Gandalf0444
FVRR member
I would stay away from bachmann(although they do have good stuff),lionel is good,and there are others that I can't remember.
BLACKWATCH
Mechanical Engineer
If you are talking of stock for model railway layouts, one of the better ones here in England is a maker called "GRAHAM FARRISH".
Don`t know if they are available stateside.
Don`t know if they are available stateside.
darius359au
New member
Bachmann's spectrum and Lifelike's Proto ranges are good , but if youve got the cash then Kato is the best you can get
Graham Farish only make UK models, they are owned by Bachmann though and make some very nice models. I'm not really familiar with US manufacturers, but I can certainly say Kato make some of the best models I've seen. I had a bunch of their EMUs a while back (TGV and Eurostar) and the quality is astounding for N gauge (which is more than I can say for my photos, sorry!)
See for yourself (click for larger pics)
JB
See for yourself (click for larger pics)
JB
WileeCoyote
Eatibus Almost Anythingus
If you can get your hands on some (and if you have too much money
) I'd very much suggest Fleischmann.
WileeCoyote
) I'd very much suggest Fleischmann.WileeCoyote
PVincent342
New member
Well thanks y'all. I know some of the top of the line stuff , from my old HO Days, so im good.
MuttsMooch
New member
Although some dont like 'em, Life-Like (Or Death-Like, some people refer to it as). I've got an ALCo and F40PH from them and they work fine. 
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Hi Sam,
Kato have stopped making the Eurostar, or they had when I last heard, so they're very hard to come by in the shops now. They do pop up fairly frequently on ebay though so that's probably your best bet. You're looking at around £130 for the main set, and roughly the same price for the rare four-car addon packs. To create a full prototypical rake you need a main set and three addon packs, so it'll usually set you back over £500 (and a good few months of waiting for them to pop up on ebay).
The powercar can pull the 18 trailers + dummy power car around without the slightest sign of struggling, and can push the entire rake backwards just as easily. It's very impressive to watch especially as the power car is fitted with a flywheel mechanism so it slows down really gently rather than the stopping like it's hit a boulder. Oh and it has red / yellow directional lights at each end of course! It also has an absolutely phenomenal top speed for an N gauge model
Be careful though, I bought one set just out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. Ended up spending over £2000 on collecting two full rakes! (That's approx $4000 for those wondering). Worth every penny though IMO, even my non-railway-interested friends were amazed at how much detail and power could be squeezed into something smaller than a smarties tube.
JB
Kato have stopped making the Eurostar, or they had when I last heard, so they're very hard to come by in the shops now. They do pop up fairly frequently on ebay though so that's probably your best bet. You're looking at around £130 for the main set, and roughly the same price for the rare four-car addon packs. To create a full prototypical rake you need a main set and three addon packs, so it'll usually set you back over £500 (and a good few months of waiting for them to pop up on ebay).
The powercar can pull the 18 trailers + dummy power car around without the slightest sign of struggling, and can push the entire rake backwards just as easily. It's very impressive to watch especially as the power car is fitted with a flywheel mechanism so it slows down really gently rather than the stopping like it's hit a boulder. Oh and it has red / yellow directional lights at each end of course! It also has an absolutely phenomenal top speed for an N gauge model
Be careful though, I bought one set just out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. Ended up spending over £2000 on collecting two full rakes! (That's approx $4000 for those wondering). Worth every penny though IMO, even my non-railway-interested friends were amazed at how much detail and power could be squeezed into something smaller than a smarties tube.
JB
Blutorse4792
Now T:ANE I can get into
Athearn does some nice stuff. Kato too.
Gangsta_Boi
Local Line Lunatic
If you can get your hands on some (and if you have too much money
WileeCoyote
+1 for Fleischmann ! They make some of the best models ever ! Yes, you could be out of pocket after a few purchases, but they are astounding !
My grandad has a few of their models, and are fun to just look at on a layout too.
Thanks,
Gangsta_Boi
In my collection I have a lot of Kato and Athearn. The other brands that are nice are Intermountain and Pacific Western. I'm sure there are other good ones that I have forgotten though...
n gages are hard to find and very exspensive
Not really, it depends what type of prototype you want to follow. US and UK outline is reasonably priced, it is only the Germana and other Eurpean stuff that is really expensive.
US outline stuff is very reasonably priced and usually a bit lower than HO.
I can't believe no one has mentioned Atlas who provide by far the best variety in US outline and their quality is up there with Kato. A standard diesel will cost around US$70 from a number of e-tailers. Some of their latest rolling stock is by far the best US Freight outline around.
Kato as previously mentioned is excellent.
Apart from a couple of teamers they have put out, Bachmann is of questionable quality - the mechanisms are generally OK, but their attention to detail is woeful.
Intermountain, Micro Trains, PCM, Athearn are some the others.
UK outline, there are only really two - Farish and Dapol - both pretty good quality, but about 25% more expensive than US outline. Dapol qaulity si really worth the price, especially their steam locos.
Fleischmann, Roco and MInitrxi produce great Eurpean outline stuff, but it is double if not sometime triple the cost of the US stuff.
Japan has by far the biggest selction of N gauge stuff and at reasonable prices, but how many EMUs can you have on one layout. Main suppliers are Kato, Tomix, Micro Ace and Greenmax. They do some wonderful steamers, but they are very hard to come by these days.
Mark
South Oz
Horribly Oversized - No Way - It's N for me!
A-T-L-A-S
Stay away from Bachmann, I have one of there Spectrum engines I bought for $140 it worked the first few days, then poof...it would barley run, I had to give it a push to get it going for a foot or 2...on the other hand, I would choose lifelike for your motive-power and Round House for your rolling-stock
I have lots of roundhouse rolling stock and its great! they run very smooth too
I have lots of roundhouse rolling stock and its great! they run very smooth too
Harry_James_Potter
General Thrash
Hi Sam,
Kato have stopped making the Eurostar, or they had when I last heard, so they're very hard to come by in the shops now. They do pop up fairly frequently on ebay though so that's probably your best bet. You're looking at around £130 for the main set, and roughly the same price for the rare four-car addon packs. To create a full prototypical rake you need a main set and three addon packs, so it'll usually set you back over £500 (and a good few months of waiting for them to pop up on ebay).
The powercar can pull the 18 trailers + dummy power car around without the slightest sign of struggling, and can push the entire rake backwards just as easily. It's very impressive to watch especially as the power car is fitted with a flywheel mechanism so it slows down really gently rather than the stopping like it's hit a boulder. Oh and it has red / yellow directional lights at each end of course! It also has an absolutely phenomenal top speed for an N gauge model
Be careful though, I bought one set just out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. Ended up spending over £2000 on collecting two full rakes! (That's approx $4000 for those wondering). Worth every penny though IMO, even my non-railway-interested friends were amazed at how much detail and power could be squeezed into something smaller than a smarties tube.
JB
I wouldn't mind collecting a pair of Eurostars but in the scale that I model, I'm sure that a certain company would have something to say about it that wouldn't be very nice...
regards
Harry.
Ps... you could always let him have one of yours on a lease deal...
Unfortunately I sold my Eurostar collection quite a while ago when I moved house 
I bought a Jouef Eurostar set in France around 1996 and whilst even the "train set" version looks 10x better than even the joint Hornby / Jouef one, it's a shame that neither manufacturer has produced any standard intermediate trailers for it (particularly as Jouef already do / did this for the rest of their TGV range). I was once told that Lima had manufactured a HO Eurostar with proper intermediate trailers, however I've never seen any evidence of this and think the person was getting confused between the cross-channel Eurostar and the FS Eurostar which runs in Italy and is a completely different train....
I also had a HO Jouef TGV with five or six "proper" intermediate trailers and I have to say they do look quite good at that scale, shame you can't make a long Eurostar without either a) a lot of modifications or b) it looking a bit silly.
JB
I bought a Jouef Eurostar set in France around 1996 and whilst even the "train set" version looks 10x better than even the joint Hornby / Jouef one, it's a shame that neither manufacturer has produced any standard intermediate trailers for it (particularly as Jouef already do / did this for the rest of their TGV range). I was once told that Lima had manufactured a HO Eurostar with proper intermediate trailers, however I've never seen any evidence of this and think the person was getting confused between the cross-channel Eurostar and the FS Eurostar which runs in Italy and is a completely different train....I also had a HO Jouef TGV with five or six "proper" intermediate trailers and I have to say they do look quite good at that scale, shame you can't make a long Eurostar without either a) a lot of modifications or b) it looking a bit silly.
JB