kato,atlas,life- like?
- Thread starter Livesteam
- Start date
I like the Kato's first and then the Atlas' engines. Probably won't buy any other brand myself. But yeah, usually comes down to who makes what you're looking for in particular.
I have to say I am impressed with the Bachmann 2-8-0
Our club has one and it runs like a dream, pulls long loads too.
At the last show it ran ALL day, 9-5 without any problem.
Our club has one and it runs like a dream, pulls long loads too.
At the last show it ran ALL day, 9-5 without any problem.
That would be a tough call as far price wise as Atlas and Kato usually sell for the same amount or very close.LL can be had as low as $34.00.So,IMHO it would depend on what locomotives you want.
A few years ago I would say Kato with Atlas 2nd.
Atlas has come on strong the last few years with some nice running engines and now they are a close 2nd if not tied with Kato.
I wouldn't waste my money on Lifelike, Bachman and especially Model Power, just total junk.
Atlas has come on strong the last few years with some nice running engines and now they are a close 2nd if not tied with Kato.
I wouldn't waste my money on Lifelike, Bachman and especially Model Power, just total junk.
Got to admit the ditchlights are a nice feature. Atlas should give it a try since they put working class lights on the H-15-44's and H-16-44's a nice feature to an otherwise mundane locomotive.sschaer said:
I have one or more of each, all diesels:
Life-Like: impressive for the price. I have a few, and they all run well. A little noisy, some of them, but not horrible.
Atlas: smooth...better detail than the LL's.
Kato: Like buttah.
Truly sweet, but I wouldn't give it a big advantage over the Atlas.
Haven't tried a Bachmann (trying to avoid it).
Life-Like: impressive for the price. I have a few, and they all run well. A little noisy, some of them, but not horrible.
Atlas: smooth...better detail than the LL's.
Kato: Like buttah.
Truly sweet, but I wouldn't give it a big advantage over the Atlas.Haven't tried a Bachmann (trying to avoid it).
I have to many Engines to list but it's like they say it really depends on what you are looking for, Cheap, Expensive, Detail, Extreme Detail, Pulling power, capability (Gang-ablity), continues non stop running capability, price range, Ect. It really depends on what Engine model you want, for instance, (in my own personal experience)
F7
Life-Like Will out pull any kato and the detail is pretty good although a little out of scale from actuality but while running it is so perfect.
Kato is top dog in detail and prototypical scale size & It runs well in slow momentum speed where the Lifelike Lacks due to the fact that Life-Like does not have Dual brass flywheels.
PA's
Kato will out perform in just about any category except Pull-ablity
Con-Cor Will beat in pulling strength.
There are not to many models to compare to so it really depends on what Era you model like Modern
Kato
C44-9W
AC4400
SD70/80/90M's
Atlas
Sd50/60/60M's
Life-like
They Have not came out with a To modern Engines so it's hard to compare them to this category.
Let me know what Era, Motive Model's, Year's and whatever and I will give you my personal experience.
F7
Life-Like Will out pull any kato and the detail is pretty good although a little out of scale from actuality but while running it is so perfect.
Kato is top dog in detail and prototypical scale size & It runs well in slow momentum speed where the Lifelike Lacks due to the fact that Life-Like does not have Dual brass flywheels.
PA's
Kato will out perform in just about any category except Pull-ablity
Con-Cor Will beat in pulling strength.
There are not to many models to compare to so it really depends on what Era you model like Modern
Kato
C44-9W
AC4400
SD70/80/90M's
Atlas
Sd50/60/60M's
Life-like
They Have not came out with a To modern Engines so it's hard to compare them to this category.
Let me know what Era, Motive Model's, Year's and whatever and I will give you my personal experience.
I would have to agree with most everyone here.That it would be the Kato's then the Atlas'.I have 2 older Kato Sd40's that work perfect for me and a Atlas GP9 and a Gp35 that i wont' complain about either.Also a Model Power F7 that is noisy but runs smooth and pulls pretty much anything.
I have 2 older LL GP35's off a friend and i say they make a great paper weight,but thats only my opinion.
Thats my 2 cents worth.
I have 2 older LL GP35's off a friend and i say they make a great paper weight,but thats only my opinion.
Thats my 2 cents worth.
cpNscale said:
The key woerd in that sentence is "OLDER".
People are always quick to put down both Life-Like and Bachmann.
When asked about it, they always complain about "older", or "I used to have a ___".
But, like that old Ford Motors slogan... "Have you driven a Ford lately?"
The new Bachmann Spectrum line and the new Life-Like Proto 2000 series are vast improvements over LL and Bach of old.
As I said, our club has a new N Bachmann 2-8-0 and it pulled about 20 cars all day at our last show.
The HO guys like both Atlas and the LL Prot0 2k series.
There lies the problem, I will not risk dumping money on either. They need to do more to improve their past reputation.Will_annand said:
Hoghead said:
How can a company, or anyone for that matter change the past?
What would you like them to do?
Hop into a DeLorean and get it up to 88MPH?
What they HAVE done is come out with a line of quality products.
When you look at Bachmann, look only at the Spectrum line, therein lies the quality. They still make their "train set" and entry level stuff, but don't look at that.
When you check out Life-Like, look at their Proto2000 line. Quality comparable to Atlas and Kato, or so says the HO members of our club.
You can't change the past, but you can improve for the future. :thumb: