need to buy a switcher

[justind]

Hello all,
I am going to buy a switcher and I am looking for suggestions. The choices are:

Atlas S-1, S-2, S-3 or S-4 for $39.99
Life like EMD SW9/1200 for $39.99

Which would you suggest, which one would perform the best overall?

And can anyone tell me what these roadnames are:
FEC
NKP
N&W
C&H
EL
IC
MP
WAB

 

[roryglasgow]

You model in HO, right? If you were in N, the I think the choice of the Life-Like SW9/1200 would be a no-brainer. If their HO version is as good, then I'd recommend it. But I'm not familiar with the performance and quality of the others.

FEC - Florida East Coast - The railroad that had that line to the Florida Keys.
NKP - Nickel Plate Road (aka, New York, Chicago and St. Louis)
N&W - Norfolk and Western
C&H - I dunno...
EL - Erie-Lackawanna? Maybe...
IC - Illinois Central
MP - Missouri Pacific (aka, MOPAC)
WAB - Wabash

Here's another interesting site I found the other day. It lists just about every abbreviation you can think of!

www.stands4.com

-Rory

 

[sumpter250]

LifeLike, if it isn't Proto 1000, or Proto 2000, it probably isn't worth messing with. The basic Life Like product doesn't run that well.

 

[justind]

I assumed from the look of the unit that it must be at least Proto 1000, but because they didn't specify, I couldn't tell for sure. Ultimately I decided to go with the Atlas S-3 unit. It looked a little beefier and a little older and I thought it would fit my time period better. It may be that the SW9/1200 is an older unit, but then I am not very prototypical. I ordered it through Hobby Circle for $39 which I felt was a good price. I noticed that used ones on Ebay usually creep that high in price, especially the SW9's. We'll see when it get's here.

 

[Catt]

If it is a SW9/12 it is indeed a Proto 2000.It's the only SW unit LifeLike makes.

 

[IMRL393]

Originally posted by Catt!
If it is a SW9/12 it is indeed a Proto 2000.It's the only SW unit LifeLike makes.

... until later this year - they are coming out with a P2K SW8 !


Justind -

I have both the P2K RI SW9 and the Atlas S1. Both are fine locos!
You should be happy with your Atlas.

- George