Every body talks about Kato and Atlas locos and I know how good they are because that's all I have. But what about Hallmark and Overland,are they worth the three to four hundred dollars each. I know their detailing is outstanding being that they're made in brass,but how about the way they run? Anyone out there own any of these locos?
I have 5 brass locos not of your brand though. I have Sunset, NJ Custom and a couple of others that are off being sound equipped and I don't remember the mfg. I just bought a Genisis 2-8-2 and it runs rings around my brass. It won't pull the number of cars a brass engine will but it sure worked fine out of the box. My brass is about 20 yrs old and when they were built operating was less important than looks. I gotta go, be back later. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
i went to a NMRA meet and the n-scale layout had a couple of overland AMD 103's pulling some superliners...... well after about half a lap one was taken off, and by the full lap they had been replaced with a kato -9 i had seen better running life like locos BUT there was also a trio of BN 70MAC's and they was great, but a bit noisey ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery
They is an older thread on this board called Brass! that had alot of good info on this. I will try to dig it up.
I have 2 locos - a GP40 and a L/H GP18. Both are Hallmark built in the mid/late-80's. The 40 was not a bad runner but the 18 was hit and miss, heavy on the miss. Also, it was poorly built with problems like the handrail stanctions breaking away from the sills. The 40 didn't suffer this problem. They had a great speed range but sounded like mini-blenders att he upper end of their speed. Mind you, it did sound like they were working hard - who needs a sound module? Matt, I have seen a double AMD-103 set hauling superliners for hours without missing a beat. Maybe these were thoroughly checked prior to being let loose in a public show. Anyway, I've put the two Geeps away and may get around to fixing their problems one day, now that I have more 'refined' skills than I had years back when I got these Gary. ------------------ Gary A. Rose The Unofficial TC&W page N to the Nth degree!
There is a guy down here who might join the club I am in who has a lot of $$$$$......therefor eqauling a lot of expensive stuff. He is the only person I know with one of the Overland Amtrak sets with the cars and the loco. The one loco (AMD103) coudn't pull worth a damn. I think the set has nine cars and that loco couldnt pull 5 of them. Obviousely, something is wrong. I have two brass locos and want to get rid of them. I can detail plastic locomotives to look like brass (I even add on brass fans) so the detailing doesnt get to me. ------------------ Craig Martyn BLMA(Best Looking Models Around) Custom detailing AND N scale detail parts. Email: CraigM111@aol.com
I saw some brass run. its bad, if you ask me! I have seen some OK stuff, but would prefer a Kato any day. I did see a brass with Kato drive, so that was the best of both worlds! Happy Railroading Dane ------------------ BCRailKing@Canada.com Teen Association of Model Railroaders- for information, contact Dane N. at TAMR2860@Canada.com http://www.tamr.org "I was DC, and went DCC!"
