HOrailroading

Locomotive Comparison Chart

Locomotive Comparison Chart

Ratings: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, Very Poor

Manufacturer	Running	Paint	Detail	Quality	Price*	Notes
Athearn	Good	Very Good	Good	Good	$50-80	Lots of upgrade parts available
Athearn RTR	Good	Very Good	Very Good	Good	$80-120	upgraded body - standard chassis
Genesis Diesel	Very Good	Excellent	Excellent	Very Good	$80+	some drive quality issues
Genesis Steam	Very Good	Excellent	Excellent	Very Good	$80+	poor pullers
Atlas	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	$80+	some DCC decoder equipped
Bachmann	Very Poor	Poor	Poor	Very Poor	$20-60	train set type locomotives
Spectrum Diesel	Good	Poor	Fair	Fair	$30-100	inconsistent quality
Spectrum Steam	Good	Very Good	Very Good	Very Good	$100+	quality may vary
Broadway Limited	Very Good	Very Good	Excellent	Very Good	$300+	RR specific steam w/ sound
Intermountain	Very Good	Good	Good	Very Good	$80+	comparable to Kato
Kato	Excellent	Good	Very Good	Very Good	$80+
Life Like	Very Poor	Poor	Poor	Very Poor	$10-40	train set type locomotives
Proto 1000 Diesel	Good	Good	Fair	Good	$40-120
Proto 2000 Diesel	Fair	Excellent	Excellent	Good	$50-120	some drive quality issues
Proto 2000 Steam	Very Good	Excellent	Excellent	Very Good	$100+
Mehano	Good	Fair	Fair	Fair	$30-60	train set type locomotives
Model Power	Poor	Fair	Fair	Poor	$20-40	train set type locomotives
Rivarossi	Very Good	Very Good	Good	Good	$150+	steam engines only recently
Roundhouse	Good	Good	Good	Good	$30-120	steam engines only recently
Stewart	Excellent	Very Good	Very Good	Very Good	$80-120
Walthers	Very Good	Good	Good	Very Good	$70-100	none produced recently
Walthers Trainline	Good	Fair	Fair	Good	$40-80	train set type locomotives

* Price is what you can expect to pay, not MSRP