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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
