Getting back into MR after 40 years
I am getting back into HO after not doing anything for 40 years. I am now retired and have lots of time. I just started purchasing rolling stock, and am maybe buying too much before I lay tracks. I have purchased (relatively) cheap locomotives ($9.99 to $79.99) from Athern, Bachmann, Life-Like, Model Power, IHC; some new, some used.
I Love the Bachmann F units with 8-wheel drive. I bought 2 B&O A units and 1 B&O B units for $21.99 and love the way they handle. They have good weight, work well in tandem, and seem to solidly hug the rails better than any other cheapies I have so far bougth. I bought 4 Chessie A units from M.B.Kleins for $11.99 and $14.99 which seemed to be a steal. The Chessie colors seem to me to be off a tad, (the blue seems too dark) but that is one railroad I will let on my pike, and I can repaint them at that price.
I bought a 4-8-4 which I will totally repaint, and it seems solid, although I cannot adequately test the pulling power on my test track - a circle with 3 straight sections on a 4x4 plywood platform made up of that track that has the roadbed built in. I had to file the underside of the pilot area to get the front trucks not to bind on an 18 inch radius. I love that the pick-up units are all contained in the locomotive without using the tender.
I bought an 0-6-0, a 2-6-0, and a 2-6-2 to see what they were like - from M.B.Klein's web page although I walked in the store and they pulled the items for me. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME ENGINE. The two Pennsy locos I bought were even numbered the same. The only differences were in the tenders and additional leading and trailing trucks. That was a disappointment, although one of the railroads on my pike is going to be the Ma&Pa, which had the small drivers and rebuilt locos from 0-6-0 locos because their timber trestles could not take the weight of larger locos. So in short, I can repaint them and use them as short line locos, but they are not big enough (2-6-2 mostly) for major railroads (B&O, C&O, etc).
When I was into MR there was no DCC, and I am planning to start out cheaply with block control and rheostats or dual cab control to run my pike, so my evaluations at this time include no brass or expensive plastic.