What locos to start with?

[Sockskii]

Hi.
I am new to n gauge so forgive me but I was just wondering what locos are good to start with. Want to find a train which is a good combination of pulling power and price and where to find them. They should be:
- DCC ready or fitted (or easily converted),
- Trains that have run or still running on Britains railways,
- hassle free trains,
- More or less any era as it is just a place to start.

I have recently moved from (prepare for profane language) OO gauge and just trying to find a good place to start on n.

[scottishlocos]

Hi 

As somebody who moved from OO to N a few years ago I hope I can help you in some way. You should look at the trainsets or train packs available and find one which suits what you want to model. You will get a loco and suitable coaches or wagons some sets or packs even have buildings like a signal box.

Dave

[Jerry Howlett]

Western Princess will be arriving soon to convince you to go Hydraulic.....

Not a bad idea though......

For pulling power and steam you cannot beat Union Mills stuff but it does not come DCC ready.

Jerry

[Newportnobby]

Hi Sockskii and welcome aboard
Being a strictly transition era modeller I'd suggest the following:-
Diesels - Farish
Class 08,20,24,25,31,37,42,101,108, Blue Pullman
Diesels - Dapol
Class 22,26,33,35,52,121

Steam - Farish
Jinty, J39, 2MT, 3MT, 4MT, 5MT, Duchess, WD, B1, Fairburn, N class, Jubilee, Royal Scot, 64xx pannier

Steam - Dapol
A4, Britannia, Schools

How big is your bank balance?

[Skyline2uk]

- DCC ready or fitted (or easily converted),
- Trains that have run or still running on Britains railways,
- hassle free trains,
- More or less any era as it is just a place to start.

Within the criteria I would immediately discount steam locos as whilst the current generation of locos are lovely, they have delicate valve gear and are more fussy about tight curves etc.

Much as I love the loco, not being immediately DCC ready rules out the Class 08 (plus 03, 04 and 14 shunters).

Within the other criteria I would suggest a Class 37 or Class 47. These are probably the most common and widely used mainline diesel classes the U.K. has seen

The current generation Graham Farish versions have robust (DCC ready) all wheel drive chassis that are comfortable on train set curves.

Both classes are available in many liveries and freight and passenger versions (which gives you hassle free trains as you can choose your stock).

Welcome to the forum 

Skyline2uk

[D1042 Western Princess]

Western Princess will be arriving soon to convince you to go Hydraulic.....

Not a bad idea though......

For pulling power and steam you cannot beat Union Mills stuff but it does not come DCC ready.

Jerry

  Probably true Jerry (you know me so well) but U.M. DON'T make real locos like Diesel Hydraulics    , do they?

Meanwhile, welcome to the Forum Sockskii. As you can see we don't always take things too seriously here, but it is a great place to find out more about N Gauge.

Turning to your problem a possible solution which would allow you to run virtually anything from the Rocket to a Class 70 would be to base the layout on a preserved line - it could even mean you could run a Western  and/or a Hymek  , even BOTH 

Don't know why but I forgot to mention the Warships!

[Karhedron]

Are you just after a loco or would stock, track and a controller also interest you? The reason I ask is that if you are looking for more than just a loco, Farish offer various trainsets that are very good value for money. The locos and rolling stock they contain are the same as the separate items (not cheap budget versions) and usually represent a significant saving over buying individually.

Of course you are only saving money if you want most or all of the contents.

[Sockskii]

Thank you for all the responses.

Within the other criteria I would suggest a Class 37 or Class 47. These are probably the most common and widely used mainline diesel classes the U.K. has seen

Class 47s were definitely something I was considering on the future layout. Reading the responses I will probably be focusing on diesel trains. What you say about Grafars models makes them worth considering for the next acquisition. Cheers Skyline2uk

Turning to your problem a possible solution which would allow you to run virtually anything from the Rocket to a Class 70 would be to base the layout on a preserved line - it could even mean you could run a Western  and/or a Hymek  , even BOTH

Don't worry, a western will definitely be running on the layout  maybe even a 66 , thanks for the suggestion on making a preserved line, it's something I'm looking into now. Thank you western princess.

Hi Sockskii and welcome aboard
Being a strictly transition era modeller I'd suggest the following:-
Diesels - Farish
Class 08,20,24,25,31,37,42,101,108, Blue Pullman
Diesels - Dapol
Class 22,26,33,35,52,121

Steam - Farish
Jinty, J39, 2MT, 3MT, 4MT, 5MT, Duchess, WD, B1, Fairburn, N class, Jubilee, Royal Scot, 64xx pannier

Steam - Dapol
A4, Britannia, Schools

How big is your bank balance?

Thanks for the list newportnobby , really useful. I think a hit to the bank balance was inevitable after posting this.

Are you just after a loco or would stock, track and a controller also interest you? The reason I ask is that if you are looking for more than just a loco, Farish offer various trainsets that are very good value for money. The locos and rolling stock they contain are the same as the separate items (not cheap budget versions) and usually represent a significant saving over buying individually.

Of course you are only saving money if you want most or all of the contents.

A train set is what started it all off. I picked up the countryside coal by GraFar out of curiosity but the scale is so good that I am in the process of planning a layout. I am trying to choose an era and posssible location for the layout but for now i just want to get use to the scale and find the locos that work well for me.

[D1042 Western Princess]

Turning to your problem a possible solution which would allow you to run virtually anything from the Rocket to a Class 70 would be to base the layout on a preserved line - it could even mean you could run a Western  and/or a Hymek  , even BOTH

Don't worry, a western will definitely be running on the layout  maybe even a 66 , thanks for the suggestion on making a preserved line, it's something I'm looking into now. Thank you western princess.


[/quote]

You're very welcome and you "definitely" running Diesel Hydraulics (even only one) shows you to be a man of good taste.
And despite the very feminine sounding user name (long story) my friends call me Greg.

[Bealman]

Not having DCC on my layout, I would suggest a DCC train set for starting out, as NewportNobby suggests.

[njee20]

If you go modern then the Farish 60 and 66 both have decent pulling power, and run beautifully. The Dapol 66 is far less powerful.

[Sockskii]

You're very welcome and you "definitely" running Diesel Hydraulics (even only one) shows you to be a man of good taste.
And despite the very feminine sounding user name (long story) my friends call me Greg.

It's got to be diesel, only the one for now, my wallet needs a break after Christmas.
Alex

[marco neri]

Another mod piece is the Class 67 by Dapol....a very good value in all senses.

Marco

[Chris Morris]

I would go for diesel rather than steam as your first few purchases. All the ones I have run very well.
Did Western Princess suggest a class 22. These are fantastic models with spoked wheels (not that I can see them). They are kind of at home on a branch or main line. None were preserved but there is a group trying to build a new one - they already have an engine so they are on the way. So a preserved railway a few years in the future might well have a class 22. There have been some bargains around for this class because Dapol made too many.

[BobB]

Perhaps another criteria to consider is what type of operations you will want. If all you need is around and around then you can stick with the 'standard' couplings. On the other hand if you fancy hands off shunting then pick locomotives, coaches and wagons with NEM coupling sockets so you can use Dapol's easi-shunt system or an equivilent without needing to get into major surgery to soon.