Choosing a new loco

I've always been a fan of the C-16, since the first time it was introduced. There's just something about it that appeals to me, perhaps due to the mere fact that it's often overlooked. I was quite impressed with the one Aristo sent me for review. The drive seems to be very good, and performance is smooth. It's a little lightfooted, but there's some room in the boiler for more weight if need be. If you're doing DCC or R/C, then everything you need is right there in the tender, so there's no need to open the locomotive to do any rewiring. It is a small locomotive, but it's very well proportioned.

The B'mann 4-6-0 (I have an aversion to their "pet" names) is very well detailed, and has a great deal more visual "mass" to it. The ones I've had come across my workbench run very smoothly. I've never really felt right about the proportions on the boiler of that loco, though. Something about it has just never sit visually right with me. But it does look good on the head end of a long train.

Given your railroad, I'd lean towards the C-16. It's smaller size fits in a bit better with your theme (in my opinion). I just don't see large, heavy locos charging the grades on your railroad.

Later,

K

I throw in my vote for the C-16. The plug-n-play socket and track/battery switch makes future upgrades a snap and they're purty too -



-Brian

These are the best I got -





-Brian

Thanks for all the advice. I'm still conflicted...

Appearance:

I like the size of the C-16, the scale matches everything else on my layout. The overall appearance is very pleasing too. However, it seems less detailed and more toy-like then the Annie, at least from the pics I've seen. Are the sand pipes molded into the boiler, or are they separate parts? Is the cab supposed to sit so much higher than the deck of the tender? How much backhead detail does this C-16 have? And what's with that big ugly screw head right in the middle of the cab?? That really looks cheesy.

The Annie looks awesome, with superb detail. I agree with Kevin that the boiler looks "off" somehow, but I could live with that. It's a considerably larger loco, and the scale is bigger too, at 1:22 (correct?) So it probably wouldn't blend with my other stuff quite as well. Great backhead detail too. Fitting in the crew seems to be tricky, from what I've read elsewhere.

Performance and reliability:

Both locos are getting mixed, but generally high, marks for performance. Smooth, slow speed is a must, IMHO, so I'm a little concerned about the reports of the Annie suddenly stopping at low speeds rather than coming to a smooth stop. The new drive in the C-16 is supposed to be good, though I wonder how well that belt drive will hold up, pulling a load up 4% grades all the time?

Price:

The annie easily wins out on price, which may end up being the deciding factor. Ridge Road lists the C-16 at $264 but none are in stock. I don't know yet when they'll get them in, or whether the price will remain the same.

Apparently this is the wrong time to buy a loco. Everyone's out of stock on both brands, prices have shot up, and Bachmann's doing inventory and won't ship to dealers until the end of the month. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif