[Johnny B Good]

Can I get some opinions and informaiton on the following locomotives. 

What I want to know is how well to they perform. What sort of life expectancy, Problems with them and minimum track radius or diameter to run properly:
 
Aristocraft (older) 2-8-0 consolidation (pre 2007 re-engeneering):  

Aristo REA 2-4-2

Bachmann 2-6-2

Bachmann 2-6-0 (industrial Locomotive)

Bachmann 4-6-0 (non Annie)

Tahnks in advance!!! 

 

[Torby]

Both those Aristo engines are old, pre prime-mover gearbox.

The Bachmann 4-6-0, as long as it's the newer drive, is quite strong and very reliable. You can tell by looking underneath between the rear drivers. You should see a rubber plug and a hump to clear a gear. This is the only drive they've made for some years now, so you won't find the others unless you're looking at some really old junk.

I haven't played with those other Bachmann's.

 

[Dan Pierce]

My Bachman 4-6-0 annie and non annie run on 2 foot radius/4 foot diameter, but I did add a 1 ounce weight on the assembly for the leading truck.

 

[Paul Norton]

Our club runs railway operations on most Saturday mornings during the summer. Every second one is a narrow gauge operation using Fred’s fleet of Annies. Right from opening day to the last run of the season they always perform well and track properly.

 

[Dave F]

I have two of the Non-Annie Big Hauler 4-6-0s and have been quite pleased with their performance. Overall they are good runners and reliable. I had one small issue with the one that gets the most use last fall, but a touchup with a quick spot of epoxy and it's running like new.

I can't speak to the others on your list as I have no experience with them.

 

[paintjockey]

I have thre b-man 2-6-0 it is a good lil runner but it needed a small amount of weight added to get it to pull better. I don't remember how much i added but before that mod it was lucky to pull two cars.
Terry

 

[Pete Thornton]

My Aristo 2-8-0 is several years old but performs like a champ.

George Schreyer has lots of info on his "tips" page: www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips.html

 

[aceinspp]

I have both of the Aristo locos and also the bachman locos.  The 2-4-2  AC rogers is my first and oldest loco which I bought in 1993 and was a REA  unit.  Its still going strong and so is the  2-8-0 which is several years newer.   I prefer the AC as they are qute rugged and can handle the contiued use.  Later RJD

 

[Torby]

Sounds to me like you'll be pleased with any of those