# What's the Best.....?



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I thought I would start a new thread to maybe help beginners out a little.

In our society, we're very fond of that little four letter word beginning in B and ending in-EST. We endless discuss sports, movies, foods, and so forth in an attempt to discover the best.

Truth is, especially in this hobby, there really is no such thing (unless you're referring to my friends at Bollinger Edgerly Scale Trains -- BEST for short). We see countless posts looking for the best locomotives, freight and passenger cars, scale, scenery techniques, operating methods, DCC systems etc. If you read them, you never find a clear concensus. It's a Ford vs Chevy, Yankees vs Mets -- lots of noise, no solution.

So let's settle it right now. 99.9% of the time, it's all about tradeoffs and preferences. Otherwise stated: Best cost, best schedule, best quality... choose any two. In general, the more you pay for something, the better it will be, so a Walthers Proto locomotive is better than a Walthers Mainline, but not necessarily better than Athearn Genesis or Atlas Master. Kits are cheaper than ready to run, but you have to assemble them, and your skills might not be as good as the guy at the factory.

In the scenery and operations worlds, what works well for some is counter intuitive to others. Some folks like blue water, others find it toy-like. The list goes on and on.

So relax. Find your own sweet spot between price, quality, and effort and then do what seems right to you. Try a new technique and see if it works for you. If not, do it over. It's not golf -- no points off for do-overs. At the end of the day, yourr layout only has to please you, not any of the rest of us. Happy Modeling!


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I am guessing you are only talking about HO trains? 


The color of water is Blue! Don't you know?
You don't want to get me started do you?
See here,
http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=9301&highlight=blue


The best Trains are the free ones, regardless of condition.:smokin::thumbsup:


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

CTValleyRR said:


> I thought I would start a new thread to maybe help beginners out a little.
> 
> In our society, we're very fond of that little four letter word beginning in B and ending in-EST. We endless discuss sports, movies, foods, and so forth in an attempt to discover the best.
> 
> ...


Ain't it da trute!

Well said. 

But how many days will it be before there is another
'What is the best....." post? Is anyone making odds?

Don


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

big ed said:


> I am guessing you are only talking about HO trains?
> 
> 
> The color of water is Blue! Don't you know?
> ...


My examples are HO, because that's what I know, but I think the general rule holds true no matter what your scale.

And yes, free is pretty cool... although in the ignorance of my youth I once accepted a box of stuff free from a friend. It was all garbage; not a useable piece in the bunch. I think I salvaged a couple of trucks and / or wheelsets. Basically, I saved him the trouble of throwing it away.


----------

