# Athearn or Bachamann / DCC with Sound



## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

Greetings,

I’ve narrowed my choices between two locos for my first layout. My $$ is tight, but I’d like to have DCC and sound. Here are my choices:

Athearn N F45:
http://www.lombardhobby.com/Athearn-N-F45-W-DCC-SOUND-BNSF-PATCH-6551-p/ath22473.htm 

or

Bachmann N EMD SD45
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Bachmann-N-66454-SD45-SF-DCC-p/bac-66454.htm

I’d like any feedback, reviews or advice from the forum.

Thanx.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

The Athearn...no contest.Neither measures up with Kato or Atlas,however the Athearn is still preferable to what I know of Bachmann engines.It also carries the better decoder.While they're both made by Soundtraxx,the Tsunami has a definite edge over the "Sound Value" decoder.Reliability isn't the issue though,the Tsunami is a full featured decoder while the Sound Value is a short legged version.


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## powersteamguy1790 (Mar 26, 2012)

The Athearn diesel is a better running diesel with better sound. I have six of the Athearn diesel with sound on the roster of my layout.

I do prefer Kato diesels but none of the Kato diesels come with factory installed sound. You might try BLI diesels which also have factory installed sound and are rated in performance slightly below Kato. The sound in BLI diesels is outstanding and worth the extra money. I have many BLI diesels on the roster of the "new" JJJ&E.

For your info Model Train Stuff has a sale on some of their N scale BLI locomotives.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Default.asp


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