Your 2015 Product of the Year

[Puddington]

2015 saw the delivery of a number of long awaited products for the N scale market. Which products do you feel garner some support for a "Product of the Year"? You can vote for three products - the poll will run 14 days. If a product isn't listed then please choose "product not listed" and add one in your comments.

Lets see what the A@@hats feel deserves some praise for 2015......

[peteski]

Kato FEF3 - do I really need to explain why this is the absolute top product of 2015?  I think not. 

Arnold/Hornby SW1 - First ever in the long history of N scale - even if it uses some old-school design methods, overall it is a quite good model of this little switcher.  When it first cane out I had my doubts but after thorough examination I think it is no half-bad after all. Mechanically speaking that is.  The fact that it happens to be the SW1 is really great!

Kato Amfleet I cars (why werent they itemized? - someone has dislike for Amtrak?).  Why I vote for these?  Because they are Kato (and quality counts) and because I like Amtrak.  Enough said. 

EDIT:  If I had a 4th option I would have voted for Trainworx's revolutionary tractor-trailer sets finished in movie themes (again not listed).  Their design is so very innovative and the fine detail makes them look like they are done in much larger scale! 

The Atlas S2 would be a good choice too - a very well done all-metal body switcher with a good sound decoder factory installed.  The speaker and enclosure is a bit crude but overall it is a  good model.

To keep up my image, I also want to mention that if there was a choice for a most disappointing all-new model od 2015, I would have voted for the Rapido meat reefer.  Nothing personal Puddy.

Now that I have seen the production model in-person (I bought couple to see how they really came out), I can honestly say that what could have been a new competitor to the fine line of Micro-Train reefers ended up looking like a Bachman or Arnold toy car (from the mid 70s).

[RockGp40]

That SP bulkhead flat by WOT is a great car too.

[Puddington]

Wasn't the S4 a Bachmann locomotive or did I miss something?

[peteski]

Wasn't the S4 a Bachmann locomotive or did I miss something?

Yes, my fat fingers made a typo and my fat brain didn't catch it - corrected. Thanks!  But since Bachmann S4 was brought up, that one would also go in the models I wouldn't vote for.  I own the Atlas S2 and it is a nice model.

[mmagliaro]

As true as it is that Bachmann's K4 supplied a VERY long-awaited and heavily desired engine, and
as much as it is a pretty darn good looking model with very good running qualities,  I would still have to
vote for the Kato FEF.    It all comes down to how well the manufacturer did at producing a good-looking,
good running, well-priced model that was in demand.   I have run both.  Hands-down the FEF runs far far better
than the Bachmann K4 and is, in my opinion, better in the looks department as well.

The Arnold SW-1 would be my second place vote.  This is also a highly-sought-after engine with the added plus
that it is useful on multiple roads (unlike the FEF which is a one-road engine).
The SW-1 I tested ran superbly.  And remember, it is a straight DC version
so there is no back emf to "cheat" to keep the motor running smoothly.  The mechanism and motor work well on their own.

These two engines have the "bones" - good design, good looks, good performance, and very competitive pricing.

The K4 would come 3rd - it's a good effort, but it falls just a little shorter of the mark in all those categories, compared to
the other two.  The only real plus it has over the others is that it has a decoder and sound already built-in, but that is
a plus only if you value the convenience.   Pricing it lower and providing a simple socket and speaker port
 to put your own DCC+sound in it (or not) would have made it a better engine.

[CBQ Fan]

Was the Arnold U25C this year?

[Lemosteam]

Micro Trains HW Diner car is not on the list and should be.

[Chris333]

What? No Bachmann Berkshire?   

[thomasjmdavis]

In Puddington's defense, the MT diners were last year.  I have a photo of one I painted for Wabash dated 12/8/14.  Given how busy I am in November and December at work, I can only surmise that I bought it in September or October, if not earlier.

I voted for the MT baggage car as my No.1, because I bought a bunch, and I think they fill a need for a "generic" clerestory baggage car.

My No. 2 is an unlisted entry- the MT Mail-Baggage.  Another one that fills a niche in 20s-60s passenger train modeling.

I think for #3, I went with the FEF-3.  I don't own one, and never will (not a UP modeler), but it does seem to be a Kato quality/value steam locomotive, and one can hope that with this success, Kato will follow up with more steam locos.

Honorable mention:  Michael Livingston's resin R50B (was the first run this year?  not sure).  High quality, limited run resin has a lot of untapped potential.  Hope we see more efforts like this in the future.

Other notables- K4 - no use for one myself, but it did mean that the Pennsy types stopped complaining about not having one, so the amount of cussing in my inbox has declined.  The BLMA flat cars- very well detailed, although I would have preferred an earlier prototype.  Both Rapido entries also deserve a nod.  I still haven't actually seen a meat reefer, so I can't comment on the controversy on board spacing.  The 10-5 is a nice car (as are all the other passenger cars in their catalog), but a prototype that saw only limited use in the US.  The 2 Erie cars ran a captive route between Hoboken and Buffalo (IIRC), and the CN cars rarely made it into the US.  And as a stand in, well, the other 10-5s were built to another plan, already available from Centralia.  Personally, I would have thought the 6-4-6 ("Green") cars would have been a better choice- and would have been reasonably accurate stand ins for several roads 6-4-6 cars from the mid 50s.  But I hope they are doing well with the 10-5s anyway, and bought a couple to run in Erie and GTW trains even if they are the "wrong" car.

[Puddington]

Micro Trains HW Diner car is not on the list and should be.

Sorry, it did come out in fall, 2014 so I didn't add it to this years.

[jereising]

53' Maxi IV by DI...Sweet models.

[basementcalling]

I voted FEF. Wanted in N as long or longer than a K4, as the SPFs at least had the old Trix foobie to play with. Top notch in every way. A ten out of ten. A supermodel caliber N scale offering.

Wouldn't have minded seeing the Trainworx UPS drop frames on the list. Never got my hands on a movie themed offering.

Atlas S2 filled a needed hole with what seems from reports to be a solid performing N scale switcher mechanism. Much needed that.

The K4 from Bachmann would be in my top 5 as well. Worth it just to get the Pennsy guys to stop posting about needing a K4 within the first ten posts in every thread. 

But most of my most useful products this year came from Shapeways. Thank you to all our designers who offer their efforts to plug needs the big manufacturers have not, cannot, or will not ever bring to market for a variety of reasons. For me, 2015 will go down as the year 3D printing first impacted the hobby for me. My wallet tells me so.

[chicken45]

Other notables- K4 - no use for one myself, but it did mean that the Pennsy types stopped complaining about not having one, so the amount of cussing in my inbox has decline

That hasn't stopped us from complaining, though.

Fixed quote tag -gfh

[robert3985]

Kato FEF-3 is my first place choice.  Clearly a well-designed and excellent running engine although half of mine have a slight rocking motion when running.  This model fills a gap in my engine roster that my brass FEF-3's & FEF-2's were never going to fill.

However, I think the Kato UP Heritage Fleet cars should be listed as a separate product as I didn't buy a single one...nor am I planning on it...and I know several modelers who also just purchased the 844 for renumbering and running on

My second place choice is the excellent Atlas PS-1 boxcars which have de-throned MTL boxcars IMHO.

No third place vote since my buying habits are extremely limited by my strict adherence to location, road and era.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore