Quote from: sedfred on March 30, 2015, 09:51:47 PM
i just started HO modelling last year and have 5 locomotives, a usra 0-6-0, union pacific 4-8-4 ( from the overland limited set) an f9, a spectrum 4-4-0, and an athearn sw1500. i want to start getting bigger locomotives but i can't decide on the 2-8-0 or 2-8-4. what are the pros and cons of each? does anyone have personal experience with one or the other? which is better overall?
Another option is the upcoming USRA Light 2-8-2 Mikado or if you can find them still, the USRA Light 2-10-2. I have a USRA Light 2-10-2 in DMIR and when I get a layout up and runny, I plan on using the 2-10-2 on slow moving freight runs (as the DMIR never ran theirs at more than 35 MPH anyway because of track speed limits as the speed limit on the DMIR main was only 35 MPH to begin with and the DMIR USRA 2-10-2's had a problem of shaking themselves to pieces if they went faster than 35 MPH) that would involve a bit of switching as some railroads used larger engines for switching (For example 2-8-8-2 articulated locomotives on the DMIR moving ore cars around the ore docks) after diesels became the main motive power on main line passenger trains and the larger (and newer) steam engines (for example 4-8-4's, 4-8-2's, and 2-8-4's) were moved to freight service and the engines that used to run the freight trains (like the USRA 2-10-2's) were moved to local freight (for this example the 2-10-2, which would have handled by for example a 2-8-2) and yard duties (again for this example the 2-8-2 to replace the smaller switchers like the USRA 0-8-0). So a 2-8-2 and 2-10-2 would also look good among a fleet of smaller sized locomotives.