Their track is the old K-line tooling and it isn't a bad product. Not much experience with the recent stuff however. The older K-line switches were Ok but if I was looking for a tubular 072 switch, Ross would get my money. 

 

Their trains I think are hit and miss. I had a Beep once. It ran OK but couldn't pull anything. After a few days, it totally seized up and I returned it for a refund. I wouldn't buy one again probably. Their rolling stock, especially their ore cars are very nice. 

I've bought about 25 BEEPS over the last, oh, six-seven years.  Two have had problems.

Four BANGS - no problems.

Four BEEFS (same chassis as BEEP) no problems.

A BUDD - fine

About twenty rolling stock.  No problems. 

My LHS won't sell them. I think they are OK but remember cheaper is usually for a reason.

We have had great success running Beeps and Bangs at out club.  They run for 3-4 hours straight, and "Keep on tickin'"

 

I have run them at home for years and haven't had one fail yet.  Kids can run the throttle because even at top speed, they're not too fast... just right!

 

I have used their tubular track on a simple layout, to test it for a tinplate layout I want to build soon.  The track is easy to work with, and you can use the metal contacts on each piece or use standard pins. I have mixed RMT track with original K-Line - can't tell the difference.

 

My O-31 switches work very well.  Sorry no O-72 switches here.

 

Walter is a fantastic guy for support, always ready to answer questions.

 

Ed

I had a beep. unfortunately their reverse units are a bit sensitive and burned out. I got a replacement chassis and never had any issues since. the drive-train is good for the $$. A better upgrade than what was offered from Williams and Kusan.

I'm wondering if your LHS won't sell them for pricing reasons.  When RMT does a clearance, the pricing is hard to beat, so dealers have had a tough time selling stock on hand in some cases. 

 

Their lighted towers, water towers, cars and other accessories are nicely detailed at a good price, IMHO.

 

Ed

 

ps. I really like the Beep shell interchangeability.  Figured I'd use the same chassis until I wear it out, but i haven't killed one yet.

 

Al, buy the 072 switches and try them out.  If the don't work Walter will refund your money.

First rate!  Top shelf!  Looks great, operates great!  Don't have any of the track or switches, however.  If a LHS won't sell it it's not because of poor quality, I can assure you of that.

 

Pete

Many thanks to all of you for your advise.

 

Al Vermeil

I have a ton of their ore cars, they're scale sized and I bought them on their big blowout sale.  I couldn't be more pleased with the quality, even if I had to pay the going price.

 

I have a few BEEPs, however they pretty quickly lose their guts and get command upgrades.  I have a BANG with TMCC, and a couple of the RDC units.  None have been an issue, good value for all of them.

 

LionelBill above is correct; for the past couple of years RMT no uses the distributor/retail chain and just sells direct (hence the tag, RMT Direct on their website). 

 

The back story is a bit complicated and controversial with more than one side to it so I'll defer that avenue of discussion to the parties that were intimately involved if they so chose.

hello guys and gals.........

 

My first Beep had gear clattering noises and contacted RMT, Walter send me whole new Beep no charge. The second one ran good and pulled 10 Lionel cars with no problems. Its a pretty good little engine and the quality was very good for its price range.  If I was rich, I would help Walter make the Beep better by making the chassis die-cast, using the motors with flywheels from the WBB's NW2 switcher as those motors are short and will fit in the Beep's body.  This will drive the price up a bit, guessing about 50 dollars more but will be well worth its weight in gold. I would invest in to help Walter if I could.  I love that little Beep as it IS the "little engine that could" and did !

I wish I could work for him too as I need a job.

 

Tiffany

 

 

You LHS can't sell them!

 

Walter decided to change his business model and only sells direct to retail now. He has no dealer network.

Well, I still see them in stock at various LHS, but they're not getting any new ones.

 

I am happy with my beep, a few cars and the beep people are consistently among the first thing people notice, when they look at my passenger cars.
The quality IMO, is great. Just don't confuse you wish they were bigger, you wish they matched you much larger stuff, with quality. I'm looking forward to the Norfolk Beep, to pull my Navy cars.

and there's quite a collection of new RMT items on 'deBay, if someone is looking for a specific item... priced a bit high in some cases.

 

A Beep is going to be my first CC-Lite install project..... any day now!

 

Ed

 

ps.  Waiting for Walter's ship to come in - literally!

we have better success with the bangs.  overall no complaints.

The CC-Lite and RS-Commander fits, I put the speaker in the top of the cab.  To let the sound out, I drilled holes in the plastic frame, it works pretty well.

 

If you missed my post on the conversion, it's here.

 

Cruise Commander Lite Beta Test, Part Deux

 

I've got over 20 Beeps and Beefs, plus a few chassis which I have used for other projects. Great engines! Never had an issue. Their rolling stock is top notch too!

"I think they are OK but remember cheaper is usually for a reason."

 

Okay, they don't have all the electronics and the latest operating features... maybe that's part of the reason. But you don't have read long here to find threads about trains that cost a whole lot more money and have a whole lot more problems... many times right out of the box.

 

Just because something is "cheaper" doesn't mean it isn't made well.

 

In the 25 years I've been back in the hobby, I have had ZERO defects. ZERO DOA's. Never had to return ANYTHING for warrant repairs. Maybe cheaper is better?

 

I don't use the RMT brand track, but have quite a few RMT S-4's and RDC cars. They ARE an improvement over the prior K-Line made versions in all aspects. I don't understand when people say they run fast, because they DON'T. The handrails on the S-4 might look to be flimsy from pictures, but I can assure you, they aren't.

 

The BEEF is an odd-fish: An 027 length engine with scale height, width and details. I don't have one, and can understand why they don't appear to have done as well. Had it been more along the lines of an 027 loco, like the BANG, and I'd probably have a few of those too.

 

The rolling stock and former Kusan vintage caboose's are also an improvement over the prior K-Line ones. As Gunrunnerjohn said, the ore cars are very nice for the money, but because they are closer to scale, I actually prefer the Lionel ones because of their slightly smaller size.

 

Not all of us are into scale stuff... I wouldn't run it if someone gave to me. (I keep forgetting this is the 027 and Traditional 0 Gauge forum - both of which are Hi-Rail) I gut the electronics on other locos that come with them... don't want it. No scale envy here. Happy it's made, but it's not for me.

 

I'm happy RMT has continued producing the sorts of products they make. And RMT has included some modern road names that still have not been made by others in this particular size range.

 

If you do have need of service, Walter will take care of that too. That's been spoken of many times here on the forum.