I’ve begun evaluating a variety of roller / dyno test stands. I plan to have each of my ~20 locomotives on a test stand, in a built-in wall niche.

Let’s look at what’s available and how it compares. I’ll update this thread as I receive products from different brands.

Marklin
I think these were made by SMT. No longer offered.

SMT
Seem to be out of business.

KPF-Zeller
I ordered a few of these. They are disappointing. The main reason is that they don’t use real ball bearings. They use brass wheels, and they describe them as a pro, rather than a con, to real bearings. Unfortunately, the brass wheels squeak and squeal a TON. Even from new. KPF said they would include some grease with my order, but they didn’t.

Note the brass rollers below. It seems like a good idea, until you hear how they sound!


Speaking of which, the entire experience was terrible. They were very nice at first, but they got my order completely wrong. Not only would they not apologize, they wouldn’t take it back unless I paid for shipping! To top it off, certain members of their staff are extremely rude! A hobby is done for fun, vendors need to make it enjoyable, or we should buy somewhere else.

Railstand
This seems to be the “Mercedes” of rail stands, and is priced appropriately. I will be placing an order soon and will report my findings.
By far it’s the most realistic, since the locomotive sits on a real track, and the bearings are recessed and hidden from view (compared to the other offerings). And they use real bearings, so it should not suffer the squealing issues that KPF products do.


Weloe
This seems like a good product, with real bearings. It’s reasonably priced too. It doesn’t look as good as the others though. Perhaps if the bearing blocks were anodized silver instead of black, it would look better.


Findings so far:
Best choice for testing a locomotive: Weloe

Best choice for displaying and testing a locomotive: Railstand

And Marklin, please bring back your rail stands!

I have this and got it from Exclusive Models in Netherlands: http://exclusivemodels.n...iversen/accessoires.html



I think this is primarily for live steam engines, but the rails are electrically separated and even comes wired in. Still I feel the aluminium on aluminium connection is not ideal. You need to screw down the adjustable rollers, otherwise it does not conduct power properly.