Up to this point I am a strict German-made LGB man (I lied, I do own 2 USAT boxcars). As the old stock German-made LGB items are becoming extremely hard to find and increasingly more expensive, I’ve been hearing about PIKE as the alternative German-made G-scale trains. Does anyone have experience with both PIKO and LGB that could give a good pros/cons list? Is it worth the search and extra premium to buy LGB or does PIKO suffice?
Can’t really help on your question but I am very interested in a couple of new Piko items that are coming out.
Specifically the new model# 37220
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/139vinny/Service/Piko37220_zps09fc898b.jpg)
I found PIKO locos with two different quality levels – the starter sets that appear for families and kids and the single sale locomotives. There are “starter” locos in the “starter boxes” made predominately of plastic and appear very toy-like. The single-sale locos have good quality in appearance and for the money appear a good deal. NOTE:IF you choose the 2-6-0, put some added weight on the front truck so it won’t skip out on some turnouts. Secondly, I would lube them prior to running – the Mobil One synthetic oil and Mobil One bearing grease works great and is obviously MUCH cheaper than the 1oz packaged products.
There are variations of the PIKO 2-6-0 and 0-6-0 loco selling in the $399 range.
Wendell
As I have both some LGB and 2 Piko Moguls, My experience is the Piko is a fine product, however neither of my moguls have a lot of run time yet. I have several Hartland engines, all seem to run forever… Hope this helps…
Some of Piko “modern” American rolling stock is 1/32 ish scale, in case you were interested. I can’t comment of the American narrow gauge rolling stock, having never seen one.
Let me put it this way, PIKO makes some nicely detailed and proportioned SG Euro proto items, I really wish I could say the same for their NA items.
I don’t remember whose motors they used at the start, but they certainly had their problems. I remember when the Taurus arrived, several (a lot?) of people where having fits when converting to DCC. Took quite a while to come up with the proper CVs to make the beast behave.
Same goes for the sintered wheels they used back then. Constant wheel cleaning was on the “to do” list.
From what I hear/read all newly constructed power blocks will have Bühler motors — good move! And the sintered drivers have also been phased out.
As JB mentioned the first of the American cars were/are 1:32 since they popped out of the old MDC moulds. What scale will they use for newer items? Who knows, but the reviewers could easily measure and compare with proto dimensions — that would be instead of the “no scale stated” verbiage or something similar. 
If no one has addressed the issue by the time I return home on the 8th or 9th I’ll try to answer the scale issue as it relates to the passenger cars sold with the Moguls- As I recall they looked good together, even if they turn out to be 1:32ish.
Yes the Piko boxcars and hoppers are redone MDC/Roundhouse products, with cast on grab irons and ladders. The Piko mogul may be a nice runner, but it isn’t very well detailed. No added piping nor other bits an bobs. To my eye, the North American Piko stuff is too toy-like, and not as well detailed as the LGB products are/were. But their European stuff looks great to me, but what do I know, I have never been to Europe to see the full sized items close up.
The UP car on the left is a Piko boxcar, next to a USA 1:24th scale reefer.
From what I have seen of the Piko VS LGB, LGB has working doors and windows on most models and I have not seen this on Pike engines.
On LGB this gave access to some control switches, when on DC layouts one could just shut off an engine with this switch and leave it on the track.
I do like the manual for engine assembly that comes with the Piko, very helpful when upgrading to DCC.
Dan Pierce said:
I do like the manual for engine assembly that comes with the Piko, very helpful when upgrading to DCC.
On manuals; there are several locations on the Net to get the exploded view manuals/ part lists for the LGB items in PDF format.
Yea, as far as North American prototypes go, I think the only thing Piko and LGB have in common is that they are German companies. I have a few LGB boxcars (North American prototype) and a few Piko boxcars, and there is no comparison. As for locomotives, I have a few LGB locomotives, but no Piko ones, so I can’t compare durability, or quality of the drive train, but for details, its the same as the boxcars. LGB wins on detail.
I do like the Piko track, including the new R7 switch.