Anyone own an American Model locomotive?

Have many, both steam and diesel. They run smooth, are dependable, with a good variety of types and roadnames. The sound systems available on some versions are rather crude compared to Railsounds and legacy. I have never seen American Models set up at York but there are usually some available for sale by individual tableholders. The largest selection is by Bill Parr in the Orange hall and Doug Peck in the purple hall.

I have sixteen of the locomotives. All run on conventional DC with very good slow running and uniform speed in consists of up to five locomotives at a time. As richabr pointed out, they are reliable right out of the box and for years afterwards. If they ever need parts, Ron Bashista of American Models typically has them in stock and is willing to sell them for conversions. (I bought an E8 pilot insert to modify for one engine so that the pilot hole for the coupler would not be so large. I added his F40PH snow plows to both the SD60's I have, and I converted the original scale wheelsets on the first FP7's to high-rail so that they would work better on American Models's switches.)  

The earliest locomotives such as the FP7's did not have all the detail parts that S Helper Service began to include on their locomotives, but American Models responded with pretty well detailed SD60's and E8's. They are excellent choices for anyone who wants to customize locomotives with road-specific details, and American Models offers undecorated versions for just those situations. Although the AC versions do have rather crude sound systems and the DC versions have none at all, it is not difficult to add DCC or even TMCC systems to them, as Carl Tuveson has shown on his web site. On the other hand, their relative simplicity and durable motors and transmissions mean they work whenever you expect them to. That simplicity is also a lot less expensive, too.

American Models stuff  runs extremely  well, is reliable, and a quality product which is fairly priced.   

Not as much selection as the O GAUGE guys, but plenty to keep you happy.

They have a nice selection of passenger and frieght cars, and a track system as well.

I have had ZERO problems with American Models locomotives.  As others have mentioned, they are smooth runners, dependable and practically bullet-proof, be they diesel, steam or electric, AC or DC, Hirail or Scale. 

When the Pacific first came out, we ran one on our modular railroad for 6 hours without a problem.  (We only took it off for a "change of scenery"...)  The hidden beauty of AM steam is they run like diesels.  All driving axles are geared like a diesel truck and the side rods are only along for the ride.

The only criticism one might make is that while some of the AC loco's have a sound system, it is VERY basic and not really up to contemporary standards.

Here's a sample of AM power, some have been reworked cosmetically.

Had these since 1985:

Some details added to better represent the Santa Fe GP9's:

Pretty much straight out of the box:

Straight out of the box:

The left Northern is reworked slightly, the right straight out of the box:

Straight out of the box:

Rusty

I have a number of both steam and diesels, they all operate great and integrate perfectly with original ACGilbert equipment. I have several MRC O27 dual transformers with the tethered remotes. The American Models whistle and bell features are controllable with these remotes. 

I have had about half of my American Models engines converted to TMCC and Railsounds so I can operate them with a Cab2 and Legacy. This includes a Northern, two Pacifics, some E8s and trainmasters. As the other posters have said, these are great products.

Great products, I have 2 steam and one diesel set and they are high quality, packaged the best of everyone else's products, keep them safe when not in use. they run very smooth. you cannot go wrong with there product.

Thanks for all the replies guy's. To be honest I am mostly an O gauge guy but I do like S gauge. I have a small loop I can temporarily put on the top of the layout. From the reviews I've read American Models sound like the Williams of S gauge! I'll keep my eyes opened at York. The Virginian Trainmaster really catches my eye.