>>10879385It just depends on what you enjoy. If you like tinkering and building, then buying an old Athearn blue box engine and installing DCC and adding detail parts could be a fun project for you. If not and you just want something out of the box then buying a new model is for you. I enjoy tinkering so thats what I do is buy older Blue Box engines and modify them. This Marquette Rail engine started as an Athearn Blue Box CSX SD40 and I repainted it and added DCC and sound. I got the engine for 30 bucks BNIB. Even if you dont want to bother with DCC yet, the old Athearns and Katos and Bachmann blue box engines are really easy to find, relatively inexpensive, reliable and theyre easy to maintain. Once you get them just oil and grease them, clean the wheels and theyre good to go