Bachmann steam locomotives

Edavillenut

Member
i am in the process of buying some bachmann specturm steam locomotives, 2, 2-8-0's Maine Central and Boston and Maine. 1, 4-8-2 New Haven & Hartford, one Atlantic Coast Line 2-10-0 maybe frisco because of the dog house. and one 3 truck shay Ely-Thomas lumber co. there all ho scale. i want to know if anyone has any of these and how the run are they worth the money. and dose any one know how long the are. i am in the planning process of my round house and turntable i want to build a scale 130 foot table will the fit on it. thanks for the help. i am not modeling any line i am basicly making a scenic railroad during the winter.
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Hi Shawn, I have a couple 2-8-0's and love them. I had a 4-8-2 but returned it, it waddled down the track. I think this was a problem with one of the early production runs, my dealer said he saw quite a few of them. I don't recall seeing anything in the model press about that however. Both will easily fit your turntable. Don't know about the others, I want to pick up one of their 4-6-0's when they come out.

Gary
 
I have the three truck shay and it is a fabulous running machine, well worth the money. Before buying get the hobby shop to run it on a test track first to ensure everything is meshing properly.

Gary, when are the 4-6-0's scheduled to be released, I will be getting one of those myself.

Ron..
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
Shawn,
I have a pair of the 2-8-0s, one of the mountains, and a three truck shay. All are great runners, and if you build the engine house to handle what the turntable can, no problem.
Pete
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
I can only speak for the 2-8-0 and 4-8-2, which both use the same tender. There is a DCC plug in the tender, installation is a breeze. There is also a sound decoder with speaker which is plug and play. We're talking minutes to have sound. You're going to love it! No smoke.

Gary
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Shawn, Where theres a will theres a way, but I'm afraid I can't help you there. I have not disassembled the loco. Don't know if there is room. Smoke units do tend to use a bit of current, possibly more than most decoders will supply on their function outputs. You would probably have to use the function lead to turn on a relay and power the smoke unit directly from the rail pickups. Whether to do this is a personal choice, I don't find the smoke generators all that convincing plus they dirty up the rails. And most everything else I would figure. But if you do it, it would make an interesting how to post!

Gary
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
edavillenut,
I have a pair of the Heritage series 2-8-8-2 locos, with soundtrax units, and love the sound. Smoke, however is a different story. I suppose the terms anal, or rivet counter could be applied, but I won't even think of a smoke generator until one is built that ejects "dark smoke" straight up about 20 scale feet, and then the "smoke" hangs at that level for about half the length of the train, before it disipates without leaving any residue, or obnoxious odor.( the odor of coal smoke and steam would be OK)
Yes, I'm dreamimg. BUT. As holographic technology grows, I think there is the possibility that it will provide the effect I'm looking for. That might even include steam from the cylinder drain cocks, and the whistle, and generator (electrical).
As long as smoke generators resemble a cigarette burning in an ashtray, I'll be happy to do without.
Pete
 
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