Absolutely. We have a QC issue with any of those, China will, in fact, be brought in (unless folks are afraid to mention it because someone will narc the thread out and terrible things happen). Bachmann is special. They are wholly-owned by Kader in the PRC, none of the others are. You talk about Bachmann, it's China. Serving the model railroad community since 1984 or so.
I know what you mean, my first great loco was my Kato U30C, my first good running Bachmann was my GP40 with a NSN frame. It ran great and had a nice looking fuel tank. I love running my Spectrum 2-8-0, it is over a decade old and still runs great. I asked my wife for a Southern Pacific S4
Most of my bachmann steam is over 5 years old and the run very good. I have 2 older spectrum 2-8-0s (plastic floor tenders ) that I got used that run great,no gear problem s
Ok I understand that Bachmann is better these days than in the past. But are they worth Brass pricing? I mean their Retail in the 70ft Heavyweight coach is double the price of most of the other manufacturers (excluding rapido, which they are only $20 more than) I mean, what do you get for the $80?
That heavyweight coach is the exception to the Bachmann pricing rule and I suspect the price is that way because they have no real commitment to the idea of making heavyweight passenger cars. It was designed as a "bonus" component of their Doodlebug, not a stand alone passenger car. Likely they figure people who really want one will pay the steep price while at the same time the steep price will limit their need to tool up to produce them in large numbers (which Bachmann clearly isn't interested in doing or they would have done so by now). Could just be me but that does seem like their marketing plan.
First, street price is about $45 for those coaches. What you get is a pretty elaborate mechanism. They use an all-wheel pickup for lighting, rather than the Easy-Peasy battery lighting that Rapido uses, or the no-lighing that Concor and Microtrains and Wheels of Time have. But, the 2-wheel trucks are disappointing for a general-service heavy weight coach. And the colors on the B&O model seem way too dark. So, I am seeing Bachmann out-in-front on mechanisms and somewhat behind in modeling quality. Steve
Bachmann steam is the only reason I am back in N scale. The new stuff runs as good as any other scale. The coach price borders on the absurd. Harold
Of course I don't mind the 2-axle trucks, B&M had a largely 2-axle heavy weight fleet but I do see where that would effect people operating other roads.
If any of you have never had the original Bachmann 2-8-2 or 2-8-0 you don't know what true junk is! Had to be one of the worst steamers ever. And they still fetch good money on ebay. http://www.spookshow.net/loco/bach280.html
Don't forget the worst of all, their 4-8-4 Northern. Not even worthy of being a paperweight or a door stop. I am embarrassed to admit, (in the long ago past), owning two of them.
Kader cause the China mess when they kick out the inporter who were using them and some have yet been able to recover from the factory after they bought the Bachmann. The price increase is just part of that. I remember one of them actually put the life story of Kader founder on there website before they got kick out of the factory. Thankfully a few of the have recover and we are getting product again. I will not buy anything Bachmann because of this.
The first Bachmann steam locomotives I purchased were the Spectrum 2-8-0s which did not have dcc installed. I liked the first one well enough and bought a second one. When they released the steam locomotives with dcc/dc mode installed, I purchased whichever one became available first. Since that time I have purchased one or two of each new steam locomotive they are released. After adding dcc capability in 2012, I began having dcc decoders installed in all of my favorite steam locomotives that lacked decoders. I have personally experienced excellent customer service from Bachmann over the past few years. I wish they would rerun some of the earlier styles with dcc and sound installed, preferably ESU LokSound.
Having started back in N scale in 1970 after finishing my military service, I got back into model railroading with some of the early N scale. Since I was on a budget and had limited space living in an apartment the N scale was a no brainer at the time. Steam was my big thing and Bachmann had quite a bit of inexpensive steamers at the time. Unfortunately all of those early steamers are long gone now due to mechanical failure, mainly cracked gears. However it wasn't only Bachmann that had locos that did not stand the test of time. Some early Atlas steam also bit the dust due to Zmac issues and some early Concor stuff fell victim to deteriorating plastic. The only early stuff I have remaining is my MiniTrix steam. I can honestly say though that I have never had a motor failure with Bachmann and the only wiring failure I have had with them was with a newer N&W J 4-8-4. Since the release of the reworked 2-8-0 marked the first of the new generation of Bmann steam everything I have had from them has been a winner as far as the subsequent releases. As my declining eyesight and dexterity due to age related issues have come into play my steam days are pretty much over now. I will stay with the simpler to maintain diesels for my remaining modeling days. And in my drive to downsize Bmann is once again playing a part in my modeling power with what are probably two of the best little diesel switchers in the hobby, the 44 and 70 tonners. Excellent slow speed performance, and decent tractive effort for their small size, easily handling up to 16-17 cars on level grade, along with realistic top speed. Far better than my LL SWs. I have had no QC issues with either of the models, and the only failure I have had was my fault.
I too have a Bachmann 44 ton and 70 ton diesel. Both are great runners and have great detail but I'll bet it's not going to be long before someone points out that the hoods are too wide!
From my experience starting in the model railroading hobby back in the late 60's, Bachmann is a company of hits and misses. The early years of Bachmann were cheap products that generally performed poorly. With the release of the Spectrum series, Bachmann made a complete about face and started producing quality products. Their latest Steam locomotives are good performers with good quality and details. My biggest issue with their current releases is they have moved to all DCC / Sound Equipped locomotives, which in my opinion drives up the cost, especially with people who operate small DC layouts. But like I said, Bachmann still seems to be a company of hits and misses, take for example their GP50, with the horribly over sized air horns. Which stand out even more because they molded them in silver. Then you also have the giant over sized opening in the front and rear pilots of the GP50, not to mention the horrible looking fuel tanks. I don't understand how they can get it right with the DCC / Sound equipped RS1, SD45, K4 4-6-2 Pacific, 2-8-4 Berk, but completely miss the boat with the GP50? Just my opinion.
Here is one of the early Bachmann 2-8-0s with custom added dcc and sound pulling two of the Bachmann coaches that came with the doodle bug.
That's not an early Bachmann 2-8-0 , that's a later spectrum version, I think the early 2-8-0 looked like a Reading engine whereas the Spectrum engine is based off an Illinois Central engine. This is the early one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/BACHMANN-N-...049723?hash=item3ab45c47bb:g:O6kAAOSwHnFVnltx Randy
Some of their products sure have gone up in price. The Rollingstock & some of the Steam Locos but they now come with sound; so that would stand to reason to me anyway.
I think what he meant was that it was the earlier Spectrum model sans DCC and not the later DCC equipped one.
