A Bachmann Steam Tribute!

It's a bit long, but here is a poem I wrote about Bachmann Steam. Njoy!

A Tribute to Bachmann Steam by R.Hoffman

In the early days of N-scale,
It did not even seem,
That we would ever have anything that ran well,
Let alone have any steam,

Along came Bachmann Trains,
With their brand-new N-scale line,
They even had some crude steamers!,
Crude, but to me just fine,

Sure, others had steam as well,
But these were just mere tokens,
Some even looked well,
But in the end were all broken,

So it was to Bachmann I turned,
With more than just one choice,
The prices were fairly low,
I could almost rejoice,

My first , an 0-6-0 switcher,
Actually ran fine,
The details weren’t great,
But it was 1979!

Sure it sputtered and sparked,
To me it was real good,
With nothing to compare it to,
It did what it should,

The next was a consolidation,
It ran a tad bit better,
Until the motor fried,
I wrote them a letter,

They were helpful back then,
So I in my basement,
Was really surprised,
When they sent a free replacement!

This is wonderful I thought,
But this would soon change,
As I became familiar with their customer service,
Even knowing first names!

It started with my 4-4-0,
The neatest thing to fit in my pocket,
Unbeknownst to me,
It took off like a rocket!

Several exchanges later,
The motor (in tender) finally burned,
But it would still be several engines,
Before I eventually learned,

I purchased a 4-8-4 Northern,
And out of the box seemed just fine,
But it sounded like a diesel,
The way the motor whined,

My 0-4-0 switcher,
Was even better still,
It couldn’t pull anything,
Let alone itself up a hill,

And though the motor,
The shell and the tender did last,
It only had 2 speeds,
Stop and extremely fast,

Now all wasn’t bad ,
And I have to be fair,
They always replaced things,
But of this I began to wear,

Then one day at a show,
It was now 1986,
I happened upon a decapod,
From a company named Trix,

It cost a lot of money,
But no trouble did it ever give,
I soon began to realize,
That this is how I wanted to live,

Many people felt the same,
Manufacturers heard the cry,
And soon were creating their own better steam,
And leaving poor Bachmann behind,

This would not last though,
And many companies stopped making steam,
Especially when they realized,
They weren’t popular mainstream,

It cost them too much money,
The overhead was high,
They could make more money selling diesels,
Without any effort or try,

Bachmann on the other hand,
Kept selling their same old stuff,
No one ever thought they would get any more steam,
Unless it was doomed to run rough,

Finally in 2000,
Just when they were getting left behind,
Bachmann came to press,
To announce an all new design,

Their old consolidation,
Was soon to be anew,
But how was it to run,
Well, no one really knew,

A lot of hopes and prayers,
By us modelers and also them it would seem,
For this would make or break them,
And doom the future of N-scale steam,

And then the announcement came,
Sometime in late 2001,
That the new consolidation was here,
All detailed and ready to run,

Everyone took a gamble,
And went to purchase one,
The price was high for a Bachmann,
And everybody knew how Bachmanns run,

I finally relented,
And bought one for myself,
Would this one be any different,
Or collect dust on my shelf,

The details were great!
Right out of the box it looked well,
Very detailed for a plastic model,
Right down to the little bell,

I placed it on track,
Throttle in my hand,
And might I just say,
It was nothing less than grand!

Weeks later at home,
On my most dirty of rail,
It still runs outstanding,
It has yet to fail,

And so to Bachmann Trains,
I would like to thank-you all kind,
For listening to us modelers
And using you mind,

Bachmann has always been there,
Supporting us that like steam,
Even though we bashed them,
And sometimes were even mean,

Sure a lot of the reputation,
Bachmann has earned,
But now they are listening,
And they seem to have learned,

So let’s all support them,
And ask for some more,
They might have won us back,
If there’s more goodies in store,

This poem wasn’t to bash Bachmann,
And was written all in good fun,
To show everyone just how far,
N-scale steam has come,

And to this one manufacturer,
Though it seemed like forever,
Finally found a niche,
Better late than never!

Russ

 

Lost in all the praise of Bachmann's 2-8-0 is the fact that Bachmann also released their "new and improved" F7. The reviews that I have seen on this locomotive have been far less than the 2-8-0 spectacular. One poster stated that Bachmann has come out with a "new 1975 locomotive." Now some people may say that Bachmann has the right to produce whatever they want and let the market place decide. But let's face it, most people enter this hobby with a train set. Bachmann produces a lot of train sets. All of the discount stores that I see stock Bachmann train sets. How many people do you think have been turned off to this hobby because they bought a Bachmann trainset and formed an opinion of N scale equipment based on that trainset? I think Bachmann has turned off more people to this hobby than anything else. If N scale is to grow we need to attract more people not turn them away. Growth in N scale is what we all need. A bigger market results in bigger sales which attracts manufacturers who provide more products for distributors and we, the consumers. Its a win, win, win combination. Our biggest hold up to this (as I see it) is the Bachmann trainset lack of quality that sends people away before they get in the door.

 

I will agree with that definately. This is due to a lack of other manufacturers products though which also tend to be overpriced to a beginner. Now if Bachmann improved their sets with a decent locomotive (the c44w they make is good having flywheels and all) and maybe even providing the rolling stock with MT compatible couplers, it would be a step in the right direction.
What else would be an improvement to Bachmann's sets?


Russ
Hoffman Valley RR

 

Although I haven't used the Bachmann version of Unitrack (I forgot their term for it), I'm sure that's a step in the right direction. Perhaps including more than a circle or oval would be a good idea. Perhaps 2-3 switches would help, as well as making the freight cars more to scale. My biggest disappointment in N scale when I first got started was the Bachmann track. It came with a circle of 9 3/4 inch radius track, and it did not conduct electricity worth a hoot, and it constantly caused derailments where it came apart due to poorly designed rail joiners. The only reason I stuck with N scale is I got some Atlas track, which worked considerably better (but still not great). Later, I got some Unitrack, and found out what reliable trackwork was all about. When I first bought a Kato diesel, that made me want to drop HO altogether, and stick with these tiny trains which take up half the space of HO.