bachmann will be rereleasing the 2-8-0 with a huge price increase. Why can't manufacturers keep things simple/stupid with an affordable price?
First of all one has to remember that Bachmann has a rather large markup built in to their MSRP. The 'street price' will be significantly reduced. Secondly Bachmann has sold a lot of these 2-8-0's over the past ten years or so. I, therefore, suspect that sales of the new sound equipped 2-8-0's may not be too robust so you may find them on Ebay for a lot less. Thirdly, many people, like myself, have bought a bunch of the older 2-8-0's both analog as well as DCC equipped and equipped them with sound. It is not a hard install. Long story short, the new release of the 2-8-0 may not provide sufficient incentive for prior owners to buy another. We shall see.
Not saying a word.... http://knowledge.insead.edu/sites/www.insead.edu/files/images/tape_over_mouth.jpg
And the sound will only be OK . They use crappy speakers and the sound decoder although it's a Tsunami , is also stripped down . I had to replace all of the "sound value" decoders and speakers with sugar cubes and Econami decoders to get decent sound . The new Tsunami decoders are even better !
But...you HAD to pay for those "sound value" decoders and speakers....when you purchased the Loco...just to rip em out and throw them away and then you had to purchase new sugar cubes and Econami decoders...to put back in. This is the part I just dont get....paying twice for sound...hmmmm...
Somehow I just knew that when you said, "Not saying a word...." that it wasn't going to last. But seriously, the Bachmann 2-8-0 was a big step up for Bachmann and in many people's mind it is on a par with the Kato Mikado. Some may not agree with that but I think that most everyone is in agreement that the Bachmann decoder as well as the sound decoder and speaker would be best left in China.
What comes in the Bachmann sound locos isn't "bad" I'm sure it suits 90% of the people that buy them . Some of us just have a higher standard for sound . Heck I even had my BLI M1 decoders replaced with the new Tsunami 2, and the stock sound WAS pretty good !
I have to agree on the 'basic' 2-8-0. I wish Bachmann had sent me one as a replacement for the 4-8-4 I sent in that was dead. I have read the 4-8-4 is a bear to put a decoder in. THE Wife wants a steamer to pull her excursion train ...instead of her E5...on occasion. Dont need the sound...just the steamer with a basic decoder. I just cant justify the price...for sound neither of us want.
Yeah! It's like a car manufacturer saying, "You're getting the leather seats, leather steering wheel, and aluminum wheels whether you like it or not - and you'r paying for them too!" I love the car, but I didn't want leather seats, leather steering wheel, and aluminum wheels. Can't there be a less expensive base-model?
That's "marketing. Making money by selling you something you don't need or even want as the price for getting what you do want. It has been like that for decades. I once wanted to buy a 4-wheel-drive SUV for off-road use. But the off-road "package" included floor carpeting that could not be deleted. (I didn't buy that, either.)
Give the K4 a try . It has a good rep , and has sound . It's a good running loco and pulls well . I can totally understand your avoidence of Bachmann locos based upon the their 4-8-4 . And you can always use F8 to turn off the sound .
Please dont misunderstand. Its not Backmann I have an adversity towards. Its SOUND in general I have absolutely no use for. Buying any locomotive or piece of rolling stock with sound is like Glennac alluded to >>>I hate paying good $$$.$$ for something I will NEVER use or need nor want.
We keep seeing this and saying the same thing, here. Why can't manufactures make locos that are wired for DCC and sound, but come in 2 configurations: 1. decoder and speaker installed 2. jumper to make loco operate purely on DC? That way, you could buy the stock stuff if you don't want something better or have such rudimentary skills that you can't get inside the loco. Or, you could buy the mechanism with "plug and play capability to add just DCC or DCC + sound with your preferred products, as you see fit. And, if you start as type 1 and progres to type 2, nothing is lost (but a jumper). That would be giving us what we want, instead of what they want us to buy.
Kato and Atlas do this. Kato locomotives are essentially plug and play leaving it up to the decoder manufacturer to design a decoder to fit. Atlas makes both decoder equipped and decoder ready. I don't have any IM or FVM locomotives so I can not speak for them. Early on, in the DCC age, Atlas made locomotive equipped with a dual decoder for both analog and DCC much like the Bachmann locomotives today. Modelers made the same complaints as now and Atlas changed to their present system. One other issue with Atlas that I saw with their SD9's is that they only make two road numbers so that but the decoder equipped and the decoder ready locomotives share a number. So four locomotives but only two numbers. Fine if you only want two locomotives but not so fine if you wanted four.
