Bachmann's Best Ever Models

[MikeParkin65]

Because all Bachmann models are so well and consistently finished its harder to differentiate between the best (9f, Super D, Ivatt diesels etc)  and the 'just not quite captured it'(Hall, Classes 24 and 25).

 

If pushed I'd go for personal favourites like the Ivatt 4mt for steam and DP1 for diesel.

 

This thread is really crying out for a poll!

[Bernard Lamb]

C1 in LNER apple green possible the best looking loco I own.

I would go along with that.

The funny thing is that they took some stick for the bend in the motion.

However when you actually see the model it appears to be a very neat solution.

However if you want some fun take a look at the Bachmann model and compare it with the one by Guy Williams.

Bernard

ps Pedants who don't do fun please ignore this post.  

[Dunsignalling]

For me it's still the 9F, by a short head from the BR 3MT tank and 4MT Mogul.

 

John

[Brocp]

It'd have to be the Prototype Deltic or the LMS Twins in black for me. They make fantastic Steam locos as well, but for me these two (really 3) models stand out.

[newbryford]

Forget the locos.

 

JJA Autoballasters.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[surfsup]

On the wagon front, I completely agree with Mick.

 

For the Diesel front, I've got to say that while the 108 comes a close second, it's the unanimous bog standard, every day workhorse of the Class 150. Like the real thing it took some tweeking to perfect it, but the tooling has captured the boxy-ness of the real thing. The bogies are superb, as is the underframe detail. Considering that it came out around the same time as Hornby's Dogbox, it blows that out of the water by miles (Sorry Hornby, the Body was good but that's about it I'm afraid). I'd say that it was the market leading DMU for some time, only this year pipped by Realtracks 156.

[GNR Dave]

Maybe slightly biased opinion but the C1 in GNR livery gets my vote. Runner-up would be the Wainwright C in full SECR livery. Both stunning looking models.

[No Decorum]

Forget the locos.

 

JJA Autoballasters.

 

Cheers,

Mick

A sore point with me. Bachmann didn’t ever supply four individually numbered JJAs so that an accurate rake could be made up. (They ran in fives, one generator and four non-generators.) I know what the the response from the experts on here is likely to be but I prefer not to  have to mess around with re-numbering. That apart, a superb wagon.

[No Decorum]

I'm going to say the model rail USA tank, the wealth of detail is just stunning and the motion is just simply exquisite. My chosen model for Bachmann's best.

 

Edit: Another that I would put fairly high up within the ranks is the 4mt tank.

A truly stunning model with variations well catered for. Superb runner and almost hypnotic to watch. My one tiny niggle is that it emerged at a time when small locos were starting to be provided with space and wiring for a sugar cube speaker. Nevertheless, loco of the year in my opinion.

[Legend]

I don't have one, because it's way too expensive to justify the occasional use I would have, but I've always thought their Blue Pullman was something special.

[No Decorum]

It'd have to be the Prototype Deltic or the LMS Twins in black for me. They make fantastic Steam locos as well, but for me these two (really 3) models stand out.

It is most agreeable to read support for the Ivatts. I have always thought that they were the most beautiful diesels ever made, which I ascribed to their being the first diesels I was conscious of and consequently they set the standard in my youthful mind. A lovely job by Bachmann and a tribute Dick Flower. Thanks also to Rails.

[No Decorum]

Has anyone mentioned the Wainwright C class and Ivatt C1 atlantic yet? Both are miniature works of art, IMO.

 

Cheers

Adrian

I would suggest that the Wainwright C (beautiful in itself) did for pre-grouping what the 85 did for AC electrics as mentioned by ThaneofFife in the following post.

[No Decorum]

Because all Bachmann models are so well and consistently finished its harder to differentiate ...

Very well said. Let me commend everyone for being able to choose a model, no matter what it is. A very difficult business. The BR Standards are all well done, although I couldn’t pick the 9F simply because of the Hornby model. (Collective gasp.) The reason being that Hornby concealed the gubbins in the firebox and produced a very sweet runner. If Bachmann had done the same instead of half-hiding the gears behind the motion, it would, I think, have been better.

 

To all the tremendous models which have been mentioned I would add the very imposing LNER Pacifics. However, if backed into a corner, I think I would go for the Jubilee, most notably the latest version, 5664 Nelson. Red livery, Stanier tender and no block insignia. Elegant and beautiful. All that is missing is the addition of Jackson to the name!

[The Johnster]

I am particularly enamoured of an LNER sliding door vanfit in BR livery and weathered; it is a lovely little thing and gives me pleasure each time I see it, and I cannot say that of many of my possessions.  It is something of an achievement to get plastic to look like metal on the underframe, and somewhat distressed wood on the body, and the weathering is applied more heavily to the lower body giving a lovely feel of the van having recently been on a fast freight working (I cannot help picturing a V2 on the front of the train) along the ECML on a wet day, a world away from the South Wales backwater it has turned up at on my pickup.  I cannot fault it, nor can I fault a Southern Railway PMV in BR crimson, but even that doesn't give me quite the buzz of the little vanfit.  I'm usually not that impressed with factory weathering, but this has a proper bit of character!

[Willie Whizz]

The handsome ex-GC D11 Director gets my vote - elegant, yet makes practically all other 4-4-0 designs look like wimps.

 

Can't work out why we have still only seen the D11/1 in BR livery as Prince Albert  though, especially with all these World War One centenary anniversaries to commemorate lately ... perhaps Bachmann inadvertently added a 'nought' to the batch size and are still trying to sell the initial order?

[The Black Hat]

Bachmann in the diesel world make a lot of good models of engines you need more than one of. Its clever of them to select these over ones that might be more diverse, but have a smaller class. So engines such as the class 37, 47 and 66 I think are really good. They have been done to a good standard overall.

 

Here is my 66044 arriving on the layout.

 

[geoffers]

Not mentioned yet - Somerset and Dorset 7F 2-8-0. Never thought I would ever see one produced by a mainstream model manufacturer. Runs very sweetly too (or at least my four do). Not perfect though - has a closed in footplate - and it runs on a scale 4 foot 1.5 inch narrow gauge track (only joking). For me a great model but then I do like a lot of Bachmann locos. 

[Guest 47107]

I think the Wickham Trolley deserves a mention. Excellent running and superb detail for it's size. It appears to have been much better than people were expecting.   

[railroadbill]

GNR C1

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Not mentioned yet - Somerset and Dorset 7F 2-8-0. Never thought I would ever see one produced by a mainstream model manufacturer... 

There's their first 2-8-0 as well, the Riddles WD: a not that popular locomotive yet a vital element in the make up of the last twenty years of UK steam, and a subject that I likewise never imagined would get a RTR model.

 

Only surpassed by their dia 1/108 16T mineral; remains the only decently accurate RTR model of the most numerous wagon built for BR. Essential.

 

(These two items convinced me to go with an OO layout, rather than a US HO project.)

[Market65]

The LMS Inspection Saloon - straight out of the box.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Rob.

[The Johnster]

To be fair, Bachmann do rtr properly, and I cannot think of any model in the current range which is not superbly executed, as close as you can reasonably expect to scale, and finished to a very high standard.  This applies across the range, not just locos.  The locos run sweetly straight from the box, and slow running is excellent after a little running in.  Lilies can always be gilded of course, but the basic form is there to be worked on and I know that if I've bought a model in a blue box, it's gonna be a good'un.   Usual disclaimer, satisfied customer; I could not model my South Wales 1950s blt anything like as well without them; where would I get my 16 ton minerals for a start!   My only moans are about the time it takes a model to appear in the shops after it is announced; I have given up on the 94xx, one of the reasons I have just bought a 42xx in a red box...

 

Hornby, bless 'em, seem to be playing catch up with Baccy being what they are trying to catch up with.  They've made some cracking models in the last decade or so, and I am enjoying my new 42xx, but there is always that question mark.  I have an insulfish van that I cannot get to run reliably, and a Southern BY which is a lovely model but has suspect wheels to be replaced, or at least the back to backs looked at.  And they have not been as diligent as Baccy at removing the dogs from the range until they can be retooled and improved.  This is all very well if you are discounting them as 'Railroad' items, but some Railroad locos are around the £150 mark, and the price cannot be justified by claiming to have spent money recently on developing the models; some of them have been around for years.

 

Don't get me started on 10 foot wheelbase minerals, steel bodied and 9-plank.

[Bernard Lamb]

There's their first 2-8-0 as well, the Riddles WD: a not that popular locomotive yet a vital element in the make up of the last twenty years of UK steam, and a subject that I likewise never imagined would get a RTR model.

 

Only surpassed by their dia 1/108 16T mineral; remains the only decently accurate RTR model of the most numerous wagon built for BR. Essential.

 

(These two items convinced me to go with an OO layout, rather than a US HO project.)

When it was introduced it did set a high standard.

However it is a case of lacking details rather then errors that put it lower down the list today.

A few extra bits of pipework and adding the fire iron guards will improve it. As will some finer tender wheels.

Bernard

[Downer]

Too many great models to choose from really, but I do love the Super D 0-8-0. 

[No Decorum]

The locos run sweetly straight from the box ...

 

Now they do. Some years ago, I was always nervous about a new Bachmann loco arriving because rough runners were all too common. Touch wood, that seems to have been overcome now.