Bachmann 94xx

[The Johnster]

I'm really happy (so you should be after all the fuss, Johnster) with my 94xx which is still improving in respect of slow running and smooth stops and starts.  It is easily the best loco at Cwmdimbath in this respect, and the others are all pretty good!  It is also 3 loaded minerals stronger than my best Bachmann 57xx, and up there with the 56xx.  What a superb model.  The Railtec transfers arrived yesterday morning and her identity is now 8497,  allox Tondu May 1953 until 1961.

[w124bob]

Here's an excuse to run your 94xx with a pair of auto coaches, 8402 on the Chalford auto train. This loco was a former Bromsgrove engine, the picture taken in October '64 would be just after the closure of the shed and transfer to Horton road. 

 

[Mooresby]

Hi Guys -

I'm normally a modern image modeller but bought one of the Locomotion versions of the 94XX.  I'm looking to add a crew but wondered if anyone can point me in the right direction please? Many thanks in advance

[The Johnster]

16 hours ago, w124bob said:

Here's an excuse to run your 94xx with a pair of auto coaches, 8402 on the Chalford auto train. This loco was a former Bromsgrove engine, the picture taken in October '64 would be just after the closure of the shed and transfer to Horton road. 

 

 

The position of the head lamp is interesting; I was aware that this was used on some auto services but not that it was used when a non-auto loco was hauling the train.  I have seen photos of 57xx hauling auto coaches at Abergwynfi, obviously not in auto 'mode', but in this case the loco carried the usual 'ordinary passenger' single lamp headcode at the top of the smokebox.

 

44 minutes ago, Mooresby said:

Hi Guys -

I'm normally a modern image modeller but bought one of the Locomotion versions of the 94XX.  I'm looking to add a crew but wondered if anyone can point me in the right direction please? Many thanks in advance

 

Modelu do 3D printed crews in very natural poses; I am particularly impressed with one of my drivers, who is leaning forward a little and his unbuttoned jacket is hanging open.  No connection happy customer.  They do have to be painted, though. 

 

Ready painted crews are available from Hornby and Bachmann, but tend to be in rather stiff poses, the fireman frozen in shovelling action and the driver's hand on the regulator. 

 

I am going to be ordering a crew for my 94xx, but have not yet worked out how to get them into the cab...

[The Johnster]

Yes, quite.  My locomen use very bad language when you grab them by the lug'oles with tweezers.  The problem is that this operation requires gyneacological skills and is done under time pressure as the positioning must be complete before the glue on their shoes goes off, and then you need to hold them in position until the glue goes off.  Oh, how I wish RTR loco designers would give us removable cab roofs in order to accomplish this sort of job more easily...

 

The recent Hornby large prairie shows what can be done; the roof is a separate piece which can be broken out easily with a small screwdriver blade, giving full access to the cab interior; I've put a Modelu crew in and done a bit of work with a paint brush for such matters as picking out the brass casing for the vacuum gauge and one or two other bits; a tea can sits on a shelf on the rear bulkhead.  A smidge of glue secures the roof when you are finished. 

 

Another plus point with this loco is an emptyable coal bunker of the correct shape; mine has about a foot of coal in the bottom.  I don't like plastic coal or the slightly better Bachmann mazak stuff, and prefer real coal.  If you can't remove the plastic/mazak coal, this has to go in an extra layer over the top.  Most steam locos spent most of their working time with the coal level below the top of the bunker sides, and one heard tales of trains approaching termini after long distance runs with the last shovelful being put on 15 miles or so out, and only dust left in the tenders.  Locos leaving the shed for their day's work would have coal visible above the bunker sides, but this would not be the case for long; an hour or two into the duty the level starts to drop a bit, as the fireman starts using it and it settles a little with the loco's movements.

 

The mazak coal on the 94xx might be removable; there are two very small xhead screws in the bottom of the bunker that look as if they hold it in and I have not yet attempted to remove these to see what happens when I do.  On my other Baccy panniers the mazak coal, which doubles as ballast, is released, but there is a simple void left behind which is not shaped to the real coal bunker's sloping coal plate, so you still have to fill about three quarters of the height to provide a realistic appearance. 

[Wickham Green too]

18 hours ago, The Johnster said:

....... Modelu do 3D printed crews in very natural poses; ... They do have to be painted, though. -- Ready painted crews are available from Hornby and Bachmann, but tend to be in rather stiff poses, ......

Don't forget the 'MasterPiece' figures available from Falcon Figures in Liphook - individualised for each loco type ( unpainted cast pewter ) .......... no website but I trust they'll be back when model shows are back !!?!

[Metr0Land]

I've dealt with him a lot.  He used to go to shows in south of England but since moving to west Wales had to deal by phone/email.  He's very much old school, an officer and a gentleman.  No website, everything is phone, snail mail and cheques.  He does/did a printed list.  I normally buy the painted crews (£10 a pair?) as I bought unpainted and never got round to painting them.   Highly recommended if he's still around:

Falcon/Masterpiece Models

28 Chiltley Lane

Liphook

Hampshire

GU20 7HJ

Tel: 01428 727 341

 

 

[Gopher]

On 24/02/2021 at 14:33, The Johnster said:

 

The position of the head lamp is interesting; I was aware that this was used on some auto services but not that it was used when a non-auto loco was hauling the train.  I have seen photos of 57xx hauling auto coaches at Abergwynfi, obviously not in auto 'mode', but in this case the loco carried the usual 'ordinary passenger' single lamp headcode at the top of the smokebox.

 

 

Modelu do 3D printed crews in very natural poses; I am particularly impressed with one of my drivers, who is leaning forward a little and his unbuttoned jacket is hanging open.  No connection happy customer.  They do have to be painted, though. 

 

Ready painted crews are available from Hornby and Bachmann, but tend to be in rather stiff poses, the fireman frozen in shovelling action and the driver's hand on the regulator. 

 

I am going to be ordering a crew for my 94xx, but have not yet worked out how to get them into the cab...

My 94xx is on holiday being repaired at Bachmann.  I managed to install a crew with the body removed by unscrewing the two small x head screws under the coal bunker.  This allows access to the cab.       

[The Johnster]

Thank you for, Gopher; I now know how to proceed!  Hope Baccy sort your loco out as these are brilliant models if you get a good’un. 

[Verulam Central]

Hi all I just wonder if anyone else has purchase 94xx class pannier tank 9405 (weathered) 35-025A as i just taken deliver of the model and i have notice the roof look grey and unpainted plastic ?  Just wonder if any else model look like that ?    kind regards andy 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Verulam Central
spelling eorror

[The Johnster]

A further comment about the firebox glow on my DC 94xx; I ran a 'low light' session earlier this evening and noticed that it 'flared up' when the motor was working hard, so the intensity of the light is dependent on amperage drawn by the motor as well as voltage supplied to it.  I'd still prefer the light to be orange rather than red, but the effect is not that bad, and the thing can be used as a simple amperage indicator.  I assume there are actually orange leds on the board, but they do not function in DC mode.  One day, I might feel brave enough to try and wire them in to the circuit; it won't provide the DCC flicker function of course but it might improve the steady glow you get on DC, and if I mess it up it's not the sort of loss that will cause much grief...

 

I have platform, some building interior, and yard lamps as well as lit Dapol signals on Cwmdimbath, and an auto set lit internally by batteries and leds not dissimilar to the system used by Hornby in their new 4/6 wheelers, but a cheapo Chinese Amazon version.  But Cwmdimbath is a terminus, so loco and tail lamps have to be removeable from their bracket irons to be changed for the return journeys to Tondu or Bridgend, and nobody TTBOMK supplies working removable lamps of this sort for steam age layouts.  DCC Concepts do something close, using lamps in conjuntion with optic fibre shining in to the rear of the bodies, but these are not actually removeable.  So, I cannot do proper night running sessions, but use the layout and coach lighting to represent evening or morning half light or South Wales Valley weather.

Edited March 7, 2021 by The Johnster

[Departmental]

Just thought people might like to know Bachmann Europe's spares policy for newly released locos. Spares such as bodies cannot be purchased for at least ONE YEAR (94xx body), apparently its company policy not to release spares for this period of time! I wonder how their MD would feel if the manufacturer of his brand new car said that he couldn't have spares for a year after he bought it??

[cctransuk]

10 minutes ago, Departmental said:

Just thought people might like to know Bachmann Europe's spares policy for newly released locos. Spares such as bodies cannot be purchased for at least ONE YEAR (94xx body), apparently its company policy not to release spares for this period of time! I wonder how their MD would feel if the manufacturer of his brand new car said that he couldn't have spares for a year after he bought it??

 

Could it be that they wish to retain all spares that they have for repairing returns? It would make sense to do so.

 

Annoying for anyone wanting, say, just a body - but I can see why they might have such a policy.

 

John Isherwood.

 

PS. Thinking about it - it's a good way of selling the whole model to those who can't wait a year to buy just a body - makes commercial sense!

Edited March 15, 2021 by cctransuk

[Legend]

7 minutes ago, Departmental said:

Just thought people might like to know Bachmann Europe's spares policy for newly released locos. Spares such as bodies cannot be purchased for at least ONE YEAR (94xx body), apparently its company policy not to release spares for this period of time! I wonder how their MD would feel if the manufacturer of his brand new car said that he couldn't have spares for a year after he bought it??

 

I suppose its to protect against people buying bodies and sticking it on their own chassis , thus saving a fortune and depriving Bachmann of a sale .  Seems eminently sensible to me  and I would point out that at least spares are available after one year . In the meantime isnt there a warranty with the model ?  Why were you looking for spares ?

[Departmental]

Yes, i was looking to buy a body and put a far better chassis at a different gauge under it. Can in a way understand John's post above, but think it might produce more sales of parts if the policy wasn't so restrictive. Ahh well will have to wait... or not bother with a 94xx at all. 

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, Departmental said:

Just thought people might like to know Bachmann Europe's spares policy for newly released locos. Spares such as bodies cannot be purchased for at least ONE YEAR (94xx body), apparently its company policy not to release spares for this period of time! I wonder how their MD would feel if the manufacturer of his brand new car said that he couldn't have spares for a year after he bought it??

Reminds me of a funny conversation at Warley a few years back...

 

Bloke: Do you have any returned Birdcages going cheap.

Rep: No, we only released them last week.

Bloke: Can I pre order the returns..

Rep: Next..

[The Johnster]

I believe it was the 94xx that was responisble for Bachmann's stance on this, with various modellers converting Lima 94xx with Bachmann 57xx chassis.  Some wrote about their conversions in magazines or online, and the path became a well trodden one, which I took myself for a while while waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the Bachmann 94xx to appear.  This led to a demand for working 57xx chassis, which could at one time be obtained as spares from Barwell, and of course they eventually came to question why this demand existed.  At this point they ceased to sell the working chassis and the demand shifted to the 'Bay, where at least the loco had at one time been a sale for Bachmann. 

 

My personal view is that they were cutting off their own nose to spite their face, as there an honest bob to be made that they were denying themselves.  Assuming that anyone who wanted a 57xx working chassis to go under a 94xx wanted a 94xx and they weren't making one (yet) they could hardly be said to be denying themselves the sale of a 57xx which the customer did not want (and probably already had several of) in the first place.  But someone (I'm looking at you, marketing) thought that there was a demand for running chassis that could be satisfied if we bought 57xx (a Limbach 94xx and a free 57xx or 8750 body, great value...) and then, when the 94xx was announced, that the proliferation of Limbach 94xx should not be encouraged in case it impacted on sales of the new loco (when it eventually turned up!).  I very much doubt that anyone with a LImbach would prefer it to the full fat new Bachmann 94xx, a model vastly superior in every possible respect!  If they don't buy it because they can't afford it, it can hardly be regarded as a lost sale!

 

But I am not a businessman and do not understand things in that way, as must be very obvious to those of you that are and do, so this is only my inexpert opinion, to be taken as that and no more!

 

The Limbach chassis has now been re-united with it's original 'Bay 57xx body and returned to service; the old Lima body having been binned.  The Limbach conversion is a 'layout' loco at best, as the Lima splashers are designed to line up with the driving wheels of the Lima J50 chassis and, while the Baccy 57xx has the correct axle spacing for the 94xx (though not the correct frame profile and the brakes hang at a different angle), the splashers do not align correctly.  And of course the Lima 94xx body, while not a bad bit of tooling for it's time and budget marketing, can only represent 10 of a class numbering 210 locomotives.

 

Buying a 94xx body tooling to use atop a Comet, High Level, or whatever chassis for EM or P4 is going at it the other way around of course.  It is only for Departmental to decide whether to buy a complete 94xx donor model and sell the chassis on, or wait until the body tooling is available as a spare part, or perhaps opt for a Southeastern bodyline kit.  My opinion is that the Bachmann tooling is a better quality product than the Southeastern, the old Wills kit designed for the Triang Jinty chassis, but this can be worked up of course; it depends on what balance you draw between the time you are prepared to wait, how much work you want to put in to the project, and cost.  I might suggest buying a donor 94xx and converting the Bachmann chassis until a kit chassis is built, it is a pretty good runner and well detailed, but this is off the top of my head and I have no idea what is invovled in conversion from 00.  And, of course, you get a glowing firebox hole which flickers if you run DCC...

[adb968008]

I always thought the selling of 57xx (and 4MT, 2-6-0, class 03 and Jubilee) chassis in the mid 1990’s was to allow upgrades of older Mainline toolings.

[AY Mod]

20 hours ago, Departmental said:

Spares such as bodies cannot be purchased for at least ONE YEAR (94xx body), apparently its company policy not to release spares for this period of time!

 

Bachmann have general spares available shortly after release of a new product but major elements such as bodies where there are fewer 'spares' may be held back in case they are needed to support customers who have actually bought the full product. It's not their main business of making spare bodies available for those who want to have a different chassis (that isn't theirs) under them. If they become available at a later point when demand is considered then that's their choice.
 

Anyway, to use your analogy, I don't suppose my local SEAT dealer would be too impressed if I went into the spares department to ask for a bodyshell and hinged bits to stick on my kit car chassis.

[Barry Ten]

16 hours ago, The Johnster said:

And of course the Lima 94xx body, while not a bad bit of tooling for it's time and budget marketing, can only represent 10 of a class numbering 210 locomotives.

 

 

It;s not too hard to adapt it to the later members of the class. If you're using the Lima body, you're already going to have do some hacking and filling of the erroneous cab steps, so another hour bodging a new set of front frame extensions isn't that bad.

 

 

 

[Barry Ten]

16 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I believe it was the 94xx that was responisble for Bachmann's stance on this, with various modellers converting Lima 94xx with Bachmann 57xx chassis.  Some wrote about their conversions in magazines or online, and the path became a well trodden one, which I took myself for a while while waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the Bachmann 94xx to appear.  This led to a demand for working 57xx chassis, which could at one time be obtained as spares from Barwell, and of course they eventually came to question why this demand existed.  At this point they ceased to sell the working chassis and the demand shifted to the 'Bay, where at least the loco had at one time been a sale for Bachmann. 

 

 

The spare chassis were all split-frame versions. When they began to move over to the Blue Riband designs, they stopped selling them as spares.

[Legend]

3 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

 

The spare chassis were all split-frame versions. When they began to move over to the Blue Riband designs, they stopped selling them as spares.

 Presumably because people would simply replace chassis instead of buying complete new model

[PMP]

3 hours ago, Legend said:

 Presumably because people would simply replace chassis instead of buying complete new model

Correct, the old split chassis was dreadful and when they died it was theoretically a simple body swap. I say theoretically, however, the body mounting points were different, so not a case of plug and play. 

[adb968008]

15 minutes ago, PMP said:

Correct, the old split chassis was dreadful and when they died it was theoretically a simple body swap. I say theoretically, however, the body mounting points were different, so not a case of plug and play. 

Split chassis was a revolution in its day.

[The Johnster]

I had not realised that the available chassis was the old split version, which is a very inferior product to the 'blue riband'.

 

Split chassis per se are not a bad idea, dispensing with the drag of wiper pickups, and were promoted back in the 70s and 80s by the likes of Ian Pemberton, who built locos with split pickup and Portescap/RG4 drives that could run incredibly smoothly and slowly.  I was much influenced by his 'North Shields' layout, and thought that Mainline's split chassis models were A Good Thing.  They weren't, though I managed to get my Manor and 43xx to run very well indeed before the usual quartering issues inevitably made them problems.  The Mainline approach was scuppered, IMHO, not by poor chassis design but by poor choice of materials, but there were poor design choices in the use of pancake motors of insufficient power which had to run at very high speeds in order to put out enough grunt to pul trains.  The high motor speed necessitated space consuming trains of nylon reduction gears which proved unreliable, and even when they were in good order and correctly aligned, induced at least as much frictional drag as had been saved by disposing of the wipers.

 

Bachmann have reverted to more traditional chassis design; block chassis with wiper pickup and worm drive, but use an intermediate spur cog gear.  I suspect this is to facilitate the postioning of the can motor along the boiler axis rather than sloping downwards, with the gears in the firebox, rather than to tame the excess speed of the motors; whatever the reason, the chassis work very well and are probably close to about as good as one can reasonably expect from volume produced RTR; the 94xx features a coreless motor which is very good indeed with this sort of drive and wiper pickups.  Mine, on a DC layout, will take up the load at about '10' on my Gaugemaster while the other panniers with cored motors start off between about 18-25, but all perform very smoothly and slow running, important to me, is satisfactory.

 

I do my shunting at what I consider scale speeds, around 10-15mph, assessin speed by making chuff chuff noises in time with the driving wheel revolutions, 4 per rev*, but moves that in real life are done under extreme caution, such as moving into goods sidinsg where men may be working, and coupling up to passenger stock, require slower controlled running, but all my RTR models are current production and can cope with this.  Different driving techniques and appreciation that each loco has it's individual quirks and character; this is consistent with real steam locos, and adds a layer of realism to operations.

 

 

*The squeeze already knows I am a bit odd, and simply rolls her eyes...