Jump to content
 

Bachmann's Best Ever Models


Hilux5972
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

Another vote for the Compounds in various liveries, stunning model! 3f was a close second and deserves another shout out.

It's a pity it's such a low value seller.

Looking on ebay they are still selling for under £60, new at £80, and they've been here for a few years.

It's been a good few years since introduction.

 

That said it's a great source for lucrative hard to find Bachmann lined black fowler tenders, and 4-4-0 chassis's to upgrade ancient kit build ones.

Given it's initial high RRP, and assumption it's a slow seller, even at discount, I doubt we'll see an Andy Capp one soon

 

But it's a beautiful model, I seem to keep acquiring them, it pulls quite well too.

 

 

My favourite however has to be the New tooled Jubilee, with the Patriot and Stanier mogul not far behind.

Edited by adb968008
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Is that a weathered late crest on the tender of that loco ?- Sorry it's the pedant in me. :sungum:

 

Yes, an error.   Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Cheers,

 

As punishment here is a Class 4 2-6-0 at Salisbury in 1967...

 

post-7929-0-86056500-1503354779_thumb.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

A pet gripe of mine is incorrect angle for valve gear eccentrics, but I was very pleased to see that Bachmann got it right on BOTH sides of the engine for 31-190 British Railways lined black Jubilee class 45575 'Madras' seen here straight out of the box.

 

Very nice model indeed!   :)

 

Medium weathering by the vendors, Rails, (no connection..)

 

post-7929-0-96193100-1503706024_thumb.jpg

 

post-7929-0-60899600-1503706045_thumb.jpg

 

cheers,

 

edit, p.s. unusually for me, not edited.

Edited by robmcg
  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Hilux5972,  I don't know if this thread is about Bachmann in general or only Bachmann Branchline, but will copy here the essence of my post in Hornby section where there has been mention of the exploits of the finest US steam locomotives.  Will remove if it is irrelevant.

 

I have a general interest in model railways and have seen the way the US market appears to favour in H0 anyway such excrescences as sound and chuff chuff effects, also bright shiny wheels, so the basic Bachmann model  New York Central S1a 4-8-4 'Niagara' class which is still available new, DCC-fitted, for well under £100 is a breath of fresh air. 

 

These 'basic' Bachmann locomotives, as opposed to the more highly specified Bachmann Spectrum models, are still quite nice, often from very old tooling but updated with RP25 wheels and modern motors, rather similar to Hornby/Rivarossi.

 

Here is the S1a with a touch of editing. I have a soft spot for any 4-8-4 since my first cab-ride was on one a New Zealand Railways Ka class 4-8-4s about 1963, while it was running from shed to station to head the Wellington-Auckland 15-total express. I have tried to represent the NYC S1a with comparable work stains and appearance, consistent with recent out-shopping. 

 

The S1a had 6' 7" drivers, 32 ton axle loads, 275lb boiler, 25.5" x 32" cylinders, 60,000lb tractive effort and was able to produce 5,000 drawbar horsepower at 40mph.  (must check these details), exceed 100mph with 1,000 tons, and work 6-day rosters without a service break.

Built I think in 1945-6 they were all withdrawn by 1956 having been a last example for state-of-the-art steam on the NYC at least. 

 

Lovely model but certainly not Bachmann's best.

 

post-7929-0-01402700-1504985691_thumb.jpg

 

pic edited,

 

Cheers,

Edited by robmcg
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Just had a sparkling couple of hours on the Churnet Valley Railway hauled by an USRA S160 built June 1945 Lima Works Ohio.What a beautiful ,perfectly balanced machine this is.

Let’s hope one becomes Bachmann’s best ever model. As soon as I saw one in NRM Shildon I wanted one.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest spet0114

Just had a sparkling couple of hours on the Churnet Valley Railway hauled by an USRA S160 built June 1945 Lima Works Ohio.What a beautiful ,perfectly balanced machine this is.

Hold on! This thread is about Bachmann models, not Lima ones.....

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

 Entirely appropriate for mid to late 1940's UK.I just about remember them working The Vale Of Neath line .

 

 

Not so sure they're suitable for the late '40s, Ian, AFAIK they all went to mainland Europe after D Day and those that didn't remain there went back to the States.  Interesting to hear they worked on the Vale of Neath, though; I knew 28xx and 30xx did, along with Austerity 2-8-0s in BR days and Stanier 8Fs towards the very end, '63 or 4.  The Pontypool-Neath line was more of a secondary main line than a Valleys branch, with tender locos and gangwayed corridor passenger stock; a very good potential subject for modelling.  Might I flag up Mountain Ash as a particularly attractive station, with an intact surviving goods shed...

Edited by The Johnster
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Not so sure they're suitable for the late '40s, Ian, AFAIK they all went to mainland Europe after D Day and those that didn't remain there went back to the States.  Interesting to hear they worked on the Vale of Neath, though; I knew 28xx and 30xx did, along with Austerity 2-8-0s in BR days and Stanier 8Fs towards the very end, '63 or 4.  The Pontypool-Neath line was more of a secondary main line than a Valleys branch, with tender locos and gangwayed corridor passenger stock; a very good potential subject for modelling.  Might I flag up Mountain Ash as a particularly attractive station, with an intact surviving goods shed...

 

You must bear in mind the strategic importance of that line during and after the war.It was the only alternative rail route to and from Swansea Docks,the vital Llandarcy oil refinery and the many heavy industries in the Swansea/Lanelly essential to the war effort,to say nothing of the pits.At that time the line was of major importance

 

My own memory stems from walks as a small boy with my late grandfather and hearing that USA siren whistle echoing across the valley

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Until the decline of those industries and the arrival of better road transport it was still of major importance, a double track route with red R.A., a vital feed from Swansea, Llanelli, and the Neath/Port Talbot complex to the industrial Midlands and North West even in peacetime.  With better investment and a replacement for the Crumin Viaduct, which wasn't gonna happen in the mid 60s, it might well have survived and thrived, given the increase in oil traffic from the various Milford Haven refineries that followed hard on the heels of it's closure.  Shame, and a missed opportunity.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

You must bear in mind the strategic importance of that line during and after the war.It was the only alternative rail route to and from Swansea Docks,the vital Llandarcy oil refinery and the many heavy industries in the Swansea/Lanelly essential to the war effort,to say nothing of the pits.At that time the line was of major importance

 

My own memory stems from walks as a small boy with my late grandfather and hearing that USA siren whistle echoing across the valley

 

Talking of whistles, the finest ever heard in the UK was that fitted to A4 'Dominion of New Zealand' being an NZR standard chime whistle not dissimilar to some, but by no means all, US steam whistles.

 

Dedicated to thread-drift am I!

 

I firmly believe that all model sound fails when it comes to the rising and falling of trains approaching and receding, and there would be no better demonstration of failure to evoke something real than the attempt to recreate a complex echoing cold night time sound of a chime whistle.

 

I wouldn't mind if those dedicated to sound would keep it to themselves, but you can't buy some US models without it, and the attendant hype and price. grrrr.

 

Having vented, I will go back to my picture of  Bachmann A1....      

 

cheers

 

p.s. here are contenders for a best Peppercorn model by Bachmann..

 

A1 60147 'Great Eastern'.

 

post-7929-0-80006400-1505082959_thumb.jpg

 

A2 60528 'Tudor Minstrel'

 

post-7929-0-25287300-1505083067_thumb.jpg

 

both edited

 

 

Edited by robmcg
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Just found this thread which makes for an interesting read.

 

Before getting onto locos, my two nominations would be the BR Mk1 coach range and the Dia 1/108 16t mineral wagon. Both are absolutely indispensable to a "transition era" layout (which seem quite popular), and neither had been covered to a remotely acceptable level in RTR before Mr Bachmann came along. If they'd never done anything else, these two items should make us all very, very grateful.

 

As for locos, as many have said, where to start. Maybe at the beginning is the answer. A few days ago I picked up on Ebay a Maunsell N in mint condition. This lovely item was one of their first models that raised the bar for everything that followed. One could also add the Peppercorn A1, and has been said the fabulous WD, which no one dreamt would ever appear in RTR, but is as indispensable as my original nominations.

 

John.

Edited by John Tomlinson
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Talking of whistles, the finest ever heard in the UK was that fitted to A4 'Dominion of New Zealand' being an NZR standard chime whistle not dissimilar to some, but by no means all, US steam whistles.

 

Dedicated to thread-drift am I!

 

I firmly believe that all model sound fails when it comes to the rising and falling of trains approaching and receding, and there would be no better demonstration of failure to evoke something real than the attempt to recreate a complex echoing cold night time sound of a chime whistle.

 

I wouldn't mind if those dedicated to sound would keep it to themselves, but you can't buy some US models without it, and the attendant hype and price. grrrr.

 

Having vented, I will go back to my picture of  Bachmann A1....      

 

cheers

 

p.s. here are contenders for a best Peppercorn model by Bachmann..

 

A1 60147 'Great Eastern'.

 

attachicon.gif60147_A1_BR_LNER_portrait_1abc_r1200.jpg

 

A2 60528 'Tudor Minstrel'

 

attachicon.gifBR_A2_Parcels_at_Speed_60528_3abc_crop2_r1200.jpg

 

both edited

I just listened to the Hannaford recordings of DoNZ and DoC, the great thing of YouTube allows us youngsters who never saw them in steam, to imagine, as the sounds of the whistles live on, on preserved locomotives overseas... they do sound identical.

 

If someone wanted to do DCC sound of an A4 with these whistles, it's very possible.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I just listened to the Hannaford recordings of DoNZ and DoC, the great thing of YouTube allows us youngsters who never saw them in steam, to imagine, as the sounds of the whistles live on, on preserved locomotives overseas... they do sound identical.

 

If someone wanted to do DCC sound of an A4 with these whistles, it's very possible.

 

I have old 33 3/3 12" long playing records by (I think) Sunlander with very high quality (BBC standard) recordings of New Zealand steam trains by Dawson Wilkinson and Peter Mellor, and the whistles are truly haunting, freezing nights, Raurimu Spiral, and as a child I loved them and no doubt drove my mother mad, using a La Gloria gramophone player and radio.  I think I have some MP3 versions of them but they would still be subject to copyright.

 

Moving quickly along, here is a Bachmann best ever contender...

 

post-7929-0-31650300-1506225971_thumb.jpg

 

picture edited

 

cheers

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

here is another tilt at 'best ever', an opposite to the above Standard 2-6-0 4MT.

 

post-7929-0-49413700-1506836447_thumb.jpg

 

The Midland Way.

 

oops it's a repeat of a pic I put here 6 weeks ago, sorry. But the Compounds are stunning models, and after due consideration get my vote.

 

 

On the other hand.....    :)

 

picture edited

Edited by robmcg
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Still waiting for the Andy Capp one tho'. :sungum:

 

We considered doing that as a Model Rail limited edition but we chickened out! (CJL)

Still waiting for the Andy Capp one tho'. :sungum:

 

We considered doing that as a Model Rail limited edition but we chickened out! (CJL)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...