Bachmann USA | Spectrum Russian Decapod | Unboxing & Review 

Technically, this is an older model. The price you use is for the new re-tooled Decapod with DCC "Wow" Sound.

7:01 This is something that continues to this day in the US market, even on the very top line models. We have manufacturers including smoke units, real coal, and sound, and that very same engine can have zero picked out cab detail.

Actually Frisco #1630 operates quite frequently at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union Illinois. I've seen it a couple times, and it is a sight to behold.

When the train pass you know Is going to be a good time

You're welcome, Sam! :D I'm so glad she's found a loving, caring home with lots of friends. And yes, unfortunately the poor pulling power is a known fault with that model, some people have weighed them down with lead in the boiler, others have applied rubber tape to the wheels. But, you can't have everything I supose!

I love the model and have always been a fan of the Russian Decapods. I’ve been lucky enough to see the Frisco 1630 in operation at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Once again Sam, another top-notch review! I've been lucky enough to see one of these beauties on display, specifically Seaboard Air Line #544 at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC.

I think the “Master Railroader” that Bachman speaks of is kind of like the American version of the Modelrailwayman.

'A change from British' you know a few of us have been aching to see a review of something Irish, Sam ;)

wow that is a beautiful-looking locomotive

This locomotive was built for export during WWII and reached a number of countries around the world at the time. They became mainstays of many railways in communist countries after Russia began to phase out steam and forward the decapods along to other Soviet republics. Until the early 2000's, a number were in service in China's national rail network until they 100% dieselized in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics. Alongside those preserved in the USA, three are known to still operate in North Korea (#8143 and two others, numbers unknown) where steam is still occasionally used due to fuel shortages. Rarely, foreigners are allowed in to organize steam tours, during which the North Koreans have been known to claim that the locomotives were "built in England", denying that they were built in the USA for political reasons. Thanks for another great video Sam!

RE: Kadee couplers - The couplers on this are "Kadee-style" (KD) couplers. If memory serves, the ones actually mounted are "McHenry" brand plastic couplers. The more desirable and dependable actual Kadees would be metal with actual bronze springs but they cost more. For a loco they would be a wise upgrade. McHenry and other brands are fine for simple cars but locos tend to do more coupling and uncoupling and dependability becomes much more of an issue.

"Deca suggesting ten, I'm sure you can imagine what that will involve." Tenders!

Quite a amazing model also good review by the way, glad to see you're doing fine.

There's a Decapod Street in Stratford, east London.... The Great Eastern Railway built its loco's at their Stratford Works and in 1902 built a single Decapod loco as an experiment.... it was later rebuilt as a 2-8-0.... You learn something new every day!

Nice video and a very nice engine! I just looked up the class and it turns out that the model is the first of three in its class. The class started with #2554 and ended with #2556. They were built by the Baldwin shops, but not in 1918, they were built-in 1925. They were soon retired from 1938-1955. Eventually, the class gave way to the 2-10-2's and they gave way to the 2-10-4's. Fun fact: in 1918 both Santa Fe and Baldwin worked together to produce a 2-10-10-2 type steam locomotive. Thanks for a video on an American brute!

3:00 I thought this was a April fools joke because you can’t really see the loco in the box

I've got one of these - It's the prettiest engine I own that doesn't work.

The knuckle couplers are Bachmann's own "EZ-Mate" couplers. They're compatible with Kadee couplers, but not as strong since they're made of plastic.

Sam just a little thank you from me for tipping the balance and returning me to this hobby.. My wife is very much enjoying it as well. Just went and got myself a box kit for easy start ad a little more track, also just got a Hornby BR, Class 5MT, 4-6-0, 45379. Anyway getting other bits slowly and sorting out the space to build a full layout. Once again thanks love your work

sam when are you going to review the union pacific “big boy”

Deeply unimpressed with this one Sam, as soon as I saw the quality of the connection between engine and tender I don't think anything could have 'saved' it for me .😵😵😵 Brave review !

The reason for the alternative tender trucks is that the ones pre-fitted are the ones that the prototype was built with, the bagged ones were the "American" trucks that some of the railroads replaced the originals with.

5:55 there are actually three 2-10-0 decapods unless you are talking about decapod that looks like this.(1 Frisco 1630, 2 great western decapod number 90 which is now Strasburg number 90, and a Pennsylvania railroad I1SA 2-10-0 AKA hippos because of their boilers number 4483)

she beautiful i need to get one one day thanks for the video sam;)

Wow i love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

There are only 2 Decapods Running in the US. Strasburg 90 which is the only one of its kind in existence, and Frisco 1630, a Russian Decapod

I actually have two of those engines. I just got one last year, and I have been very happy with it, so I bought another one in early June. The lack of brass bearings doesn’t exactly ruin them for me, as they are wonderful models, holding up well against even my best Proto 2000 locomotives. The two I own only cost me about $150 counting shipping for each of them. Over in Russia, they called the decapods the YE class, and used them all over the Soviet Union’s rail system. Meanwhile, in the United States, they became property of the United States Railroad Administration, were reclassified as YEa, and were distributed to many different American railroads. I personally repainted mine into a custom livery; mine being BL&G (my model railway name) locomotive numbers 7 and 8. The BL&G would’ve had two of those engines, those being numbered YEa-7 and YEa-8. Engine 7 would’ve pulled heavy coal trains, while engine 8 would’ve performed banking services. Both engines would’ve survived into preservation, with BL&G 8 becoming a museum piece, while BL&G 7 was returned to operational status in 1972, following seven years of absence from the BL&G railroad system. Nowadays, engines 7 and 8 would haul a mixture of banking service and slow freight services.

I've actually had the pleasure of seeing one of the surviving Russian Decapods in the United States - Engine 209 of the Gainesville Midland Railway in Georgia. She's only on display and not in operational condition, but she's still a sight to behold.

eGood review, Sam. I've got two Bachmann Spectrum 80-ton 3 trucks Shay locomotives. As on any Bachmann engines they look great but their mechanics are rather poor. I bought these engines at what we could say it was a reasonable price (around 150 € each). They were analog back then, of course and when I tested them their performing was simply atrocius.And the bevel gears just cracked at first sight. So I had to rebuilt them completelly : fully rewired, light bulbs replaced by leds, installed a fire effect led in the firebox, installed a Loksoound and a speaker, and I had to modify the current pickups also. Oh, those bloody non-magnetic tiny clockmakers screws... But the result was great and now I love these engines. And I have learnt a lot working on them. Bachmann was a kind of branch for beginners. They made cheap engines and rolling stock, starter sets... You knew that you wouldn't get first class stuff for what you were paying for (noisy and underpowered engines, poor mechanics...) , but now they have outrageous prices. They didn't increase the quality just the prices.

Thank you Sam you gave me a new hobby. I have now got a cornish carrier. Thank you. You have helped me a lot.

Hello Sam great video as always. the 2 Whistles you pointed out. the tall one is the whistle the smaller one is the Safety valves.

#1630 AKA Frisco 1630 is fully operational and happily running at the Illinois Railway Museum, sadly she has not seen the mainline in a long time.

Good review sam. The spare trucks are because of variations between companies that own them. Some had what was standard by AAR which is on the tender. Some railroads swapped trucks with older Arch bar trucks so they can keep those nice modern ones they got for cheap. Some railroads like the decs but others not so much a fan. Funny enough if you had the Erie or the (only made during spectrum not re made for current) Susquahanna versions. Both are the road numbers of a long abandoned shortline near me called the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern and were the common power. It is just a strange niche that was made.. not like the ATSF ones only lasted 4 years on that railroad ;)

A lot of people know American steam just by looking at the boiler, fire box, wheel arrangement, and size difference compared to British steam. But in the late 1800’s America wanted to build a type of locomotive that mainly for The use of hauling freight but it wasn’t like a 4-4-0 or a 4-6-0 aka the ten wheeler. These locos weren’t moved by two piston rods hook up to each driving wheels. These locos had four pistons on each side of the loco. They kind of like car engine pistons but a heck a lot bigger. These girls haul lumber most of the time out in the mountains in north east and Midwest America. And thus the shay type locomotive was born. The good thing is a lot of these were preserved and some faced the cutters torch.

I actually have. Bachman spectrum K4 locomotive from my grand pa. Nice to see some one have their own special loco.

A 2-10-0. That's Awesome to have. Because of their strength. The road brand is Atchison, topeka, and Santa fe which is one of my favorite brands.

The decapod is what turned me back onto bachmann. I remember when these had been out maybe a year and my buddy finally convinced me to buy one. So I hopped on ebay and bought one for $60. I now have 4 running a branchline at the club. I love these

I have a very similar train from the 90s I think. It has the exacts same amount of detail and I love it, it's a display model but I got it for cheap, for I think 20 bucks. And the really funny part is that the cab also is very shakey.

Wow! Never seen a loco like it! Congrats on 80k subs!

Hello, Sam! Another great review once again! However, a couple of things you mentioned in the video I'm excited to give more info on, just in case you didn't know. First off, the A.T.S.F. stands for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. It merged with the Burlington Northern in the 1990s to form the current BNSF Railroad. Secondly, the 1630 you mentioned is from the Frisco Railroad, and is currently at the Illinois Railroad Museum, in the state of, well, Illinois. Anyway, just thought I'd share a couple of USA train facts with you that you could use at some point. Cheers to you, and take care!

As an American, the majority of our steam locomotives didn't have much in terms of paint scheme style. There were a few that were more stylized for passenger service during the "streamline" era but on most American units the only color you'd see was in the company logo painted on the side.

From what I can find, 2554 started out on the Wichita Falls, Ranger and Forth Worth, before ending up on the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient and subsequently the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe where, it appears that they were scrapped in 1936

Your videos always make me smile.

Beautiful locomotive. I recommend the Hornsby railroad TTS sound flying Scotsman and the 0-4-0 diesel shunter bagnall. I’m a huge fan

If you are wondering where the term dekapod cames from, it comes from the greek word δεκαποδη (dekapodi) which literally means the one who has ten feet. I don't really know why a greek work is used to describe a whole class of locomotives because it wasn't up until the 40s that the very first dekapods arrived here in Greece.. Anyway i find it somewhat fascinating to say the least... Great video as always sam keep it up!

I really like the Frisco Railroad #1630 2-10-0 Decapod . Running strong even today!

Just picked up a DC only version for $50, and it’s a great engine!!!

When I was doing a lot of modeling I only picked up Spectrum locos if they were cheap. The early ones have split frames and the new ones were always a bit more expensive than others. The main quality was that they used to guarantee a 5-pole motor in Spectrum vs. the regular Bachmann line. After all that complaining, the original Spectrum Doodlebugs are of my favorite models ever. You could get them cheap at train fairs for a while and they were a lovely little performer.

I had two of the early models like yours and had the same complaint about pulling power Even double headed they could not equal a single 2-8-4. They are superb in detail but since they did not pull well I sold both at a train show and bought a diesel. No regrets!

Another insightful and reliable analysis that we've come to respect from Sam. I recently sold off a bunch of North American (and some pre-Sam Heljan) rubbish on eBay and was skulking about looking for a decent North American locomotive. Having seen your review, this won't be it, but I do give Bachmann high marks for making something that is atypical for the American scene. My other experience with Spectrum is that it looked good and the mech was solid and was a smooth runner. None the less, she went on eBay, as well, as I am looking for something more suitable for a 4x8 layout, that is shorter and lighter in general, her being a heavy consolidation.

Another good review Sam. Bachmann Spectrum is the mid-range model railroad locomotive for those that like to have something that runs well. Now, the local hobby shops around by me in the state of Wisconsin dont carry too many of these as there are others companies that make just as nice or better mid-range locomotives. Now, you mentioned Broadway Limited Imports and I have to say, they are very good. For the price you pay though, you get a really great model with a LOT of die-cast. The one I have is the Milwaukee Road S3 4-8-4 locomotive and it is just a wonderful locomotive to have. It cost me $450.00 but its well worth it. By the way, your almost at 80K subs!

I bought this engine used off eBay .It does run well, but yes the pulling power is poor. The spectrum 2-8-0 uses the same type mechanism but seems to run better. To answer a few of your questions about this engine. It looks like your rear gear cover which also carries some wires is hanging too low in the rear ( could not see well, maybe mistaken ) . Also, It is common for model railroaders here to weather our engines so the wires would be painted over. US steam was not kept as clean as British steam. This engine is DCC ready so has all the wires needed so you can just plug in the decoder in the tender. For the prototype these were very light locomotives , there were build with 10 driving wheels to spread the weight out on light track, so massive pulling power was not there design. These were small locomotives compared to the new steam produced during WWI in the US

Hi Sam nice to see a bit U.S locos on the layout.the Canadian loco looked well! I love the horse and bloke sat on edge of your foot bridge made me laugh" haha". Keep up the great work. Bright and colourfull & infomative videos.

I bought a Bachmann GG-1 w/DCC sound for around 400 dollars and it’s my best model in the collection. It runs smooth, the sounds are crisp and not too loud, and it’s a *super* quiet runner. Personally I think the bachmann dcc engines are worth their money :) Great vid Sam!

Hi Sam would agree with your findings. You highlighted the plug and socket being a pain, uncoupling the tender and engine is a nightmare. Motor is quite cheap and nasty, I have 4 of these locos, 2 of which had motors burn out. By the way the spare bogies show a different side frame so you can change them over. What surprised me was they are now £180; I bought mine for about £75 each. I certainly would not pay £180, that’s taking the p**s.

Re-gauging these locomotives was a lot easier than you would think; the builders simply fitted them with wider tires (tyres) on the drivers and likely just swapped the russian gauge tender trucks for standard gauge ones. Probably took less than a day.

AT&SF stands for Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway over here in the USA. its also know as Santa FE for short.

Usually the replacement bogies are like the flanged trailing wheels Hornby sometimes pack with their Pacifics - they're more accurate but can't handle sharp curves.

Spectrum reminds me of a brand that is used for TV or High Speed Internet. This type of brand is in my area, I’ve seen a couple of vans around my place that have the Spectrum branding on it, they mainly help out with people with their TV or Internet cables. :P

Hey Sam I should mention before the next USA loco is that most of our engines were built with freight with standard black so differences in railroad focuses if your looking for more colour ful engines I'd suggest our streamliners like the daylight 20th century limited and superchief oh and the cab detail being lacking is from modelers wanting to do it then selves and keepin mind that you got the engine second hand so the black tubeing for the wires was not there and maybe for the future don't take off that many points for second hand engines I mean things might have happens to em like motor failure or had a nasty derailment

Hey Sam! Today I got a early birthday present, I got a dean goods in br black from Oxford! It looks amazing! It even comes with brake rigging! Great review on the decapod! -Dj P.s congrats on 80k subs!

For the wire problem i would use a black shrink tube for that, its cheap and makes a difference.

Bachmann is pretty much the main train set provider for US locos in HO. They can range from cheapo train set f-units to 600 dollar steamers

You should have seen the large scale spectrum models bachmann made, they were insane in detail and performance!

I really liked the look of that loco, although those multi colour wires between the loco and tender really stick out and are quite an eyesore. Nothing that a bit of black paint won’t fix, but still, for the price, I would have expected a bit better. I don’t have a lot of Bachmann Spectrum stock, but I am happy with what I do have. Bachmann spare parts are good to deal with as well, I’ve had to buy some bits to fix my On30 Rail Truck, and prices for spares were fair, and postage was good. Enjoyed the video, and am looking forward to the next.

So I'm going to watch each of your videos. I started on "My Railway" on Friday night and now I'm 86 videos in. I'm going to comment on each of them, and iv created two playlists with all of tour videos. The original playlist has been set as private and renamed "To watch" and it had all of your videos on. Once I have watched a video from that playlist, I remove it and put it on the public playlist called "Sam's Trains" so I know what video I'm at. 😀

Very interesting model.....love the look of it with the black trucks....(funny as I am not usually a black livery fan).....like you say with the gap below the boiler - looks very impressive.......I think if I owned I would have to do something with the exposed wires....why they could not at least use black cable is beyond me....great vid as always...cheers!

Absolutely try to get your hands on some Broadway Limited stuff! The detail is amazing

I own one of the earlier releases of this beauty and I’m impressed with the detail and quality on the locomotive.

Bachmann have some of the old catalogues on their website. 81709 was announced in 2002 as a new roadname (livery) the same year the 2-10-0 was available. The RRP was $170 until 2009 when the first sound fitted version was released (although not current 2020 offering). Based on what I was paying for Bachmann spectrum models around that time I would say it would be around £85.

Another thing you should have added is the underframe detail. Really lovely until it comes time for servicing. One thing I will say, these things look even better when they are the variant that has the headlight above the boiler!

Sam, I saw the Berkshire in real life, its amazing looking. I rode in it 2 years ago.

The Bachmann overland limited is my best Bachmann Loco

Nice review and video. My brother has one of these as well and it has the same issue of being light.

Coloured wires can easily be cured with a black Sharpie. Whenever I see an AT&SF logo I almost expect to see Judy Garland hanging out of the cab window singing.

What a grate looking loco and vid hope there are more like this in the future

A great brand you could possibly try is Broadway Limited Imports they make the best plastic steam engines in my opinion.

I have a Spectrum 4-6-0 which sits in its box with the engine and tender connected, which is honestly how all steamers should be pacakged, Broadway Limited does this with their USRA mikado, Consolidation and Reading T1 4-8-4, and it's nice to not have to work with the plugs.

The locomotive in my current profile pic is FRISCO 1630, one of the two working Decapods. I went to see it a few years back at the Illinois Railway Museum close to my home and took a trip hauled by it. I also think I mentioned the engine's fireman that caught my eye once. He was English and wearing a British Railways cap. Turns out he actually worked at the Ffestiniog Railway before coming to work for the museum.

Awesome review as always Sam!

By the way that is a Santa Fe 2-10-0 steam locomotive wheel rangement if you already knew but just a friendly heads up

They delivered 870 of them to russia, but the revolution by 1917 in russia make 200 not to be delivered so a few of the railway companies are ordering 2-10-0s, most of them the Pennsylvania Rail Road. This model comes from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail Road, the first user of the 2-10-0 decapods.

A while ago a couple of random thoughts came to my mind. An 0-4-0 Pannier and a 2-10-20-2 Smokie Joe

The best part of these engines is that you can find them dirt cheap at train shows and easily DCC them. Typically, you can find the less rare 2-8-0s and 4-8-2s for less than $100, making them possibly the best bargains at train shows. In fact, I just found one of these, with sound, on Ebay for $75. Needless to say, it isn't on ebay anymore. And, if this makes you feel any better about the price, here in America the price would not be affected by a more complex livery. The engine you have which is basically unpainted with some letters on it would be the same price as my CNW one which has more lining and would also be the same price as one that was done up in a much more complex livery. One of the nicer things that American train companies do.

It’s nice seeing you review the models from here in America, maybe you could review different locos from different countries around the world

I wish they made a Great Western Railroad decapod specifically number 90

U definately need to get a broadway limited locomotive. They have dc/dcc sound and r great pullers. I own a bunch from them. They make some of the best steam engines in the hobby.

ATSF is the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which serviced most of the American west centered around new mexico

Ah, good to see something from MY side of the Atlantic. Good video Sam.

great vid sam 😁 always love to see something different 👍🏻

The only way I can see one putting roller bearings in that model is to remake the entire frame. Which I can do as I have access to a lathe with a milling attachment.

6:02 I've actually seen Frisco 1630 myself, which was under steam but not moving. I've also seen two other Frisco decapods on display.

The Santa Fe Steamer you got there is pretty much like my low boiler 4-6-0 from the Spectrum line, still looks though. For me personally, I rather get the newest version of the loco with sound and run on DCC. As for Broadway Limited, you should try their locos. I have one from the Paragon 2 line, No 5629 and she's very good and heavy, plus she's got the power to pull even my worst freight cars around my layout, which does have a hill. My best advice is to buy one of the Paragon 3, or if lucky, Paragon 2 locos, and trust me, you'll be running it for days on your layout.

Amazing Video Sam! Love the Bachmann Spectrum Russian Decapod! Great details. - Nano

I have a pretty difficult filming task at the minute. I'm trying to film the entire 24 hour timetable on TSW Northern Trans-Pennine. So nearly complete, have about an hour and a half left

A very utilitarian look and I agree the colour wires and bright orange plugs stick out like a sore thumb so a bit of an odd choice.

Sam, the Merchant Navy Class is now available on train simulator. Also can you do a train simulator video driving Canadian Pacific on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway.

Hi sam how are you? Great video. Really like the history of the locomotive. Can not wait to see more videos like this. Hope you enjoy your new locomotive. Take care of yourself

I have a few of the box cars you used behind the Berkshire on my layout!