Nice review James! Over the years I haven't been a fan of Bachmann steam locos BUT in the last few years they have really made an effort to provide adecent locomotive with good details that hits a nice price point. Bachmann is also to be commended because while Atyhearn is stuck on Big Boys and 4-6-6-4s and BLI is stuck doing 90% Pennsy, Bachmann has explored doing the "humble haulers". 2-6-0, 2-8-0, 2-10-0, etc. Now if we can all write letters and get Bachmann interested in a UP/SP 2-8-0 or a UP "Common Standard" 2-8-2....
Trivia about the 2-10-0 on Frisco. Many of this class were of an order built for Russia during WWI. After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the U.S. embargoes Russia. Baldwin was left with a batch of 2-10-0's and ended up selling the lot to Frisco(SLSF). To adapt the locomotives from the Russian gauge of 5' to US standard gauge of 4'8 1/2" Baldwin put extra wide tyres on them. The catch was there were certain types of trackwork the locomotives could not travel across. The best example were self rerailing switch frogs, that had fixture in the side of the railhead to push an errant flange back on the rails. Frisco did not have this but neighboring Cotton Belt(SP subsidiary) did. The locomotives always needed the adapter tyres to run on U.S. rails.
I personally think WOW Sound is amazing in steam locomotives, their whistle selection is super crystal clear and perfect sounding, Their grade crossing quill is something I’ve never seen another manufacturer do, and there is a few different types each time you hit F0.
That is one of the best steam locomotive I have ever seen, just utterly beautiful.😉 The sound almost sounds real like it was recorded and great detail, I am sure the bell can easily oiled so it can move. The rear light would probably have the same look as well. Otherwise very great review James.😉👍🏻 Keep it up and stay safe.
Great review James! It's nice to see Bachmann showing some love to Frisco's steam power! Its something you don't see every day, most of the time and usually when you do see Frisco locomotives, its usually the second generation diesel power (SD40-2, SD45, and the various U-boats) owned by that railroad. Also Bachmann did offer a model of the Frisco #1522 , a 4-8-2 mountain type, in it's Spectrum line several years ago but to my knowledge, has never been released since. It would definitely be nice to see these model railroad companies do more Frisco steam and passenger locomotives in the future, but that's just my two cents worth!
hey! just want to say your videos are really cool, and I really like them. I think because of you I'm going to make some choices in model railroading (good ones!) and buy some locos that you reviewed, since you make some really good reviews. thanks and keep going!
You can hear during the pull test where WowSound really shines compared to other systems. It selects randomly from a huge library of different chuff recordings, instead of repeating the same 4 chuffs, and it blends them together at speed, so you don't get that "helicopter" sound effect like you do with SoundTraxx and most other systems. LokSound gets around this by just not playing a chuff until the previous one finishes, but all this does is force the chuffs out of sync at higher speeds. WowSound is the only one I've heard that actually sounds realistic at mainline speed.
On the side of the boiler you can see the injector handle outside the cab. It's supposed to be inside so they can put water in the boiler. I don't know if it's accurate or not buts it interesting looking
I got the Western Maryland version of this. The drive does have a bit of stuttering at lower speeds but it's not too bad. It sounds great with WowSound but starts slipping with 6 Athearn blue box passenger cars up a grade, so it's not the best puller.
This was a light puller in its day. This was a short distance freight engine originally intended for Russia before the 1917 Revolution, not a heavy coal drag hauler.
I have one of these locos. It looks great and runs nicely, but Its tractive effort is poor. Is there any space inside the boiler shell to add weight? If I temporarily add 1.5 ounces to the exterior of the shell (sitting on top of the boiler, looking really silly) the tractive effort greatly improves. Can 1.5 ounces be added inside the shell? Is there space? Thank you.
i honestly dont get why so many people are saying bachmann engines have recently gotten better. Guys, this very identical engine was first released in 2002.
That may be true, however back in 2002, they did not come with DCC or any sort of sound! (I know, I got 2 of these in Western Maryland)...... ALSO these newer versions ALSO are dual mode, Analog as well as DCC and the sound operates in both modes! -Limited however in Analog, with sound controls but they still "chuff".....
@@hemipatton7799 nope. actually they came in dcc ready and sound versions. the sound versions was a dual mode Tsunami decoder (not tsunami2). If you go to the 2008 catalog you will find a section for both dcc ready and dcc& sound versions of the same engine. I would also know because I had one at one point.
only bli and mth have sync smoke. That being said smoke really shouldnt be a deciding factor for what engine you want to buy. Choosing which engine to purchase through the quality of their smoke unit is like purchasing a car on the basis of how good their sunroof is.
It depends on what steam engine you want. Whereas everyone makes diesels, not everyone makes steam in HO and Bachmann is by far the largest one. For some steam models it is the only game in town unless you go brass.
That whistle sounds so much better than the soundtraxx crap. I got my first esu the other week and almost cried from the quality. Wow sound is not far behind
Bachmann has decent steamers but there diesels always lack In performance, however I like the company because they model smaller steamers and other odd diesels unlike scale trains, inter mountain etc, always the typical dash 9, sd70aces, big boys turbines f units sd40 variants, if another company would make a 4-4-0 I’d be all over it
Quick question: is Bachmann a good and reliable model train company? I kinda need a steam locomotive on my layout right now. My friends keep telling me that Bachmann is bad and I shouldn’t buy from them. So I’ll restate my question, is Bachmann a good reliable model train company?
Don't buy anything cheap like in the $100 range. Find one you like and check the reviews all over YT. That's what I did and got a MSRP $399 engine for $165 shipped. What era of steam are you wanting to model?
I would only go for their steam since they along with Broadway Limited, Athearn, and now Lionel are the only makers of HO steam now. The steam market is dying and more limited compared to diesels. Everyone makes diesels and are better than what Bachmann offers.
I like the addition of tcs into bachmann locomotives, but the MSRP is ridiculous. These things are nearly 600 dollars! If you want one of these, purchase an old run off of ebay and buy a tcs decoder to install. You will shave 400 dollars off the MSRP.