Bachman 45-ton diesel - any good?

[Anonymous]

Guys (and gals),
Occasionally, I cruise through ebay looking at various items and one item I consistently spot are those bachman 45 ton diesels. Either Ann.kramer has a ton of them to unload or this seller can't give them away.
What's the verdict on these diesels? Are they a worthwhile purchase? What has been most people's experience with them?

Thanks!

[Curmudgeon]

You do know who that seller is, right?

They're okay.
BIG.
Read the review that came out in GR.

Only real issue is the contacts from chassis to trucks, easily rectified with flexible wire and a soldering iron.

I've read complaints of parts falling off.
Yes, the plastic perforated steps press with pins into the metal supports, so they will pop out if you hit them.
Also, some about the Blue headlights.

So, no complaints about the wimpy yellow ones?

Change them if you don't like them (I use 14v GOR bulbs).

Never had siderods fall off as one person said.

They're what, on special for $70?

BIG.

TOC

[Anonymous]

Err... Actually I don't know who is that seller. But, that's good information about those diesels. I would imagine it would dwarf the bachman mogul I have.

[Curmudgeon]

Dwarf it?
And then some.
It's a standard gauge carbody with narrow gauge trucks (prototypical, I might add).

If you knew the last name of the large houses owners, you'd know.

[devils]

Go to Model Railroader page on the toolbar at the top,
Product & hobby news -
Reviews -
page 3 -
Large/G Scale Product Reviews
and there's the MR review, I've got a nice bright yellow one and I'd buy more and convert them to boxcabs if I had the time to convert them!
It is certainly BIG

[Curmudgeon]

except this is the GR forum.
I know it's all Kalmbach, but I'd trust them half-zero folks to do a proper review just about like I'd trust Ted Kennedy to report a car in the water.

[devils]

They just have to stand a bit further back and not use a magnifying glass to read the lettering, see Garden railways can be cheaper to review![:D]

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by devils

They just have to stand a bit further back and not use a magnifying glass to read the lettering, see Garden railways can be cheaper to review![:D]

Hi devils
I dont know about Garden Railways being cheaper than the indoor toys.
But it certanly will not be any more expencive unless they charge by heft factor[:D]
Back on topic
I would buy one of the 45ton diesels and I haven't read the reviews
I just have not found the right excuse yet[:D]
Sounds like a candidate for the new type briliant white LED's and maybe so tiny red ones.
The side rods probably only fell of because the owner did not make sure they where properly fitted something any good set of instructions tells you to check
before puting it on the track.
regards John

[Anonymous]

[tup] I'm a believer in big = better. But, I'm a bit confused as to whether I ought to stick to 1:20.3 or 1:29. I like the variety of diesels in the 1:29 but I also like the thought of the larger 3 foot scale. Darn! Decisions, decisions.

[Anonymous]

devils, Thanks for pointing me to that article. Wow! It's almost a full two inches taller than the bachman mogul. Pretty good stuff. And the price is tough to beat.

Thanks guys!

[Ray Dunakin]

I just bought one from that seller last week. It looks great. Haven't had a chance to run it yet though -- I need to order the special lubricants that must be applied before operating the loco.

[devils]

Ray
Those special 'space age' lubricants they tell you about are a bit of marketing. If you go to any decent model store and ask for plastic friendly lubricants you should have no problem. I use grease designed for RC cars which is safe for nylon or plastic gears. Just don't be tempted to use stuff designed for full size cars and if it hasn't been run for a long time just give the gearboxes a quick check. The oiling and greasing guides are good and I wish other manufacturers did the same.

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tifren

[tup] I'm a believer in big = better. But, I'm a bit confused as to whether I ought to stick to 1:20.3 or 1:29. I like the variety of diesels in the 1:29 but I also like the thought of the larger 3 foot scale. Darn! Decisions, decisions.

Hi tifren simple try both and find out what suits you best
1/29 should be reletively quick there is a lot of off the shelf.
I may be wrong here but 1/20.3 seems to be more building your own involved
Thats not to say you cannot build buy or bash what takes your interest.
The only way to find out what is best for you is to do it.
They both run on the same track so its a case of just keep them in seperate trains[:D] till you know what you want.
regards John

[Ray Dunakin]

QUOTE: Originally posted by devils

Ray
Those special 'space age' lubricants they tell you about are a bit of marketing. If you go to any decent model store and ask for plastic friendly lubricants you should have no problem. I use grease designed for RC cars which is safe for nylon or plastic gears. Just don't be tempted to use stuff designed for full size cars and if it hasn't been run for a long time just give the gearboxes a quick check. The oiling and greasing guides are good and I wish other manufacturers did the same.

What about the conductive lubricant for the drive wheels? What do you use for that?

[Curmudgeon]

Never needed much, altho I have a little can of LGB Conductive paste I use in a pinch.

[devils]

Switch lubricant, again for RC cars, got mine in with a car and it lasts for ages. You will find the manufacturers always over lubricate for safety assuming you probably won't do it. The problem is all that spare lube sits there doing nothing apart from giving any dust that gets in something to stick to. I usually find i'm removing grease when I service the first time rather than adding it.
If you can get the recommended lube at a local store then by all means use it but it's by no means the only suitable solution. A friend of mine borrows locos to run on his layout so some get run fairly intensively and they haven't suffered from using RC lubricants.
Have fun [:D]

[bman36]

Hey there,
Got one for Christmas. VERY GOOD DEAL...from the very seller you mention. Quick delivery and very well packaged. This thing reminds me of the '73 Newport my parents used to have. Land Yacht. Mine is YELLOW...very YELLOW...but it looks great. I was glad I had not fastened all my track down on my indoor line. On one very long bridge the track had to be moved in order to facilitate clearance. Plan on getting more of these. The price is incredible. Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

Was going to pick up one of these but..dam, I got too many engines as it is and dont have enough room for anything else anywhere in my trainroom . Plus it sooooooo big, its 1/20, really really 1/20 ...it just dwarfs all my other stuff, so nope for me.