Bachman's Spectrum 4-6-0

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of building a new layout set in 1906 as discussed in the Jan 2002 MR. Have been looking for a good small steam engine. The recent release by Bachman caught my eye. However my plan calls for 18"radius turns. Will this engine handle these? Is this engine appropriate for a pre-WWI American short line. Thanks.

[nfmisso]

Hi Tim;

Yes. FYI the low drivered one has 56" drivers - not 52" drivers as Bachmann's website says. The other has 62-63" drivers.

Nigel

[dknelson]

It might be appropriate for a pre WWI shortline but in a sense it is a bit "new" for that service, assuming that, then as now, short lines usually use power discarded by the bigger railroads or otherwise downgraded. This suggests that a 1906 engine would be unlikely on a 1906 shortline, and one should be looking to suitably bedragled engines from 1870s to 1895 for a 1906 shortline, unless it was a very prosperous shortline.
When selecting equipment for an era it is helpful to think in terms of useful life of an asset. For example when we see a freight train today, we see some very new cars but also plenty of cars that are 20 or more years old.
Dave Nelson

[Sperandeo]

I'll take issue with Dave Nelson for saying that the Bachmann 4-6-0 is too new for a pre-WWI short line. There were many examples of shortline railroads of that era purchasing new steam locomotives. The low-drivered version of the Spectrum Ten-wheeler is very similar to the engines Baldwin built for the Maryland & Pennsylvania – a short line better known as the "Ma & Pa" – in 1906 and 1910. See the "MODEL RAILROADER Cyclopedia, Vol. 1: Steam Locomotives," pages 112-113. Short lines did not always operate with hand-me-down equipment cast off by larger railroads, and several of them were quite prosperous and able to afford new equipment (if not always of the largest or most modern types).

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[dknelson]

I take your point Andy. The Ma & Pa is the perfect example -- it also proves my point in a sense since in 1950 they still looked pretty much like they did in 1910!
It sure looks like a gorgeous model and is probably if not certainly the nicest thing out there that is correct for the era.

On a somewhat related topic: Today's newspaper has an article suggesting that this SARS outbreak is going to make companies think twice about basing so much production in China -- if every visit has to be followed by 10 days of quarantine, it takes away some of the benefits of having workers willing to labor for 35 cents and hour or whatever. I wonder what this will do for model costs now that so much of our best stuff is Chinese? I have always wondered why the brass importers did not start to investigate Vietnam now that Korea has such a high standard of living (just as Korea replaced Japan for the same reason). Evidently Vietnam has SARS totally under control.
We need to brace for the unexpected in model prices and it might be that the industry has put too many eggs in the Chinese basket.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

As for your 18" radius on your layout, many short line locomotives had blind drivers. On your 4-6-0 this would be the second driver set, it has no rim to hold it against the rail, so if the radius is short the lococmotive will still make it without much trouble. I have a 2-8-0 and I filed down the seconf and third driver set to give the locomotive easier access to my shorter radius's on my layout and it helped on other fellows layout without derailing on the shorter radius curves.

[cp1057]

Hi Tim,

MR recently reviewed this model. I can't recall the exact issue but it would be definitely worth checking out. The reviewer pointed out that several of the details denoted a rebuilt engine from post WWI era. I don't know if that's a concern to you. My personal preference would be if it's a good-running model within your budget range and representative of your era overall I would use it.

Charles