Bachmann 2-8-2 Mikado?

[Isambard]

The TrainWorld ad on page 46 of the Feb 2005 shows a Bachmann 2-8-2 Mikado No. 83201"New" in the upper left corner. However I haven't found it on the Trainworld site or the Bachmann site.
Is this what appears to be a light Mike real?

[cacole]

Well, it does say NEW on that picture, so maybe it's something Bachmann is going to release some time this century. Bachmann seems to announce models six months to one year before they actually start production to see how much interest is going to be generated. In one case, they cancelled a model because they evidentally never got enough advance orders for it to pay for the tooling.

[tstage]

I was wondering that myself. The only Mikados that I am aware of are Athearn, Bowser, Broadway Limited, IHC, Trix...and there' s probably a couple of others that have slipped my memory.

Tom

UPDATE:
I just checked the Discount Trains web site: They have the Sesquehanna available for $157.50. If it isn't on the Bachmann US web site, is this from Bachmann UK?

[jrbernier]

Bachmann has in the past released their Reading 2-8-0 with a traling truck stuffed under the cab/wide firebox and sold it as a 2-8-2.....

Jim Bernier

[jrbernier]

I looked at the ad again and it appears to be something new(at least from the picture). It has a very 'straight' boiler without a 'taper' like the USRA 'light' or 'heavy' 2-8-2's. The tender also appears to be some kind of 'clear vision' design with handrails at the rear. This is not a 'Chinese' engine is it?

Jim Bernier

[knewsom]

This is actually from Bachmann China. I bought one a few months ago and installed DCC in it. It runs well in DCC, but the lights are very dim.

[twhite]

From the photo, it looks very much like the prototype Mikado that Baldwin built either very late in the 19th or very early in the 20th century for the Japanese National railways (hence the name "Mikado"). If so, it would predate the USRA light Mike by about eighteen years. From the photo at least, it looks like an interesting little devil. According to the ad's I've seen, it's promised as Bachmann's most detailed plastic locomotive. I'll be anxious to see it when it finally gets released.
Tom

[Isambard]

QUOTE: Originally posted by knewsom

This is actually from Bachmann China. I bought one a few months ago and installed DCC in it. It runs well in DCC, but the lights are very dim.

Is yours the 83201 as described in the ad and if so where did you find it? Other responses suggest that Bachmann has yet to release this interesting looking model.

[orsonroy]

The "New" Bachmann mike really isn't new. They announced a very limited run of a Spectrum-quality Chinese made SY Mikado, which is a copy of a Baldwin catalog engine. The Chinese stopped building these engines in the early 1990s (!) and there are two in the USA: one in New Jersey and one in Iowa.

It's not really an American prototype, but it can be relatively simply redetailed to look like a lot of non-USRA small drivered Mikes. The biggest issue is the boxpox drivers, which would be really out of place on an old American light freight Mike like this.

[Isambard]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

The "New" Bachmann mike really isn't new. They announced a very limited run of a Spectrum-quality Chinese made SY Mikado, which is a copy of a Baldwin catalog engine. The Chinese stopped building these engines in the early 1990s (!) and there are two in the USA: one in New Jersey and one in Iowa.

It's not really an American prototype, but it can be relatively simply redetailed to look like a lot of non-USRA small drivered Mikes. The biggest issue is the boxpox drivers, which would be really out of place on an old American light freight Mike like this.

Too bad about the boxpox drivers (wherever did that name come from?). I'm interested in finding a light 1920's/1930's era American/Canadian style Mike or two with price, detail, quality and reliability comparable to the Grizzly Northern's Spectrum 2-80's and 2-10-0's .
Opinions welcomed.

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

The "New" Bachmann mike really isn't new. They announced a very limited run of a Spectrum-quality Chinese made SY Mikado, which is a copy of a Baldwin catalog engine. The Chinese stopped building these engines in the early 1990s (!) and there are two in the USA: one in New Jersey and one in Iowa.

It's not really an American prototype, but it can be relatively simply redetailed to look like a lot of non-USRA small drivered Mikes. The biggest issue is the boxpox drivers, which would be really out of place on an old American light freight Mike like this.

Weren't some of the Virginian MB or MC class 2-8-2's rebuilt with boxpok drivers for fast
freight service?

Yup. MC's were rebuilt in 1938. http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/virginian.shtml

Andre

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon
Weren't some of the Virginian MB or MC class 2-8-2's rebuilt with boxpok drivers for fast
freight service?
Andre

Yeah, but they didn't have 52" drivers like the SY. Boxpox drivers were generally used for reducing weight and adding strength for high-speed applications. The only large class of Mikes I know of that had Boxpox drivers were the IC's Paducah rebuilt 2-8-2s. The IC had over 500 Mikes, and MANY of them received a single set of Boxpox drivers, on the axle set that the drive rods attached to:

http://24.73.20.167/ftparchive/Steam%20Photos/2-8-2/ic%202116.jpg

(you can sorta see the Boxpox driver set behind the drivers in this pic!)
There's a rumor that a couple of the IC mikes received a complete set of Boxpox drivers, but I've got well over 300 pics of IC mikes, and none of them have a full set.

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Isambard
Too bad about the boxpox drivers (wherever did that name come from?). I'm interested in finding a light 1920's/1930's era American/Canadian style Mike or two with price, detail, quality and reliability comparable to the Grizzly Northern's Spectrum 2-80's and 2-10-0's .
Opinions welcomed.

If you're freelancing, I say go for it. The models reportedly run quite well, and they ARE definitely different than the USRA Mikes. Add a Pre-Scale or Athabasca Shops all-weather cab, change some details, and you'll have a great little engine.

[rrinker]

"Boxpok" comes from Box Spoke which sort of describes the spokes in such drivers. A rectangular box cross section rather than a round post type of thing.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

I believe it may be the Chinese engine. I have one in Susquehanna paint scheme and plan to use it for my 1950's era layout that I'm planning. It's "close enough" for my purposes even though, I don't believe that the NYS&W had one even close.
My $.02
Mark
http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1015590/

[Isambard]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

QUOTE: Originally posted by Isambard
Too bad about the boxpox drivers (wherever did that name come from?). I'm interested in finding a light 1920's/1930's era American/Canadian style Mike or two with price, detail, quality and reliability comparable to the Grizzly Northern's Spectrum 2-80's and 2-10-0's .
Opinions welcomed.

If you're freelancing, I say go for it. The models reportedly run quite well, and they ARE definitely different than the USRA Mikes. Add a Pre-Scale or Athabasca Shops all-weather cab, change some details, and you'll have a great little engine.

Thanks for the tip on all-weather cabs. I've found Athabasca Shops site but not Pre-Scale's.
Does anyone out there have a photo of a Spectrum 2-8-0 fitted with an all-weather cab? Grizzly Northern crews are currently protected against the nippy Canadian winter temperatures only by rear cab canvas curtains.

[orsonroy]

Try www.precisionscaleco.com

Unfortunately, they don't currently have their entire catalog of parts (thousands!) online, so you'll have to call or email them for info. IIRC, they've got two versions, in both brass and plastic.

www.greenwayproducts.com might have an all-weather cab in stock too. While not listed on their website, they have a LARGE selection of brass steam engine model parts overruns, and might have a few laying around. I've picked up cabs and entire pilot subassemblies from them in the past.