Finally after months venturing around the world my first of the planned two Bachmann Consolidations finally arrived. And I was very impressed of it on the first sight. And after the second sight I still am. Compared to H0-scale equipment it is huge. I have an AT&SF mountain in brass and the model I estimate comes close to same length as the new 2-8-0. But the difference is not in length it is in width and height, the Con is way bigger in those respects and I guess this one thing you have to keep in mind if you are planning on a layout. After rereading an article on a small layout with 0n30 equipment in mind I learn that a Bachmann Mogul is about the same length as a typical Pacific or a Mikado in H0-scale.
The model is impressive, not only in size, but also in detail and paint. Sitting on track it has the looks of a real thing and being used to look on images of a DRG&W Mudhen it looks like a cute duckling. From the start you can customize with the extra parts. A cowcatcher, straight stack, with extra piping, a extra pilot truck with solid wheels and you can make you model as a coal-, oil- or a wood burner with the parts included. Excellent!! The model is a gem, and you can spend some time with just staring the model, what may have looked odd in some images is gone when eye balling it live. It looks and feels like a real steamer, really. Makes you wonder how nice is her 1:20,3 scale sister really must look….
I stick so long with the onion stack but transformed my # 28 into a wood burner, as a general idea of a future layout is a portion of a railroad which initially was an ore hauler but the ore business is about phase out while the trains haul more and more timber, as a sort of a mix of a logging railroader and a common carrier. By this configuration, it also reminds me of steamers back in my native Finland that still hosted wood burners to the very end of the steam. Even the most modern classes of steames featured engines that were wood burners, so the added “fence” and wood pile and the onion stack will remain. The pile also gives the tender a bit off balanced looks to the engine.
The size of this engine got me a little thinking, much of my earlier thoughts of in layout planning was confirmed. The larger scale narrow gauge designed to use a standard gauge track of a smaller scale will need have some adjudgements compared to a layout using same gauge in smaller scale. The larger width and even height means changes in layout design.Some of other physical elements needs to be adapted as well, especially size of the buildings, highways, detail and vehicles you wish to include. This means you hardly can adopt a typical H0 track plan with out some adjudgements. Let’s say we have a typical 4’x 8´ track plan designed for H0-scale to keep the equipment acting and looking nice, we need some additional width for the layout for boarder curves. Also the wider equipment needs a bit of more space between two pararell tracks than in H0-scale, I guesstimate by now we have added a perhaps a extra foot or two to the width because the boarder curves and perhaps same amount to the length. Then we wish to not compress the scenes that much so we need to add a bit more. I guess we end up in the neighbourhood of 6’x12´layout to capture as much as possible of the earlier design. Well, you can dispose a few buildings so we can compress even more and I guess we might loose another foot or two. But we are still doing fine, as if we would transform the earlier layout to 0-scale standard gauge we should have needed to double the size of the original layout. So you can shrink a lot by using narrow gauge…
The prototype for the pattern is a such a railroad which terminated not that far from home, called DONJ, which also started as a local ore hauler and ended as a lengthy narrow gauge timber hauler until the trucking became more efficient into eh late 1960.s and the line was abandoned in 1970. A cool thing is that rail road did look close on inventions in USA and adapted to Swedish looks and designs, though they did order and receive one American engine a 0-6-2 tank which during the years lost its American looks by new boiler and cab and it was scrapped in the 1950.s. A small portion with the main yard and all the shop buildings and some 5 kilometres of track still remains as a preserved railroad, including the lines two remaining 0-6-6-0 Mallets. So what I do is Americanize a Swedish timber hauler that was under some influence of the railroads in America.
What is the issue here you may ask? I guess it is my initial reaction towards some of the things have been a “fact” in model railroading that you can take standard gauge track plan and run narrow gauge equipment on it on same space. To some extend this still holds true, as the narrow gauge equipment still stays on the track. But in order to look go it need some addition in both length and width with out getting a toy like look. Remember the most convincing layouts are the ones where the surroundings are dominating over the trains, but still keeping the trains as the stars of the show.
Best regards!Ollie
The_Painkiller wrote: Finally after months venturing around the world my first of the planned two Bachmann Consolidations finally arrived. And I was very impressed of it on the first sight. And after the second sight I still am. Compared to H0-scale equipment it is huge. I have an AT&SF mountain in brass and the model I estimate comes close to same length as the new 2-8-0. But the difference is not in length it is in width and height, the Con is way bigger in those respects and I guess this one thing you have to keep in mind if you are planning on a layout. After rereading an article on a small layout with 0n30 equipment in mind I learn that a Bachmann Mogul is about the same length as a typical Pacific or a Mikado in H0-scale. The model is impressive, not only in size, but also in detail and paint. Sitting on track it has the looks of a real thing and being used to look on images of a DRG&W Mudhen it looks like a cute duckling. From the start you can customize with the extra parts. A cowcatcher, straight stack, with extra piping, a extra pilot truck with solid wheels and you can make you model as a coal-, oil- or a wood burner with the parts included. Excellent!! The model is a gem, and you can spend some time with just staring the model, what may have looked odd in some images is gone when eye balling it live. It looks and feels like a real steamer, really. Makes you wonder how nice is her 1:20,3 scale sister really must look….The #28 with a friend, a Stutz from Matchbox I got in 1960,s I stick so long with the onion stack but transformed my # 28 into a wood burner, as a general idea of a future layout is a portion of a railroad which initially was an ore hauler but the ore business is about phase out while the trains haul more and more timber, as a sort of a mix of a logging railroader and a common carrier. By this configuration, it also reminds me of steamers back in my native Finland that still hosted wood burners to the very end of the steam. Even the most modern classes of steames featured engines that were wood burners, so the added “fence” and wood pile and the onion stack will remain. The pile also gives the tender a bit off balanced looks to the engine. The size of this engine got me a little thinking, much of my earlier thoughts of in layout planning was confirmed. The larger scale narrow gauge designed to use a standard gauge track of a smaller scale will need have some adjudgements compared to a layout using same gauge in smaller scale. The larger width and even height means changes in layout design.Some of other physical elements needs to be adapted as well, especially size of the buildings, highways, detail and vehicles you wish to include. This means you hardly can adopt a typical H0 track plan with out some adjudgements. Let’s say we have a typical 4’x 8´ track plan designed for H0-scale to keep the equipment acting and looking nice, we need some additional width for the layout for boarder curves. Also the wider equipment needs a bit of more space between two pararell tracks than in H0-scale, I guesstimate by now we have added a perhaps a extra foot or two to the width because the boarder curves and perhaps same amount to the length. Then we wish to not compress the scenes that much so we need to add a bit more. I guess we end up in the neighbourhood of 6’x12´layout to capture as much as possible of the earlier design. Well, you can dispose a few buildings so we can compress even more and I guess we might loose another foot or two. But we are still doing fine, as if we would transform the earlier layout to 0-scale standard gauge we should have needed to double the size of the original layout. So you can shrink a lot by using narrow gauge… The prototype for the pattern is a such a railroad which terminated not that far from home, called DONJ, which also started as a local ore hauler and ended as a lengthy narrow gauge timber hauler until the trucking became more efficient into eh late 1960.s and the line was abandoned in 1970. A cool thing is that rail road did look close on inventions in USA and adapted to Swedish looks and designs, though they did order and receive one American engine a 0-6-2 tank which during the years lost its American looks by new boiler and cab and it was scrapped in the 1950.s. A small portion with the main yard and all the shop buildings and some 5 kilometres of track still remains as a preserved railroad, including the lines two remaining 0-6-6-0 Mallets. So what I do is Americanize a Swedish timber hauler that was under some influence of the railroads in America. What is the issue here you may ask? I guess it is my initial reaction towards some of the things have been a “fact” in model railroading that you can take standard gauge track plan and run narrow gauge equipment on it on same space. To some extend this still holds true, as the narrow gauge equipment still stays on the track. But in order to look go it need some addition in both length and width with out getting a toy like look. Remember the most convincing layouts are the ones where the surroundings are dominating over the trains, but still keeping the trains as the stars of the show. Best regards!Ollie See more at the olaviahokas.com/riofanguso
The Bachmann On30 or whatever they call it is a desirable size that can be used on most of the curves for an HO layout. Do they make HO track with wide ties to look like the narrow gauge track??
How does this model run? I have only seen them but they look good and could be used for an interesting narrow gauge layout.
I have just tested on a bit of Peco flex and it runs beautyfully, and the looks of the rods and the counterweights are a joy to see. Comparing images on the Mogul, this engine looks a lot wider than the Mogul, so I guess if you have a layout, you might double check your clearences. But the engine looks like it belongs on 0n30 gauge better than the C&S Mogul. Details really jump out at this scale and paint is really good, The cab has been painted green in the inside.
I have a quite of number of models and I guess somewhere around 170- 200 engines and this engine is among the best steam engines I tested. The lights (LED.s)are a bit too yellow but comparing the price and the over all quality it is really not an complaint. But it does not bother on and while you put a little power the light is lit brightly befoer the engine start to move, a nice touch!.
Bachmann suggest to use it on a curves with a minimum of 22' radius and I guess that this a fair, as the angine is really bigger than it looks. Even if ir would make through tighter curves, it would look redicilous. I guess to look good for an engine of this langth, I guess some 30' radius or larger looks even better, you do not want a tender engine look like it is twisting around trolley trackage. As I stated before you need to check the clearences on pararell track but also in height as this engine is way taller than any thing in H0-scale so if you are to adapt a 4x8 trackplan, I guess you need to add a foot or two. But it is a very impressive model, with a quality that is far better I have seen by Bachmann or even on any RTR model for the US-market.I highly recomend to have at least a very close look at this engine, or at the price at some retailers, it is among the best bargains in model raliroading. The combination of scale and gauge is very smart as yo can use the existing H0-scale track but the ties are to narrow and to close to even resamble 0-scale narrow gauge. The engine sat at the pictures on a piece of Shinohara code 70 H0-scale track. Micro Enginering is producing code flex track with code 70. Peco does 0n30 flex track with a pair of turnouts and wye turnout aswell, rumours say that next year they will offer a turntable
Yes it seem to have decoder on board and a place for aspeaker in the tender, which floor is formed like a grill so you can mount a fairly large speaker facing the track. But I have not converted to DCC so my test was on straight DC.The second of these engines has been ordered.
At last but not least, I am not been sposored by Bachmann or any of their retailers....
Best regards!/Ollie