Large Scale Central

Bachmann Invites Input on Spectrum Passenger Cars!

General Discussion
#61

Oooooh, a scale fight!!! Pistols at 24 paces (or 20.3, 22.5, 29…) :wink:

I find the tone of the discussion over there encouraging. In the past, it’s been “I’ll pass it along” or some such, with the underlying tone being they weren’t really interested in doing passenger cars. I think anything that’s visually different enough from the AMS coach–priced competitively–will probably do well for them. The problem with passenger cars–especially 1:20 cars–is that they’re so bloody big. I’ve got 4, and they take up an entire storage shelf. I don’t take them to shows because I don’t have a container big enough to carry them in that doesn’t take up my entire cargo area in the car. I’ve got plans for a 6-car train in total, but I haven’t a clue where I’m going to run it until I can figure out how to carry them.

Later,

K

#62
Kevin Strong said:
Oooooh, a scale fight!!! Pistols at 24 paces (or 20.3, 22.5, 29...) ;)
LOL... I could sort of feel a scale fight coming on myself, and it could be very humorous. Never mind.

Let there be peace in the Valley of Large Scale Central… If you’re one of those 1:20.5 guys, your trains will fit on my track, and you will be welcome, with 'em, or without.

After all, I let other guys run their confounded diseasels here once in a while; your gorgeous huge NG models will fit in here way better’n that!..

#63

Hi Guys:

Firstly, I concur one of the posters who went to 1:20.3 and then back to 1:22.5 as the layout then looked too small.

Many of us are in the position of John. We bought pre 1:20.3 trains, like the size and are now not changing.

Kevin, your statement about the AMS J&S passenger cars is exactly my point. The 1:20.3 models are simply too large to be practical in terms of storage and transportation to local layouts. I really wanted to buy a string of the AMS J&S coaches for the improved detail, but the coaches are simply too large for me.

I still maintain that Bachmann should have gone over to 1:24 scale and produced a proper scale width track for their exact Spectrum product line.
The 1:20.3 4-4-0 is useable for the 1:24 and 1:22.5 rolling stock.
Whom ever at Bachmann selected the short version J&S coach really knew what they were doing. Perfect model selection.

For 1:20.3, I guess a duckbill roof coach would make a nice addition to the largescale market place. If the Bachmann coach is the same price as the AMS coach what is the point of duplicating an existing product. ( Using a weird keyboard, no question mark )

Kevin and John: some of these folks take their selection of scale extremely personally! Actually humourous to read as some of the folks get so worked up.

Another poster mentioned the price of the MTH HO locomotives. Yes, but those locos come with full sound, digital control and most important … synchronised puffing smoke. Those MTH locos literally have all the bells and whistles. Us largescalers definitely have been ignored in terms of factory installed synchronised puffing smoke. I only really desire factory installed synchronised puffing smoke with laboured chuff and chuff sound.

Kevin Strong wrote:
Oooooh, a scale fight!!! Pistols at 24 paces (or 20.3, 22.5, 29…)

Hardly a fair duel Kevin as the 1:20.3 guys are permitted to turn and fire after only 20.3 paces as opposed to 24 or 29 paces !

Please note that the modern day court room is set up in exactly the same fashion as a duel. The Judge being the observer of the duel with the lawyers acting as the second to each dueler.

My favourite duel was that of “Those magnificent men and their flying machines” . The German demanding “satisfaction” from the Frenchman for his humiliation at the swimming beach. Each other’s “second” discussed the terms of the duel. Then the Italian flies between the two balloons as the German and Frenchman fire at each other following which the Italian is screaming sabotage as he is shot down and falls into the raw sewage separation pond. Then the German pokes a hole into his own balloon with the “spear” of his WW1 helmet.

Man, the talent to write such humour. There does not seem to be any such great films produced like that today.

Norman

#64

We need an intelligentsia/clown-type Peter Ustinov character and a new goofy-looking Terry Thomas type to get together…

That’s it! … With a bunch of old locomotives! WOWSERS !!!

Come to think of it, those ‘Magnificent Men’ movies had a bit of the steampunk ethos about them, dont’cha think?

#65

Here is the Terry Thomas look alike.

(http://www.david-barby.net/resources/TW1.jpg)

Tim Wonnacott from Bargain Hunt in the UK.

#66

Dennis Paulson said:
Yes I am John , I am sick in the head . Whats even worse is the new Bachmann 2-4-2t , its not even a copy of a real one , but its beautiful in my eyes , and I really like it , a lot ! [url]

(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/dennispaulson/Bachmann%202-4-2T/Bachmann%202-4-2T%202012%20%20resized.jpg)

[/url]

Dennis - I’m amazed to read your comment. The real 2-4-2, named ‘Lyn’ after the River Lyn in Devon, ran on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. Although your model has plain tanksides, the model is mostly seen with ‘SOUTHERN’ on the tank sides. It is a very popular model in live steam, too, made by AccuCraft. The real ‘Lyn’ even had cow-catchers, like all the locos on the L&B, as well as a HUGE US-style headlight. tac, ig & The Chelfham Viaduct Boys

#67

For those who don’t bother with other fora, here is what I wrote on the Bachmann forum -

'I have an AccuCraft K27 and AMS cars to match it - passenger and freight. Of course, I, too, would like to see something affordable on sale.

However, we have to be realistic, and get real about the facts of life - with the recent surprise prices of the Forney - north of a thousand dollars, the C-19, nice, but $1500?, the chances of seeing a sub-$400-500 1:20.3 scale passenger car with all the detail we now expect is fantasy.

Here in yUK there are a larger number of people than you might think who collect and run North American style trains - I’m only one of them, but here we have to contend with a dollar/pound rate that is one for one, or worse. As a result of that, Bachmann prolly sold less than half a dozen of the new Forneys - total - here in all of the UK.

Coming back to the ‘new cars’ - there is no way on earth that I’m going to be paying $500 for ANY kind of a LS passenger car - my AMS cars were bought as part of a deal five years ago, and THEY were $350 each.

Like the man noted a long time ago, it’s hard to fly with eagles when you’re a turkey - these days, wanting ‘big’ and ‘scale’ and ‘feature-packed’ all in the same item equals big money needed.

Realism hurts the ego, and the pocket.

tac, ig & The Bagmen Boys

#68
tac said:
Dennis Paulson said:
...The real 2-4-2, named 'Lyn' after the River Lyn in Devon, ran on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. ... It is a very popular model in live steam, too, made by AccuCraft....
Thanks tac... thought so.
#69

Oh heck! To paraphrase an old cigarette slogan, “I’d rather switch than fight.” Switch the freight yard, that is. I’m afraid that I spent too many years with American Flyer S gauge, so I got used to borrowing from both O scale and HO scale to get certain items I needed. Now I have one railroad in an imaginary world, Middle Earth. So who is to say what scale my things are?

(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/davemeashey/BNGfgt02.jpg)

Heck, the equipment may have been built by men, dwarves, or hobbits, so certain dimensions will vary within the overall loading gauge. If you are into a certain scale, more power to you. The key question is: “Are you having fun?” I know I am and I hope you are as well. Nuff said. Best, David Meashey

#70

Yes Tac I know its a model of the L&B Lyn and a good one , BUT , as Bachmann Americanized it too the model that I have , there wasn"t a real one as Bachmann built it . But I still like it , maybe because the big headlight and the big coupler makes it look like a puppy ?

Sorry for the thread drift , I’ll get off at this stop .

#71

Getting this thread back to 1:20 passenger cars…

I think Chuck’s suggestion of duck billed roof cars is a good one. They’d be visually different, yet be able to run together…

#72

Agreed Bob…I’d buy 'em.

Back on the subject of price, it seems most of the feedback has unrealistic expectations/requests for low cost (down to $50.00). A lot of inference that it needs to be below $200.00 to be competitive, I disagree. Despite what has been said, AMS does not sell regularly below $200.00 (someone please point me to it if they do). I paid $150.00 direct for a “display model” from AMS, happy to do so but not the “norm”.

If the street price (not MSRP) is around $250.00 for a unique car I think they will do very well.

I think it is important enough to say again, if they just re-hash what’s out there, or enlarge a non-scale Big-Hauler, then I believe it will flop.

#73

Hi David… I wouldn’t want you to feel that you were all alone in your madness… :slight_smile:

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/caseydwarf.jpg)

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/caseyminnie.JPG)

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/sesameband.JPG)

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/passengermice.JPG)

Those gondolas did eventually get repainted…:cool:

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/daisypushes.jpg)

So did this fellow, :o donated by a well-meaning neighbour :smiley: … haven’t done his wife yet.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/choochoo_chaboogie/_forumfiles/gnomerepaint.JPG)

Of course, if you tell the other fellas here, I’ll have to deny all this! :wink:

#74

Quite honestly the best looking cars I have seen are the LGB closed vestibule cars on my display train, however Accu did these recently but in brass and mucho $$. If Bmann did these in plastic for about $200-250 they might do fairly well.

(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/vsmith/LGB%20passenger%20consist.JPG)

sorry not a great pic, these cars would look terrific behind the new C-19

#75
Bob McCown said:
...I think Chuck's suggestion of duck billed roof cars is a good one. They'd be visually different, yet be able to run together...
Agreement from here too... They'd be a great addition!
#76

It was LGB that screwed things up years ago. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:
Selling us a way out of scale Mogul running on 45mm track.
Delton 1/24 running on 45 mm track. ???
If Delton would have sold 1 1/2" track (outdoor) they would have hit a home run with the scale guys.
I went with 1:20.3 ‘cause it made that 45 mm track scale out to 3’. And I had a large enough
area for my layout. (And my buildings could be shacks, if need be. :slight_smile: )
Heaven forbid, I recently acquired a 1/32 scale GG1 with five passenger cars. My track is in scale, but the rail is too high.
And so on…
Have fun with your trains.

#77

Somewhere in Yuk they make duck-billed ends. Local chap got some on a trip over there, spliced and sliced them into his Botch or Little Greedy Bastids cars…lots of filler…but he’s got them now in service.

For folks who think they can build in a craftsman’s scale, hacksaw, styrene, bondo, and a bit of imagination should do it.

#78
Quote:
Firstly, I concur one of the posters who went to 1:20.3 and then back to 1:22.5 as the layout then looked too small.
Part of that has to do with what you're used to seeing in a given setting. Case in point, my railroad is much smaller than my dad's, but it's built around a 1:20.3 frame. I'm used to seeing the large equipment in that setting and it looks natural. Take that same 1:20.3 equipment and put it on my dad's railroad, which has always been 1:22/1:24, and it looks positively huge to me. That really stood out to me last August at an operating session at my dad's line where Pete Thornton brought over his 1:20 EBT stuff. His stuff and my stuff are largely identical since we model the same railroad, so I'm definitely used to the size of his models. But in this environment, they looked out of place to me. I doubt Pete noticed it, since he doesn't have that same familiarity with the railroad that I do. If you can't get your mind past that aesthetic difference, it will always look "wrong" to you, no matter what. Heck, even on my own railroad, some of the larger 1:20 locos look out of place. That's why I primarily run moguls and consolidations. They look proportionate to the space. My EBT mikado is just too large for the sidings. Granted when I see it in photos, it looks great, but in photos, you lose that overall context that's largely responsible for visual balance.

@ Dave, is that the same firm that makes trolley ends for Bachmann coaches?

Later,

K

#79

@ Dave, is that the same firm that makes trolley ends for Bachmann coaches?

Don’t know…but I can find out.

#80
Bob McCown said:
...I think Chuck's suggestion of duck billed roof cars is a good one.
six pages of thread... and i still do not know, what a duck billed roof is. anybody got a pic?