Large Scale Central

Bachmann Invites Input on Spectrum Passenger Cars!

General Discussion
#101
Kevin Strong said:
@ Dave, is that the same firm that makes trolley ends for Bachmann coaches?

Later,

K


Light Rail Products. GR advertiser. Word of warning from the guy who put some in…they’re a painintheass to do.

#102
Pete Thornton said:
Quote:
fine scale passenger trucks are $75.00 on a good day
Actually, Geoof (Ringle) and I both use ordinary/old Bachmann passenger car trucks on our coaches. That #20 in the photo I posted has them. Any time I see a Bachmann coach for sale cheap I buy it for the trucks - $25 last time.

Unfortunately, they ain’t much like a Carter Bros swing-bolster. But I think Bachmann could easily make some new plastic trucks - or use their old ones to keep the price down. The fancy Accu trucks are overkill, and don’t work very well.


Accucraft makes hard rolling wheel set to be sure. I really love the Bachmann Spectrum caboose trucks…Low resistance and power pick-up too.

I confess I am a “truck snob”, I like the fine-scale sets. :slight_smile:

#103
Korm Kormsen said:
well, if Bachmann really wants to know, what people think - here my two cents:

a coach for 150$s at this time in recession? sounds like “let them eat cake” when they got no bread.
newqida proved it. even without an organized chain of outlets they sold as good as every car or coach they exported.
cheap, simple stuff. but at an acceptable minimum quality. compatible with more advanced and expensive things like metal wheels.
and CHEAP!!
we (as a group) in the forums are not, and never will be content with anything.
but most of us are able to “super” existing stuff. (the boxcar and caboose, that come with the big hauler prove it. run by thousands, kitbashed by hundreds.

if my last name were Polk, i would think very hard, if i would want to sell some dozens of high end coaches, or if i would want to sell a thousand coaches for less than a hundred each.


I understand what you are saying, but…

I bought 4 Newqida passenger cars for $80.00 total…and spent $50.00 each to make them acceptable by adding metal wheels and LGB trucks. They still need paint. I will never buy another.

I bought 1 Bachmann Spectrum car, now some 30+ AMS/Bachmann cars later I am looking for more.

My opinion only, you cannot fault Bachmann for selling “high-end” cars any more than you can fault BMW for not making Yugos. Both have their place in the market.

Korm Kormsen said:
...we (as a group) in the forums are not, and never will be content with anything...
Wise words indeed! :D
#104

Quote: “I bought 4 Newqida passenger cars for $80.00 total…and spent $50.00 each to make them acceptable by adding metal wheels and LGB trucks.”

Mark,
your choice to spend the extra dollars on wheels and trucks. For many this is not a prerequisite. It seems that many are saying less detail and lower dollars and let us do upgrades should we choose. I doubt that this would happen in that the Spectrum range is not going to be diluted with cut rice low detail items. My take is stand back and hold your breath as the price will not be pretty, even if the coaches are absolutely superb.

   I have sold enough largescale items to realise that most want a Rolex for the price of a Timex!!!!!!!
#105

Maybe they fired the guy who designed the last Bach Passenger Cars. Hopefully, these would not require 27 screws and a soldering iron to get the roof off.

#106

I hate to say it, but we might be all talking about nothing. The moderator just asked what people would be willing to pay. Which means they are a loooong way from ever producing a spectrum passenger car. I would say at least 3 years.

But it does give me an insite on what other people are thinking about the hobby.

#107
Tim Brien said:
Quote: "I bought 4 Newqida passenger cars for $80.00 total...and spent $50.00 each to make them acceptable by adding metal wheels and LGB trucks."

Mark,
your choice to spend the extra dollars on wheels and trucks. For many this is not a prerequisite. It seems that many are saying less detail and lower dollars and let us do upgrades should we choose. I doubt that this would happen in that the Spectrum range is not going to be diluted with cut rice low detail items. My take is stand back and hold your breath as the price will not be pretty, even if the coaches are absolutely superb.

   I have sold enough largescale items to realise that most want a Rolex for the price of a Timex!!!!!!!</blockquote>

I’m really liking my Lil Big Haulers so fr…:smiley: :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

#108
Jake Smith said:
But it does give me an insite on what other people are thinking about the hobby.
Do I fit into the other people category?
#109

No. Just ‘Other’.

#110

That hurts my feelings…:frowning:

#111

on the pick it looks more, like your feathers hurting… :wink:

#112
Quote:
The moderator just asked what people would be willing to pay
Jake, That wasn't "just" asked - that was the first (and only) post by the 'moderator', back on Oct 1.

And I fail to see why it will take 3 years to get them out? At least 1 year, but they aren’t Accucraft.

I am suspecting that they are a bit stumped for prototypes. The US “market” (that’s us) gets upset when they produce an out-of-gauge outside frame 2-8-0 (that fits the rest of the world fine) or a fictitious 2-6-6-2. What can they make in Fn3 that has wide appeal ? The Forney would have been great but they over-engineered it and priced it out of the market (and we won’t talk about the wrong gauge again.) An EBT Mikado is a big beast, and has been done. (And proved how very few people actually model EBT.) What else is there - they’ve done the 4-4-0 and 2-6-0 that were the most common NG engines? (That’s a rhetorical question - if you want to discuss it, lets start a new thread.)

#113

Mebbe we should start hammerin’ Acucraft instead for a baggage, Parlor, etc.
The price will prolly be less than what Bachmann will come up with.
At least Accu has the roofs, trucks and bottoms already made.

#114
John Bouck said:
Mebbe we should start hammerin' Acucraft instead for a baggage, Parlor, etc. The price will prolly be less than what Bachmann will come up with. At least Accu has the roofs, trucks and bottoms already made.
Excellent point, I am shocked they have not done so. They even have ready-made boxes and foam inserts. Perhaps the economy is preventing even this small investment in tooling?
#115

Our chances of getting another style of car out of Accucraft, though, is minimal. I’d suspect they’d just do different sides to fit what they’ve already got. Yeah, we’ve got “replacement” sides from Rio Grande UK and The GAL Line, but you’re adding the cost of those sides to the already high cost of the car in the first place. I think something perhaps a little shorter (35’ instead of 38’), maybe a touch lower with a different style roof will allow modelers to have some variety in their passenger car roster. Variety was the hallmark of narrow gauge passenger trains. The San Juan gets all the press, but it was most decidedly the exception in narrow gauge trains. For starters, most narrow gauge passenger trains seldom exceeded 4 cars (if that) unless there was a special occasion. They were also usually cobbled together from equipment from different carbuilders or second-hand from various railroads. The EBT had a fairly large passenger roster, and only 4 of their cars were “identical.” The rest were one- or two-of-a-kind.

Later,

K

#116

Kevin makes a good point and also why a cheaper option would work for Bachmann. I have Accucraft passenger cars and I am less inclinded to cut them up, not only because of their price, but because I’m nota as comfortable working in brass. On the other hand if Bachmann made a plastic model, I would be more comfortable tearing into that one.

#117

The response pattern to this opportunity to possibly influence what Bachmann might produce in 1:20 is very interesting:

There are 8 pages with 115 posts here on LSC, but only 1½ pages with 21 posts on the Bachmann Forum!

I guess we would rather talk and argue among ourselves about how the manufacturers don’t support what we want rather than taking the opportunity to talk to the manufacturers!

That certainly makes it easier to justify why we aren’t buying what they don’t make!!

Happy RRing,

Jerry

#118

Look at the signal to noise ratio in this thread vs the bachmann thread. Most of the points about what to build have been expressed in both threads, but the Bachmann one doesnt have all the extra “stuff”.

#119
Bob McCown said:
Look at the signal to noise ratio in this thread vs the bachmann thread. Most of the points about what to build have been expressed in both threads, but the Bachmann one doesnt have all the extra "stuff".
The Bachmann thread has plenty of extra stuff. The question asked was, what would you be willing to pay for Spectrum coaches. Not what do you want ;)

I didn’t reply there, as I’m not a member. I’m probably not the only one.
Ralph

#120
Bob McCown said:
Look at the signal to noise ratio in this thread vs the bachmann thread. Most of the points about what to build have been expressed in both threads, but the Bachmann one doesnt have all the extra "stuff".
Bob, surely you realize that it is the noise that makes this place special. Each time you try to reduce the noise to signal ratio factor, you diminish the value of this "publick house."

As you said in you post about the forums…

Bob McCown said:
Since LSC's inception almost five years ago, I've considered chat and the forums as a "virtual living room" or, more accurately, a "Publick House", with me being the bartender, with an absentee owner. Imagine you've come in, sat down at the bar, and started talking about trains. People may or may not join your conversation, as they see fit. If you start being obnoxious, some people may join, but you'll get lots of stares from other people in the pub. I may even ask you to keep it down, but I rarely kick anyone out.
I don't post on Bachmann or Aristocraft, because neither has the "extra 'stuff.'" If you insist on taking away the "extra stuff" from here, too...