After the NNGC Bachmann left their new Sprectrum 1:20.3 2-6-0 locomotives on the SJR&P for a video which Mike will produce in a couple of weeks.
In the past couple of days I have been running the locomotives and taking some photos.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23959355@N05/albums/72157670575046053
Stan
Most attractive locomotives, Stan. Performance good???
It ran well for me. I had the pleasure of running it at Stan’s last week.
Later,
K
Sharp looking engines!
Can’t wait for the review , wink .wink …nod… nod
The Bachmann Sprectrum 2-6-0 series has 4 unique locomotives, each locomotive also has a combine and coach painted to match the locomotive.
The passenger cars are repaints of their 1:22-24 passenger cars and are stunning. Our railroad is a 1:20.3 railroad so these cars are visitors only.
The locomotives are essentially new. True many of the key molds such as the cab and boiler are the same but this is a much different locomotive from their previous 2-6-0 release many years ago.
Three of the new Sprectrum locomotives, Glenbrook, Raton, and Reveille are models of as-built by Bauldwin in the 1870s. The 4th is a model of Ward Kimball’s Emma Nevada.
A lot of research went into each locomotive. Two were relatively easy as both the Emma Nevada and Glenbrook exist. The Glenbrook has only recently been restored and runs at the Nevada State railroad Museum, The Emma Nevada is currently being restored at the Southern California Railway Museum. This allowed very accurate models including the 4 nudes on the Emma Nevada.
All the these 2-6-0 were freight locomotives. An interesting tidbit is that Bauldwin had two paint schemes. A simpler one for freight locomotives and a more ornate one for passenger locomotives. For some unknown reason the sales rep west of Salt Lake City only sold the passenger scheme so both the Glenbrook and the Reveille are painted in the passenger scheme. The whole purpose of the Glenbrook was to carry loads of firewood and lumber from Lake Tahoe to the top of the ridge where a flume would take the cargo down the mountain so it is kinda strange but fun that it had the passenger scheme.
Stan
Kevin Strong said:
It ran well for me. I had the pleasure of running it at Stan’s last week.
Later,
K
I have too second what Kevin said I ran one between 3 to 4 hrs.
Richard
They looked mighty nice sitting at Stan’s turntable.
Well I am not at all happy about this. These are very nice offerings. I had better start saving my pennies.
One of my favourites from Bachmann. I picked an earlier one up in the UK 8 years ago for $140 brand new and boxed from a dealer getting out of large scale. Was just passing by on my rounds. Would love to get the D&RG new version. What have they changed ?
It has an all new drive (brass gears), new electronics, including new track pick-ups in the tender, optical chuff triggers, and the plug-and-play socket in the tender beneath the coal/wood load.
Later,
K
Kevin or Stan, or…
Two questions:
Is this locomotive the last “Spectrum 1:20” being produced by Bachmann?
Compared to a LGB Mogul, is this one larger or smaller? Any chance for a comparative side-by-side photo of the two?
Thanks,
Wendell
Mr.Hanks;
They are two much different locomotives. The LGB Mogul is supposed to be 1:22.5 scale, while the B’mann one is 1:20.3. The LGB Mogul was a later model. The two only really have the wheel arrangement in common.
The B’mann locomotive, looks “Relatively” good with the B’mann, and probably LGB rolling stock (Passenger cars), (1:22.5), because the prototype B’mann locomotive was a rather small locomotive in real life, while the LGB Mogul was a bit larger.
Do your research, and you can find out this information, and along with the provided pictures, here; make up your mind.
The B’mann C19, is another locomotive that (Except for purists), looks OK with 1:22.5 equipment, in spite of it being 1:20.3 scale. There was a C19 in one of the shots…
As far as the question, on whether this is the last “Spectrum” 1:20.3 locomotive to be produced by Bachmann…I would speculate, that they will decide, by how sales of this latest model go…it seems to be a slowly dying market…and they are in business to make money.
Fred,
Thanks for your response.
Research here in So. California, by actually seeing and comparing is limited to two remaining shops that may have in stock this loco. A call gave the response, “We can order one”. Yes, I can carry my LGB Mogul into the other of the two and ask to see a size comparison when they “get one”.
I think I have a conclusion: My guess is this model is a revised version of what I have seen in the Bachmann catalogues. - new drive with same body shell. Unfortunately, it is not larger than a LGB Mogul – which is what I would want. Accurate?
Marketing garden railroading in Southern California – the land of the longest growing season – is virtually defunct. Zero efforts to sell yard animation in So. California yards in garden magazines and photos showing garden RRs displayed in nurseries.
Its not larger? Its longer. But it won’t dwarf the LGB Mogul, as stated, they are from 2 different eras.
Kevin Strong said:
It has an all new drive (brass gears), new electronics, including new track pick-ups in the tender, optical chuff triggers, and the plug-and-play socket in the tender beneath the coal/wood load.
Thanks for the information Kevin, and Stan, the pictures. Sounds good.
I’ll be keeping my eye on a certain Ebay trader for now. He’s got a couple on there but they are a bit pricey for now what with the $/£ exchange rate and the newness of this product.
As said before Bachmann will produce in 1:20.3 if the market is there. Looks like so long as there are plausible and marketable re-liveries of existing products, with a modicum of re-tooling, then the will is there. I suppose one needs to look at the base chassis of locos and rolling stock and see what can be adapted economically with new superstructures. I wonder what the minimum run lengths are now with current production methods ? The Chinese are getting quite adept with quick cure resin molding. Max.
“Larger?”
Depends on which way you want to look at things. The Bachmann 2-6-0 is built to a larger scale than the LGB mogul, however, it’s a model of a lighter prototype than the LGB mogul’s prototype, thus the two models are very similar in size.
In practical terms, the Bachmann mogul is longer than the LGB, having unequal spacing between the drivera due to its being an older wood-burning design where the firebox sits between the drivers. LGB and Bachmann moguls are the same overall width, though the Bachmann mogul looks narrower due to its tapered wagon-top boiler and narrower running boards. Also, the Bachmann tender is lower and narrower than the LGB tender, giving it a smaller appearance. Bachmann mogul is taller than the LGB mogul at the stack and over the tops of the domes, but again, the narrower boiler gives the illusion that the LGB mogul is larger.
The Bachmann mogul is the locomotive which is responsible for me converting from 1:24 to 1:20.3 modeling. When I saw it, it had such a presence about it; a visual mass that despite it being similar in overall size to the LGB mogul just–to my eyes–dwarfed it and the 1:22 and 1:24 models I had been running.
Later,
K
Max Winter said:
One of my favourites from Bachmann. I picked an earlier one up in the UK 8 years ago for $140 brand new and boxed from a dealer getting out of large scale. Was just passing by on my rounds. Would love to get the D&RG new version. What have they changed ?
Max
Great photo.
From your photo you can see that the first generation Bachman 2-6-0 and the new 2-6-0 are models of the same locomotive. A lot has changed since the first generation was first produced and Bachmann spend a lot of time and effort to bring the locomotive up to date,
Lets start with the tender.
The most visible change is the coal and wood loads which are much larger to allow for RC and DCC boards to be plugged into the plug and play socket in the tender. I am particularity fond of the wood load which is the most realistic I have seen on any model from any manufacturer.
While that is the most visible change most of the molds have been changed.
The trucks are totally new and are metal. Gone are the old pickups which are replaced with axle pickup bearings like was done in the C-19.
The rear coupler is now a body mount with long shank to go around tight curves. Because of the new coaches the locomotive is shipped with a low coupler installed and a high coupler is included in the extra parts bag.
The brackets holding the rear step are also now metal.
Speakers in Bachmann locomotives in the past have only been 1W which often required replacement for any serious sound system. The 2-6-0 has a more powerful speaker and works well with all the sound systems I have tried, including Phoenix
The tender shell also now has a rain guard to protect the electronics in the tender. The Tuesday before the NNGC we had a mini session for the Narrow Gauge Downunder group during the rain and I can report that the rain guard work well.
Stan
Wendell Hanks said:
Kevin or Stan, or…
Two questions:
Is this locomotive the last “Spectrum 1:20” being produced by Bachmann?
Compared to a LGB Mogul, is this one larger or smaller? Any chance for a comparative side-by-side photo of the two?
Thanks,
Wendell
Wendell
I expect Bachmann will continue to produce 1:20.3 models as market conditions allow.
Below is a side by side photo of the new Bachmann 2-6-0 next to an LGB 2-6-0. For this photo the rear of both tenders was lined up.
The LGB 2-6-0 with plow is a little longer then the Bachmann 2-6-0. They are about the same height. The widest part of both locomotives is the cylinders.
The LGB loco is about 4 1/8" wide, the Bachmann loco is about 4 1/2" wide.
The smokestack of the LGB loco with spark arrester is 3/4" taller then the Bachmann stack
Hope that Helps
Stan