Bachmann GP7...worth it?


ICG/SOU

ICG/SOU

HO & O (3-rail) trainman
In this month's MR magazine, they had a review on the Bachmann GP7. Since the Athearn Genesis GP7s are a while away (the Paducah built GP8s and GP10s are what I'm looking for), I'm looking for a donor loco and shell to make a chopped nose GP8.

Things I like: dimensions are supposed to be good, can motor with dual flywheels, LEDs for lights, no dynamic brake blister, etc.

Things I'm not liking: haven't had good experience with Bachmann (just had trainset locos years ago)

The onboard decoder/board will go. If the fuel tank is like they say, I'll look to putting sound in it (Tsunami).

Thanks in advance.
 
Well imma be honset. Most of my F40PH's are Bachmann. 3 of them the last run and I am very impress with them compare to my Walthers F40PH's. 394 has the dual mode decoder and I have no problem with it on the club lay-out. (has that's the only place I run so far on DCC)

The shell is really easy for customizing and kit-bashing.
I using the 3 older units I have for NCPU's.

So with my experiance its worth it but IMHO
 
Is Athearn actually doing the GP10 version?? I hope so, especially in IC orange and white!!! Those would be AWESOME!! I wouldn't mind if Athearn would do the RTR GP38-2's in that scheme too, instead of the slate gray and orange!!!
 
I haven't seen any close-up myself, but somebody mentioned that the Bachmann GP7 model doesn't have grabirons - not even marker spots to guide you to drill holes for installing your own.:confused: This would be a major dealbreaker for me...
 
I noted from the article that the grab irons aren't there, but since the ones are absent on the front end that I will chop anyway, it didn't bother me. I figure there will be half as many to install when I'd make it a low-nose.

At my local hobby shop, the DCC guy who helps me there had two of those F40PHs by Bachmann, and they were very nice. He had them rigged up for sound (Tsunami) as well as working strobes on top (makes me want to do that to my Kato). I know that Bachmann can be hit or miss in quality, and according to him, getting parts sometimes stinks.

rock, as for the Athearn doing the GP10, I'm not sure. I know in their posting on doing the GP7/GP9 in Genesis, they're going to go with SP versions (that'll probably help pay for the tooling), and then look at the others. Even though I'm a IC/ICG fan, I think GP8s, GP10s and converted GP7s and GP9s would be worth the time, because so many shortlines run/ran them (MidSouth, CAGY, MDS, MSDR, M&B, and others). Since Athearn has been doing a lot of road-specific prototypes, for them to do some good Paducah builts would be a nice change of pace.

They could do them in the orange and white IC (pre-GM&O), orange and white ICG, gray and orange ICG, pumpkin ICG, and black and white IC (Deathstar). The paint is rather simple, two colors at most. The devil will be in the extra parts (winterization hatch, Horst air filter, nose headlights, 4 exhaust pipes, etc.)
 
In my warped opinion, I like these new Bachmann GP7's due to the fact that they HAVE no grabirons or any other details on the nose/end. That is a detail that a lot of times varies big time between eras and railroads, so it makes it easier to add your own, or use it as a base for kitbashing. The one I track tested ran great and didn't look half bad, disregarding the lack of details, of course. I like the Athearn Blomberg truck sideframes better, but still not too bad. If I needed to do some kitbashing to a GP7, I'd pick one up and start with the Bachmann.
 
If you take the time to read the entire MR review; not only does the reviewer cover both the negatives - lack of details - and positives the performance, especially after tweaking the CVs. I have one, which I will probably finish with a new decoder with sound and details that will date the engine for the PRR in 1964 - Trainphone antennas, pre re-numbering large numbers, mu hoses, proper horns etc.

Out of the box, it pretty well runs like described in the review.

Unless you pay full mark - up, it is a bargain also worth a little tweaking and detailing.
 
If there was some sort of template available, I could easily drill the holes for the grabs. I'm just not sure I can get them all perfectly lined up on both axis'. I certainly would like to have them for their smooth running quality.
 
I don't think I'd go that route.

There are still Proto Gp7's around, at swap meets and ebay.
Every Bachmann diesel I have owned has eventually needed remotoring or has had gearing issues. And every one has had noise issues. Even with some Spectrum engines, I've found Bachmann's customer service spotty at best. Even when 1 motor failed! :eek: That lifetime warranty is a joke!:eek: No dimples for grab irons you say? Fine, let me see ya get them on straight!! LOL!

That, coupled with the detail issues make me wanna just chop up a better shell with a better drive and drop in the correct Tsunami and be done with it. The only issue I've ever encountered with a P2K unit was cracked axles. Cost $1.65 to fix and 15 minutes of my time.
In fact, I have 3 of them ready to go under the knife soon!:eek: Chop noses, details galore and Tsunami's.
 
I have a pair of the new Bachman GP7's, one in Chessie belongs to my wife and I have what used to be a Clinchfield unit, that is now a chop nose GP7u that is custom painted for the local shortline. Both of my GP7s run better than a pair of old Atlas/Kato Erie Lackawana units we have at the local club, smooth, quiet, direction lights although the LEDS are amber in color instead of golden white (easily changed). I put Miniatronics Yeglow 3mm LED's in both engines. Bachmann decoders tend to have a bit of a "hum" at low voltages when running but its not enough to change the decoder right now. The fuel tank is precast for a sound speaker if you remove the plastic cover and the cover itself is dimpled for drilling for sound on the inside. You have to grind down the weight for low nosing, but I did this easily in 5 min or less on my bench grinder with cleanup/debur with my dremel tool. Model Power is supposed to be doing GP10's in thier metal train line in the near future. I highly recommend the Bachmann GP7, but with any product made in China, test run it before you leave the store if at all possible. We test run every one, only one bad unit (PRR Shark) out of many GP7's and Sharks the shop has sold. We test them using a MRC Tech 6 controler and check out both DC mode and DCC mode. I plan to buy atleast 1 more GP7 to low nose. P.S. The dynamic hatch just lifts off the model, press fit, so you can buy any model and remove the dynamic hatch if you dont want it. Thats great for the Clinchfield as they had EMD Geeps with and without dynamics. The lack of details is actualy a godsend for the custom detailer/painter. The Proto and Atlas new runs are beautifull, but try and strip one down to custom paint, its not fun. Alas some will just bash Bachmann for thier years of selling us junk and poor quality control. Cheers Mike T
 
CSX_road_slug said:
If there was some sort of template available, I could easily drill the holes for the grabs. I'm just not sure I can get them all perfectly lined up on both axis'. I certainly would like to have them for their smooth running quality.
Click to expand...

Go to Walthers and type in 176-4500.

Is this what your looking for? Just picked one up from my LHS last week, seem to work pretty good :D
 
I've seen the immediate "write off" of Bachmann based on their well deserved reputation for selling junk for a couple of decades. I, too, was hesitant to buy into their new Spectrum line, but I just had to have a 2-8-0, and they were the only ones that had them at a reasonable price. So I purchased one, and now have 4 of their steamers. They are very well detailed and run beautifully. Based on this, I wouldn't hesitate to buy their GP7. Bummer on the details....

As for their warranty, they will, 9 out of 10 times, send you a brand new engine to replace the faulty one. Can't beat that....
 
I have two of the new Bachmann GP-7's. I bought them at Springfield this year for $45.00 each. They ran very well out of the box and run even better now. I am a big supporter of the new Bachmanns with DCC. I have about twelve of them. Yes they have less detail and a simpler decoder. A Proto 2000 GP-7 will probably cost you about $70.00 and you have to add a $20.00 decoder (minimum). That's twice the Bachmanns price. For that difference you can add grab irons, and just to set the record straight many more Proto 2000 models have had gear failures than Bachmann. They are a great deal if you really look at them.
 
The Bachmann one is a customizers engine, no details to remove ect. Since nobody is doing a scale hood width chop nose Geep, this is an excellent starting point. Pic of my chop nose in a few min. Mike
 
They are not in the Spectrum line up, but what I think used to be the Plus series, spectrum level drives with less detail. They call it the DCC Onboard series, already have a basic DCC decoder installed, can motor and directional LED headlights. The shell doesnt have any hand grabs, molded or seperatly applied. Thus making it very easy for kit bashing, chop nosing ect. The modeler then can choose to add thier favorite details, grabs, beacons ect. Bachmann has been slowly and quietly upgrading thier standard products as well. From my observations, engines like the 0-6-0 and 2-6-0 have been getting can motor drives with a 'wormflywheel" installed in them. Very similar to the Bachmann Branchlines stuff they produce for the UK market. There are still some "toy" items in the line up, good fodder for children not quite ready for the better stuff. But the GP7's are in the DCC Onboard series and run excellent. Also in this series are the GP30's, high hood GP50's, Baldwin Sharks ect. But word to the wise, buy it from somewhere you can test run it first, the Chinese still havent learned the word "quality control" as of yet. We havent had many issues with Bachmann stuff at the LHS, maybe 1-2 items per 25-50 sold compared to almost 30% failure/issues rate on BLI high doller stuff. So its not just Bachmann, its a Chinese thing. Go check one out, but do more than just stare at it in the box, try running it, if it runs crappy, try a second one before passing on the model. I wish I had a digital video cam, I would take some of my low nose running tonight at the local model RR club layout. Mike
 
Ok, here are some pics, one of my wife's stock Chessie GP7, they do have a very nice 3 chime horn on the short hood roof, numberboards have numbers but are not lighted. Next is a pic of my custom chop nose GP7u done up for the local shortline the Central Railroad of Indianapolis, operating out of Kokomo during the late 80's and early 90's before getting bought out by RailAmerica. I chopped the nose, grinding enough of the internal weight to clear the new nose, I used the front windshield/headlight/numberboards from a Athearn GP38-2 cab and filled it to match the roof line. I changed both engines over to Yelglow golden white LEDs from the Bachmann yellow ones. Enjoy. Mike
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I think this a great move on the part of Bachmann. They are competing with the Atlas Trainman line, with the Spectrum mechanism but less added detail. Having it already set up for sound, with a decent, if not great, DCC decoder, for a street price of about $70, is a heck of a deal. The GP-7 is a great model to leave the details up to the modeler, since it was used by so many railroads, with so many variations in details like grabs, dynamic brakes, and things like antennas and warning lights. To me, this is kind of the 2010 version of the Athearn BB GP-7 without having to saw and sand off details in the wrong place. This should be a great starting point for modelers of smaller lines and more exotic detail variations.
 
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