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Wow Bachmann retooled their Dash 8-40CW shell! ABOUT TIME!
The older model had thick handrails, thick grabs, thick stanchions, no ditch lights dummy or otherwise, no MU hoses, no air hose, and had the front handrails pilot mounted instead of deck mounted.
It's not the same quality as an Atlas (which you can get for $65-150 depending on the roadname) but it's an improvement over the old tooling.
although i'm not a fan of warbonnet at all, congrads on the engine
i had 8-40C (non W) spectrum and atlas master. spectrum is not bad at all (and dare i say probably better running...) , especially for the price, but detail is still considerably better with atlas.
Its a good looking engine, I will admit, but there must have been a major shakeup at Bachmann then for it to be that good. My history with them since the advent of the Spectrum Line has been hit or miss. The ONLY one that hasn't either rattled (GP35), buzzed (Dash 8, F-40), sat crooked on the trucks (Dash 8 again) has been my little 44 tonner. Its been a gem.
On the steam side they have been ok, cept the one consolidation whose motor literally went up in a shower of sparks. The other Consols and the Decapods have been fine
So what did I do about it? GP35 and the Dash 8's went to ebay after fixing, spent too many hours fixing the F40's but kept them, and remotored the Consolidation. The H-10-44 has been parked, awaiting noise supression.
Quality anywhere near Atlas?? I don't think so. Just as many Atlas engines on the roster, many with more miles on them than I care to remember. Still running, still quiet mechanisms. I still have my 1st Atlas engines, a pair of GP7's. I've only ever had them apart to install decoders.
Since we're bashing Bachmann..... I just sent my HHP-8 back today. I was told that it will take 6-8 weeks. They can't be TOO intelligent because I was told that if I sent it in this month, it would take 6-8 weeks to get to a repair technician from the time that it is entered into their computer, but if I sent it in in May, it would be an in-and-out in about a week since they have less repairs to do then.
Well, lets see, the engine doesn't work anyway, so if I send it in now, I'd get it in 8 weeks, which would be around late March or early April. That is still earlier than waiting until May. THE ENGINE DOESN'T WORK ANYWAY! Why would I wait until May? It's not like I can play with it in the meantime!
I sent it back due to it having a bad board and possibly a bad motor.
I was told that I should just send it in and it should be taken care of. If they want to charge me a repair fee (the engine is new) I won't buy another Bachmann product again; and I will personally tell them that. I've never had to send any engines back to Athearn, or Kato. I had to send one back to Atlas for some sort of damage or defect (I'm still not sure what can cause a brand new engine to have a crack running through the shell!) but they replaced it promptly and for free.
And to think that I've had only a few very minor problems with the standard line Bachmann's I buy. Come to think of it just about every loco I've had BIG problems with in the past 15 years have been the really well detailed expensive models. Athearn Genesis, BLI, Walthers, Proto 2000 Heritage, Bachmann Spectrum. My standard line locos (DCC OnBoard, blue box, Proto 1000/2000 low priced models) have been very good runners.
The only problem that I've had with Athearn is that they use crappy motors in their Genesis line. They like to stick so that by the time you apply enough power to overcome to resistance, the engine takes off at close to full speed.
Time and time again, Bachmann has shown that they CAN be as good as Atlas, but choose not to. Evidence of this is shown in the Acela Express, the HHP-8s, the E60CPs, the improved Blue Box line, the Bachmann China U36C, the Bachmann China Schnabel Car, the Bachmann China diesel locomotives.... etc. They make models with even better detail than Atlas, for other countries such as China, but they half-ass the ones made for the US.
Oh boy, another quality control story. Well it isn't limited to Bachman. I just sent my 1 month old $550 MTH Challenger in for repair, decoder fried after a derail and shorted the system. Guess what they told me? We can have it back to you in 5-6 weeks.
I've only ever had them apart to install decoders.
I did have a few nice things to say. I just can't get my head around the idea that they could be as good as Atlas. 