No Buyer's Remorse

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Switch Track

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I bought an Athearn Genesis F-7A today. I am far more an aficionado of steam locomotives, but diversity can't hurt. This is the first diesel locomotive I have purchased. This little locomotive runs exceptionally well.

As I delve into this as a hobby, I think I am going to concentrate on buying fewer of better quality products. I am very pleased with my only Genesis product. I did buy a BLI steam locomotive that I have yet to receive. My next big purchase will be a Paragon 2 Hudson.

Finally, I have three high-end steam locomotives of another manufacturer, and I have been less that pleased with them. I will not buy another product from this manufacturer.



Adios,

ST
 
ST, I find it's better to have fewer but higher quality engines. What are the three engines you don't like and why? There's no problem with mentioning brand names and knowing your issues can help us either offer you a fix or warn us away from a bad purchase.
 
It's hard to go wrong with BLI. They have made some errors, and have sold some faulty engines, but they do stand behind their product, and the ones I have, five steamers, are all excellent runners and nicely detailed for the money. I like the hybrid concept, and expect BLI to put the boots to the other manufacturers in terms of detail with Paragon 2. Maybe not the P2K Heritage series....but they will probably match them this time around.

If you want really good affordable steam, the PCM/BLI engines are excellent. I have only one, the N&W Y6b, but it is a marvelous engine, arguably king in my stable. A close second is the mighty Pennsy J1 2-10-4 from their first Paragon line...heavy, nicely detailed, a solid runner. It is out-pulled only by the Y, and matched only by my metal Lionel Challenger.

-Crandell
 


UP2CSX,

I have three Bachmann Spectrum steam locomotives. Two are brand new; both were purchased just before Christmas. The 2-10-2 DCC never did work. It's at Bachmann now. The 4-8-2 Heavy Mountain had a defect that prevented the driving wheels from moving. It finally did work but not before bending mechanism that drives the wheels. It is runs slow and it whines. Finally, the older 4-8-2 I have whines and its tender derails at higher speeds, not that it's capable of producing more than a slight draft.

I did buy a BLI Blueline 4-8-4 ATSF. I haven't gotten it yet, but I'd bet it'll be superior to my other steam locomotives. I will buy one more steam locomotive, a Paragon2 Hudson as soon as they're available.


Take care,

ST
 
Switch Track said:
Cjcrescent,


It's a tiny small arm that attaches to a driver on the left side.

Thanks,

ST
Click to expand...

That's a small part of the valve gear. Easily straightened out with a small pair of needle nose pliers and at worse that and a new rivet.

Check the wires coming out of the tender of the other 4-8-2. I bet the wires drag along the track and actually pick up the tender, making it derail. Push the wires back into the tender until you have just enough to reach the loco.

Most of the problems that you have described, are typical of all steamers, straight out of the box, (except for the non-runner.) Steamers all need some "tweaking" to get to run their best, whether they are plastic, diecast, or even brass.
 
ST

I also Have a Bachman 4-8-2 and it performs as you say. It is nicely detailed and all but the motor is not up to par. I installed a soundtrax sound decoder in it and the chuff rate is faster then the locos movement when it pulls any grade. It also wines a little when pulling the grades. Cant even doublehead with it as it wont pull its share of the weight.

I have a Blueline and Broadway Heavy Mike. they are far better than the Bachman

Trent
 
Sorry to hear your problems with Bachmann.
I got a Spectrum 4-8-2 Heavy Mountain this past summer and have not had any problems at all. It ran great right out of the box.
 


I'll second the Spectrum Heavy Mountain. I bought one a few years ago and installed a sound decoder. It runs just as well as the older Trix Big Boy that I put sound in.
 
ST, the tender drawbar and wire connections back to the tender of Bachmann DCC equipped steam locomotives have always been an issue. The wires tend to either hang too low, as CJ wrote, or they are too high and press on the drawbar, lifting the tender in curves and causing derailments. If you just look closely at what's happening when you get the derailments, you should see which problem is causing it. My 2-8-0 had the same problem and it took about a minute of rearranging the wires and drawbar to make things right.

Don't give up on Bachmann. They produce some great steam engines and they have a lifetime warranty. If there's a problem, Bachmann will fix or replace the engine forever, which is a lot more than I can say for any other manufacturer. I've heard of some 4-8-2 pulling and speed problems that were apparently caused by a bad batch of motors. I'd call Bachmann and describe the issue and see if they won't replace that motor for you.

As CJ wrote, almost every steam engine you buy, whether from Bachmann, Athearn, or BLI, will require a little tuning. BLI has also put out a few dogs. Bachmann is certainly not up to the level of detail or quality that most BLI products are but you can get two or sometimes three decent Bachmann engines for the price of one BLI or Paragon 2. Unless I had an unlimited budget, I wouldn't cross Bachmann off my list if I was modeling the steam era and need to build a roster.
 
UP2CSX said:
ST,
Don't give up on Bachmann. They produce some great steam engines and they have a lifetime warranty. If there's a problem, Bachmann will fix or replace the engine forever, which is a lot more than I can say for any other manufacturer. budget.... I wouldn't cross Bachmann off my list if I was modeling the steam era and need to build a roster.
Click to expand...

Alas, my friend, the new 2-10-2 Bachman DCC steamer I got for Christmas has a one year warranty now. That warranty also replaces any previous warranty in its language. :mad:
I'll have to evaluate future purchases of Bachman like any other train manufacturer now. I'm having a problem programing a decoder number other that the default 03.
It will not keep me from running my other 6 Bachman engines, either. I think they make the best-value Consolidations on today's market.
Mikey
 
ST, there is wire available through some HS that is very flexible and lends itself well to that sort of application. You might consider replacing the stiffer wires you have now. In addition, you might consider putting some weight in the tender. It's a short wheel base and probably doesn't have much mass to it.
 
Mikey, I'm sorry to hear that if it's true. Their website at http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/service.php still indicates a limited lifetime warranty on engines and a flat $15 repair or replace for N and HO engines over a year old. If I bought something based on the presumably reliable information on thier website, I think I'd have case to get the limited lifetime warranty work done.
 
lmackattack said:
ST

I also Have a Bachman 4-8-2 and it performs as you say. It is nicely detailed and all but the motor is not up to par. I installed a soundtrax sound decoder in it and the chuff rate is faster then the locos movement when it pulls any grade. It also wines a little when pulling the grades. Cant even doublehead with it as it wont pull its share of the weight.

I have a Blueline and Broadway Heavy Mike. they are far better than the Bachman

Trent
Click to expand...

I have a new Spectrum J Class 4-8-4 in which a friend installed a regular Tsunami. The engine has issues, to say the least. It binds on some curves, and at other times it will sit without revolutions of the drivers, but chuff like mad. My friend has it back and maintains that he has the problems fixed. I hope so, but right now I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about Bachmann quality control. None of my five BLI engines ever gave me such problems.
 
good info guys

Im not knocking the spectrum as it looks good and the soundtraxx decoder brings it to life. But after compairing it to my 2 BLI Its easy to see whitch one performs smoother and maintains speed with a good train. I might just call Bacman to see if they will send out just a new motor. This is the 2nd spectrum I own and both have weak motor issues. I also just bought a IHC hudson. its there premier line and besides the lack of the details in the crosshead/siderods the engine is smooth and does not lack power from the motor. it does not slow when working hard. I figured that IHC was going to be simmilar to how the Bachman runs but so far it pulls better? I think we all have our prioritys and expectations on how a enger should perform. a MFG cant make everyone happy!! LOL

Trent
 
I have one Spectrum steam locomotive - a 2-6-6-2 Mallet that has always ran well. Added DCC to it right off the bat. It was my first articulated loco. Can't complain about it.
I've got a couple of IHC locomotives - and older 4-8-2 that had DCC added - was not DCC ready but it runs well also. The 4-6-2 is a Gold series and it runs very well with a Tsumani DCC/sound decoder. It starts moving at very low throttle. The only glitch I have is with the tender picking one switch and derailing. It's still pretty new and I'm still trying to figure out whether it's the tender of the switch.

I've bought 4 Genesis steam locos and I like them a lot. 2 Big Boys, 1 Challenger and 1 FEF-3. Biggest complaint with them is that it takes a lot more throttle to get them moving than my other locos. Love the sound and how smooth they run.
 
I loved that Genesis SF F-7 so much that I just got back with another Genesis SF F-7, this one being the complete A/B set. My hobby shop dealer gave me a great deal on it. Both of these are freight locomotives. But I like them so much that I am going to buy the SF F-7 passenger set, both A & B, when my hobby shop dealer gets one.


Happy Railroading,

ST
 


Well I went overboard on ebay tonight. First I won an auction that included 30 boxes of woodland scenics people,animals,misc equipment. then I won the 2nd auction for another 30 boxes LOL .I think I spent $260 just on figures :o hope I dident step on anyones toes here? those figures retail.

that was not the end.. I found 4 proto2000 IC hopper cars for about $40 shipped so that seamed good. I spent $300 withing 10 mins on ebay. I need to stop this madness !!!:eek:
 
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