What era are the yellow Bachmann boxes?

[DaveMFnC]

I bought an old Bachmann Mikado 2-8-2 which is the 2-8-0 with a trailing truck basically. It has a can motor but the 1990 diagram on hoseeker.net shows a pancake motor, so this is obviously a later model. What puzzles me is that it came in a YELLOW box that says "Bachmann HO" on the upper left hand corner and has pictures of rolling stock on both sides and a picture of a Reading 2-8-0 pulling a freight consist on the back, with a list of Locos and rolling stock in text form. This is not a plus model as it is in a regular box. Can the Bach-man or someone tell me what era these boxes were from? I geatly appreciate it.

~Dave Mfn' C

[OldTimer]

Seems to me that I recall seeing Bachmann locomotives in either yellow boxes or with the name "Bachmann" in yellow during the mid 80's. 

[Jim Banner]

The can motor with a large, brass worm that also functions as a flywheel is the hallmark of a Bachmann Plus Consolidation.  As far as I know, they were never sold as Mikados even though they had the boss behind the last drivers for attaching the trailing truck.  Because the shell was almost identical to that used on the earlier Consolidation with a pancake motor, replacing the old chassis with a new Plus chassis was a popular conversion, particularly if the shell had been modified, custom painted, or nicely weathered.  Anyone who had upgraded the shell of a pancake motor Mikado would likely transfer the trailing truck as well.

If the shell seems stock with no changes, then you may be looking at a Bachmann Plus Consolidation that someone has converted to a Bachmann Plus Mikado by the simple addition of a trailing truck.

I seem to recall that the Bachmann Plus Consolidations came in a grey box with a soft foam insert.  They were nice boxes and often went on to other uses.  The seller you bought your locomotive from may not have had the correct box and just used any box that the locomotive fit in, or possibly he had a box from a pancake motor unit and used that.

Jim

[DaveMFnC]

This is a genuine box for the mikado. It says P# 54512 HO MIKADO 2-8-2 WITH SMOKE B&O. My theory is that someone bought this loco....had it break at some point, and got a newer mechanism when they sent it in for repair.