"North Pole" Train Set

[trainman2]

I have an unusual train set. It consists of an Annie loco (#25) with factory applied holiday decorations around the top of the large "balloon" smoke stack the and on the cab roof. The valve gear is the simplified type. The colors are the same as on the Wonderland Flyer loco - red & green. Included is a white gondola with red trim and red caboose with "Merry Christmas" printed on the sides. I do not have the box. Does anyone know when this was produced and how many were made?
Thanks!

[Loco Bill Canelos]

I suspect that you may have a box in which Items have been switched around between it and another box.

There were no Christmas decorated Annies with the number 25, There is a 4-6-0 Big hauler engine from the White Christmas Express set with that number (Set 90023).   

90023*   NA   White Christmas Express   1994   1998   Freight   25   Ver3   Green Gon with Xmas gifts    Bobber Cab w/sleigh & Reindeer   

Set 90037 is very close to your description, but the loco is number 12 and while not an Annie it does have the version 5 Chassis.   If you look at the current Bachmann Catalog it is shown on Page 156

90037*   NP&S   Night Before Christmas   1999   2011+   Freight   12   Ver 5   Gon NP&S #30647 Candy Cane   Bob Cab NP&S Merry Xmas

If you bought this on Ebay or at a swap meet the seller may have put the older locomotive in the newer box and sold it to you, keeping the newer better loco for himself.  This is just a guess on my part. 

If the locomotive you have has plastic side rods it is not an Annie, and if you turn your locomotive upside down and it has a smooth bottom plate without a plastic plug for lubrication on it it is definitely the older lesser quality locomotive.

Without further information I am unable to be absolutely sure about what you have!!

If you have further info post it and we will try to narrow it down further.

Bill

[trainman2]

Thanks for your reply, Bill. The loco #25 is definitely an Annie - and is clearly marked 25 on each side of the cab. The number plate on the smoke box door sports a 25!! it is definitely not a re-paint and has metal drive/connecting rods and and all of the typical extra piping and metal details (bell, whistle, etc.) that all Annies have. What is very unusual are the factory applied  decorations on the top side of the stack and cab roof - definitely not decals, but printed. The tender has metal railings and a working back-up light. I bought the set in a cardboard carton - no paper-work. The loco appears to have not been run very much. The white gon is very different also - sports red trim as well as a red plastic coupler-lift bar. I will try to post pics tomorrow.
Surely someone out there must have heard of the set!! How about it, Mr. Bachmann?
Ed

[Loco Bill Canelos]

I will definitely look forward to the pictures.  Please send pictures of the cars as well.  Will be interested in how you aquired it, and who you bought it from. Also  what is the lettering on the tender, Is it North Pole & Southern?

I have seen items in unmarked individual boxes before, which were never in the catalog, but which were part of a set.   They are believed to be excess runs of individual parts of a set.  I have never seen it done with a set.

Bachmann has been know to dump items to three of r four vendors.   I have rechecked my records and find no #25 Annie.  If you got it from a dealer near Bachmann in Philly, you may have a one of a kind item.    

The only Annie in my database with the number is the RGS version out in 2002.  

The Bachmann often painted  prototypes for sets that never were made, maybe you got one!! hopefully he will chime in on this!

In the meantime I love a good mystery!!!

[trainman2]

I love a mystery also!
The loco and cars were purchased on eBay - arrived bubble-wrapped in a plain cardboard box. I will send you pics via e-mail. They are too large for this board.
Ed

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Ed Thanks for the pics.


After reviewing the pics I can tell you that this is not a Bachmann standard set.  No Set made by Bachmann ever had the name "North Pole" with the gold snowflake design.  Not the loco. the gondola, or the  caboose.   You either have a specially painted set made by a designer for Bachamnn which was never adopted, or you have a set that was altered by a modeler who has custom painting an decal making capability who wanted a one of a kind train set.  Who knows maybe the set will come out  in the fall as a new item!!!!!!


The caboose is the same as the one in the 90037  set, except that the caboose you have has the Gold Snowflakes and the "North Pole"  instead of the words "north pole and southern. The roof line edge on yours is gold while the one in the set is red.


The white gondola in your set looks exactly like the one in the 90037 Set except for the red North Pole & the gold Snow flake The NP&S 30647 number is the same on both cars.


The locomotive is an Annie.   There were no Christmas Annies with the number 25.  Your locomotive looks like the one in the special run set "wonderland Flyer" Bachamnn made for Boscov's Department stores except that it had the number 1225. The same set was later rerun as a Bachmann Catalog item. The only difference is that the loco you have has the gold #25 bracketed by the snow flakes and the gold "North Pole" and snowflakes on the tender.  The Bow on the cab roof definitely looks like a decal of some sort.  Your has the red Baloon stack with the decorations while the one in the set has a straight stack.

I am curious to know if your Ebay Seller was from California, I do know a retired Bachamnn executive that lives there now.  He used to show me some of the different things Bachamnn had that were never made.   

I will try to find out more.   

[the Bach-man]

Dear All,
I believe it's a set I did for Frontgate.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Wade Colyer]

Hi Biill:

The Frontgate freight set from 2009 was their number 36464. The picture in their ad showed the regular NP&S 12 but I thought the actual set might be a special run.

Wade

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Trainman, Wade, Bach Man,

Thanks, Mystery solved.   I was totally fooled as I thought The Frontgate set was just Set 90037  in a frontgate package,  Their picture of 12 sure fooled me and I never investigated beyond that point.

Wade do you have any other pictures of that set?   

A big Thanks to Trainman for sharing his set iinfo with us.

Trainman, Is there any lettering or numbers on the box that you got?

I will add this to the historical database on non Bachman Branded items.

[scottychaos]

Here are the photos of the locomotive and cars in question..
photos are from Ed "Trainman2"..who agreed to let Bill forward them to me, so they could be posted!
thanks all..
Scot

[trainman2]

It looks like I have an unusual set. I am not a Big Hauler collector, though I have 7 G scale Spectrum locos. I would be willing to trade for another Sectrum unit. I have several needs. I hope I am not violating any board rules with this post. If so, please advise
Thanks!

[trainman2]

I decided to list this equipment on eBay (Bachmann Christmas Annie 4-6-0 Loco - "North Pole") rather than ship to my permanent home in Colorado. I am temporarily living in IL while my wife undergoes cancer treatment. Thank you all for your research on this set!