Spectrum Passenger Cars

[Chris9017]

Those would be nice.

We really need some Spectrum Passenger cars.

[grippa]

Just seen this thread although it is a bit old.
I have a C19, K27 and other locos. I have a selection of Big hauler, LGB and AMS coaches.
My layout has some extremely heavy gradients (there was honestly no other way of building it without really mucking up the garden etc)

So I have found that pulling the AMS coaches up the slope is just not on unless I want to always run a Loco and one coach.
So I have been motorising some Bachmann Colorado and Southern big hauler coaches and running them with some LGB gold vestibule coaches. All are in the process of being reliveried and/or re-labelled and numbered into D&RGW green.

I have seen the comments about possible 1:20.3 versions (better detailed and stronger ) of the Big Hauler Jackson Sharpe (with some differences between the models like closed vestibule, duck-billed, RPO etc.and this makes a lot of sense as long as Bachmann can produce them at a profit from a price which makes them really desirable. For folk who have a thick wallet, the AMS ones will already be an answer. For the rest of us the street price level must really be attractive.
It would be pretty easy for Bachmann to make a base model that could be changed into closed vestibules (at one or both ends), different rooves, different sides etc so that the customer could alter the base to suit themselves using a range of customising 'add-ons'. A small range of 'ready-mades' available to purchase could mirror the range already available in the Big Hauler suite and that would give Bachmann the 'core' purchase volume that they need to make it all economic.

What is an attractive street price? Well if the quality as well as detail is really upped then a street price of $150 -$200 (£100-£135) would be attractive enough to really get in the custom. They would not knock out the custom for the 1:22.5 range as the 1:20.3 models would be just too big for that market. This price would really knock Accucraft/AMS as the quality/price level would easily compete.

Would I buy them after spending all the time on converting the selection of 1:22.5 kit....well, as long as there is the range of different models and/or they have the customisation system to make different coaches, yes ..most definitely...but I would have to sell all the converted ones first! 

[Chris9017]

The problem with the AMS coaches are the fact that, THEY ARE TOO DARN HEAVY.  Too heavy on a 4-4-0 or 2-6-0.   Neither engine would be able to pull 4 cars on a layout, 1 or 2 might be the max because of the heavy brass used in their coaches.

[Kevin Strong]

The problem with the AMS coaches are the fact that, THEY ARE TOO DARN HEAVY.  Too heavy on a 4-4-0 or 2-6-0.   Neither engine would be able to pull 4 cars on a layout, 1 or 2 might be the max because of the heavy brass used in their coaches.

Are you referring to the brass or plastic ones? The plastic ones aren't light, but they're not heavy, either. Their biggest drawback is that the electrical pick-ups on the trucks are tantamount to working brakes! I set one of their coaches on a 4% grade and it didn't move. Remove the electrical pick-ups, and they roll much more easily.

If their weight does pose a problem for you, there's a 1/16" or so metal plate that makes up the floor of the car. You can remove that and replace it with wood or styrene.

Historical note: The Eureka (a Baldwin 8-18C nearly identical to the prototype for Bachmann's 4-4-0) develops a "whopping" 6,000 pounds tractive effort. That's not much at all. Colorado & Southern #9, a 1880s vintage 2-6-0 has a tractive effort of around 16,000 pounds. When it was running on the Georgetown Loop, it struggled to carry 5 loaded, converted freight cars worth of passengers up the 4%. The 4-4-0 would have--on a good day--mustered two passenger cars. When the Eureka was running on the C&TS and D&S, it pulled two, maybe three cars. That's why these locos were quickly replaced on the western railroads. That wheel arrangement fared much better on eastern and mid-western railroads where the grades were not nearly as steep.

By comparison, the "large" locos like the iconic Ks, EBT's mikados, mid-sized Shays and Climaxes, etc. mustered tractive efforts ranging from around 25,000 to 37,000 pounds. And even there, the C&TS has to doublehead two K-36s to pull a typical passenger train up the 4%.

Later,

K

[Chris9017]

The brass AMS coaches of course, and Bachmann's plastic coaches wouldn't be light, but would be no where near as heavy as AMS brass coaches.