IF YOU WERE BACHMANN'S CFO

[shayman]

 
Hi all
I would have to go with two engines.
     1st. A three truck Shay or a Nice class B two truck Shay around 55 tons.
     2nd. Up dated 2-6-0, that engine needs a over haul bad with a raised up coal load to help with sound system, and be DCC ready.



 Happy RR.
 shayman

[Ken]

 My two cents worth.

 I would look at a OF2-6-2
 Tender version of a Maine 2-6-2
 Tank version Puffing Billy
  Slide or Piston Valve options.

  Extension of front frame add 4wheel truck, piston valve cylinders and you have the Beacon Rly's 4-6-2 Baldwin (orginal 2ft gauge from South Africa).
  Similar front end, loose the rear truck for Baldwin 4-6-0s operating in
South America on the  2½ft EFOM
 
 Loose one front, one rear truck and have a chassis for an articulated ala
Mautua with their 2-6-6-2 from two 2-6-2 chassis's . Piston valves and choice of tender or tank version


  Loose both rear trucks turn one chassis around and seperate them
to allow a Kitson or Beyer Garratt body to be added.


 Ken
  GWN

[BIG BEAR]

        I truly believe they need to finish off the geared loco's. Give 'em the Heisler. 
        I personally am sooooo glad the 4-4-0 is on it's way. Now if I could just get a Gandy Dancer, AKA  Hand car, to go with my few moguls & trolley's, I'll be in Model train Heaven.

                 Barry
       

[Royce Wilson]

The gandy dancer,"hand car" can be got from Wiesman models. he has remade the old Durango Press hand car in On3. the hand car is white metal,fun to build and can be gauged to On30 very easy. and if you are modeling the early 20th century ,he also has the On3 Fairmont gasoline speeder.it is white metal and a remake of the old Period Minitures kit.
If you want to keep it in the 19th century,Wiesman has also remade the old Period Minatures velocipide,now that is a fun kit to build!

I do not work for Wiesman and no I am not related to him. these are very nice kits and everyone in On30 needs to check them out.
We owe Wiesman a big thanks for bringing out a lot of old kits for the hobby. most of them he has updated. like the RGS plow flanger 02 and the Westside Lumber snow plow now have one piece plow blades so you do not have to be a master modeler .
                                                                  Royce

[#94]

I like all the current production. At this time I do not plan to purchase anything else. But, if some one built a Class A Climax: vertical boiler 4 wheel, vertical boiler 2 truck, or T-boiler 2 truck,then I could become enthusiastic again. Yes, these are too small and too simple but they would also be too fun.

[BIG BEAR]

     Royce,
    I've been looking at the velocipede from Weisman for some time now , a short spur from the doctor's bldg., to the main line, would be a great place to display it. I'll need to mount a black bag on the back though.
    I really want the Gandy Dancer to be powered, and used as a track Inspection vehicle.
         
                   Barry

[rdftrain]

Shays sell

[Woody Elmore]

If I recall there were 60 cm gauge rail lines built during WW I to bring supplies to the front. The engines were dinky but might do for an On30 prototype. Isn't 60 cm close to two feet?

Unfortunately, the Bachmann CEO has to think about what sells, not what a few modelers want.

There are lots of great prototypes out there.

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

On second thought, IF I were the CFO, I would be asking why Bachmann doesn't take a lesson from the kitbashers [and from Baldwin, for that matter], and re-use existing components to create new locos.  For example, they could use the power unit and maybe an extended boiler from the old 2-6-0 to create a new 4-6-0, similar to this:



The upside is that these older components have already been designed and engineered, so they would [theoretically] be less expensive to build, adding to the profit margin.  I say theoretically, because I don't know everything about this type of manufacturing, and the fact that Bachmann hasn't done this yet may indicate that it's not really that great of an idea.

My other question as CFO would be, why doesn't Bachmann do more "Silver Series" level locos in On30, like the 2-6-0, with the obvious addition of DCC?  These seem to sell at about 1/2 the price of the Spectrum level locos, due to more plastic parts, and that lower price can mean more sales, especially to the collector types.

Still, based on the number of requests, and Bachmann's history, I would expect a Spectrum Heisler very soon.  As CFO, I would back that decision, even though I'm not into geared locos personally.

[Royce Wilson]

That RGS tenwheeler would be hard to pass up,man that looks nice!
                                                                   Royce

[azflyer2001]

If I were the CEO the next locomotive would defiantly be a 4-6-0. Not just any 4-6-0 but the SPNG #9, the Slim Princess. I think the Southern Pacific name would appeal to some standard gauge modelers making the jump to narrow gauge because it's a familiar name that operated up to 1960 and still exists today.

I know all of the other locomotives Bachmann has produced were Baldwin catalog models but some are a little stange for my taste . A prototypically correct 4-6-0 would be far more popular because it appeals to both prototype and freelanced modelers. It also makes a great sister locomotive to the 2-8-0. Seems like a no brainier to me.


Travis in Mesa


Here's a little information from the http://www.girr.org/girr/relics/spng/spng.html web site.

Locomotive No. 9, a 4-6-0, was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, November 1909 for the Nevada-Calif.-Oregon Railway as there No. 9. It was acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad, September 1, 1929, rebuilt and put in service on the Owens Valley line Feb. 21 1930 as the S P No. 9. It was put on stand-by service when the diesel electric locomotive was put in service, Oct. 1954, was retired when the railroad was abandoned. The locomotive was donated to the City of Bishop and moved to Laws for display, April 30, 1960.

Locomotive Data

    * Builder's Number 34035
    * Cylinders are 16" in diameter with a 20" stroke
    * Drive wheels are 44" in diameter
    * Boiler pressure was 180 pounds
    * Tractive effort of 17,800 pounds
    * Weighs 87,150 pounds
    * Tender has a capacity of 1,800 gals. oil and 3,000 gals. water

The engine is displayed at the head of a short train of wood cars. The cab is open to visitors and the bell works fine. Every kid that climbed in the cab rings the bell.

Most SP engines ran on oil as both wood and coal are rather scarce in the eastern Sierra. SP used the lowest grade of oil that they could get and these locos smoked heavily even when fired correctly.

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

Great link, and great suggestion.  Thanks AZ, I'm with you 100%.

[Dusten Barefoot]

Now this a a ten-wheeler, this locomotive would be a great 4-6-0 for kits and stuff for the RGS & Nevada enigne, all you need are different tenders, and stacks, also cabs, but that is it.
This engine does have 3 windows on the cab, one is sealed up, also the color scheme was: black boiler jacket and domes, green head lamp, cab w/black roof and green tender, red only on the doors and outside windows. NO BRASS.

[Royce Wilson]

I think what a lot of folks would like is a updated box car that has removeable ladders,doors and such. so the doors can be hung to the right if you want with minimal trouble.
                                                            Royce

[ksivils]

I vote for a 24-25 foot steel box car based on an EBT design.  It would go well with the EBT 2-bay hoppers already in the Bachmann line.

Deerfield River Models is producing an EBT caboose kit so a steel EBT styled box would let you run trains that look like an EBT freight.