Upgraded Russian Decopod

[ebtnut]

Well, the good news is the re-issue of the Decapod.  The bad news is the MSRP of $549.00.  Wonder if the tariff war has anything to do with the price jump?

[Irbricksceo]

my god, i know Bach Steamers are usually well below MSRP but still, at that price it likely wont be found below 350. at least for a while.

I just had the last of my older russians replaced by Bach Service actualy, failed in a way i couldnt repair, they are sending a 4-6-2, and now the re-issue is coming. figures.

I'm tempted but... on the other hand, i know a LHS near me with 2 older DCC Ready russians priced at 95 and 115 respectively, and you can get 2 half decent decoders for like 40-50 bucks. i wonder if they fixed any of the originals issues to make it worth considering a new run one instead

[Trainman203]

The bright side is that, being Spectrum, they'll probably still have separate piping.  Plus there's real sound instead of Sound Value. They finally listened to the model railroaders.  

The tariff war is not Bachmann's fault.  I'm looking forward to a Frisco 1624 on my layout in the near future.

[JDLX]

Re: tariff war....as of now there are no tariffs on model railroad products.  They are however almost certainly included in this last batch of imports from China threatened with tariffs if the current negotiations break down.  That being said, the trade war has driven up raw material costs for everyone, so that almost certainly plays some role. 

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

[rogertra]

None of my ten year old Spectrums run anymore.  Motors spin, on two of them and the third one the wires between plug and motor broke away from the plug.

Oh what to do as they have all been detailed, new stem dome, new sandbox, new stack, modified teners etc..   If I send them back to Bachmann, I wont get them back and what I will get back won't be Spectrum.  :-(
Yes, what to do?

Roger T.

[jward]

None of my ten year old Spectrums run anymore.  Motors spin, on two of them and the third one the wires between plug and motor broke away from the plug.

Oh what to do as they have all been detailed, new stem dome, new sandbox, new stack, modified teners etc..   If I send them back to Bachmann, I wont get them back and what I will get back won't be Spectrum.  :-(
Yes, what to do?

Roger T.



Park them on an unused track in the yard and run diesels. Just like the real railroads did.

[Trainman203]

Buy new/used ones on eBay for the mechanisms and swap shells.

[Irbricksceo]

None of my ten year old Spectrums run anymore.  Motors spin, on two of them and the third one the wires between plug and motor broke away from the plug.

Oh what to do as they have all been detailed, new stem dome, new sandbox, new stack, modified teners etc..   If I send them back to Bachmann, I wont get them back and what I will get back won't be Spectrum.  :-(
Yes, what to do?

Roger T.

I know what you mean. I sent my last Russian back recently and recieved a usra Pacific instead. It's a nice engine, good runner. But I looks bland next to my Connies and sy Mike. Bachmann has definitely taken several steps back in the detailing dept, but prices continue to climb.

[Trainman203]

I sent a Richmond 4-4-0 back once and got a Jupiter 4-4-0 in return.  Their response was, it's still a 4-4-0, right? They finally got me another Richmond but it took some doing.  On the other hand, much later I bought a mikado whose drivers didn't all sit square and level on the track, such that with any motion she started doing a hootchie-kootchie dance up and down and side to side. I'd already had someone install DCC/Sound in the tender.  After a phone call, I sent only the engine back and two weeks later got a good one back.  It was all a very polite and attentive response.

All of this, though, involved engines still in production.  It was basically exchanges, not repairs.

[oldline2]

I still have 4 of the original Decs. One has a drive belt issue slipping. The others are still kicking cars around. I hot wired Tsunamis in them when received. Maybe I prefer brass engines to all the issues I read about BLI, Athearn and the Bachmann plastic engines. By the time I add DCC/sound & paint them I don't have as much invested as many or the current and future plastic ones and they run and run and run.

I've really not had many issues with Spectrum choochoo's and like all I have.

Just a thought!
oldline2

[Trainman203]

If you run DC, brass steam engines are a beautiful and viable option.  Getting them modified to run on DCC appears to be a root canal from all I've read.  DCC/Sound  Spectrum steam engines are the bee's knees.  The DCC decapod's flaw appears to have mostly been wildly inaccurate motor performance decoder settings, that shouldn't have been difficult to be correct at the outset.  Once I figured the right settings out, mine ran and still run like champs.

[oldline2]

Brass isn't all that difficult to DCC. Just like anything else it has to have the motor isolated which, again, isn't all that difficult. Newer brass already has the tender floor drilled for a speaker while older stuff needs to be drilled, which again, isn't difficult. Newer brass often has a sound cam installed and aftermarket cams aren't hard to install either. The NEW Tsunami 2 has eliminated the cam wiper wire for some reason (they claim it automatically adjusts the chuffs per driver revolution which the youtube videos I've seen don't prove right to me). TCS has ability to install an accurate wiper or, orlike the T2,  shoot from the hip and do the American Flyer/Lionel chuff once in a while thing.

Anyway, try not to prolong the myth that installing DCC in brass is nuclear physics. Just basic modeling skills needed.

In a couple real hobby shops where I worked I've had many people who asked us to install KD's on an Athearn Blue Box car as well as assemble those cars so I guess for that kind of modeler I guess doing anything to a brass engine would seem like a true science project.

oldline2

[Trainman203]

I'm that kind of modeler.😂😂😂. I learned from experience not to fool much with anything.  It usually ends up broken or ruined.   💥😱