Bachmann vs. Competition

[gsjcas]

Here is a good one for all you Professional Modelers out there......I am relatively new to all of this....I have built an empire and am having a ball... I am in the Northeastern part of the country, and Bachmann is not rated Highly in some of the dealers(N Scale) around here.....Now let me set the record straight.......I really like them, (Bachmann)....I have bought their products, also dealt with their management team at the home office, They are great and have treated me very well. I HAVE NO COMPLAINT WITH THIS MANUFACTURER, OR THEIR PRODUCTS. Why do dealers push Kato, Lifelike, virtually most others over Bachmann..? I don't get it........I think their stuff is great.....Anyone care to jump on this one..??
How about The Bachmann.....Looking forward to anyone's comments.....

A Newbie.....and Grateful Bachmann customer.....Trainman

[Franz T]

In the past, Bachmann was notorious for poor quality and worse quality control. To be sure, LifeLike (now Walthers) wasn't much better. An improvement of great magnitude took place about 10-15 years ago; around the time Atlas had Kato make their diesels for them. Current production Bachmann Spectrum is right up there in quality. The Standard line is slowly catching up. Since you are new, please keep in mind that most locomotives made 15-20 years ago can be described in two words: mostly junk. So avoid ebay with their "Rare" "Vintage" stuff. To learn about N-scale engines, try this website: http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/locos.html
HTH
Franz T

[southern pacific]

An n-scale engine is alot like a guitar. A guitar might be designed well, built well with quality materials and assembled properly, but, all it takes is one string to be out of tune and the whole thing doesn't work right. And, to be out of tune, it only takes a slight turn of the adjuster. Alot of early "heritage" n-scale engines came from the factory with the equivalent of a string out of tune. The problem of course, is that it might take hours to find and fix the problem compared to the guitar and most people wouldn't  do this, hence the spotty reputation. I have a 1973 Bachmann all original (except for paint) F-9 that runs well, but only after a thorough tune-up. Getting started in the PROPER scale now is alot easier than the old days. Welcome.

[brokemoto]

I will second Spookshow's website.  If you want to know anything about any N scale locomotive, it is there.

Kato, for years has been the standard by which many have measured all of the others.  It had that reputation for good reason.  Many will credit the Con-Cor hudson and PA as being the first decently operating N scale locomotives.  Kato built the original power chassis on both.  Many also state that the OLD Atlas RS-3 was the locomotive that proved that N scale was legitimate.  It had a chassis built by Kato.  While I have never been terribly impressed by the last, I still operate the first two.

While the Atlas FA was the first to have a flywheel, Kato pioneered the split-frame, flywheel drive with which we are all familiar to-day.

Years back, Life-Like sold T-O-Y-S.  When they came out with the Chinese-manufactured plastic frame locomotives, it was a remarkable step up, especially when they put first, the BL-2 shell onto one and finally the FA-2 shell.  The last had excellent detail and would pull every piece of rolling stock that you owned up a fifty per-cent grade.  LL had finally arrived.  When they added flywheels, they began to challenge Kato seriously, because you could get eighty-five per-cent of the Kato performance from a LL E-unit or PA at sixty-five per-cent of the Kato price.  Finally, LL succeeded in getting a Chinese knock-off of the Japanese split frame that would equal it in performance at a much lower price.

Where does Bachmann fit in?  The answer lies in the SPECTRUM line.  While the first runs of the SPECTRUM
2-8-0 had their problems, most of us saw a winner,  here.  It is still try-before-you-buy, but it out pulls the Kato mikado (even when the latter has the traction tyre retrofit; something that it lacked when the SPECTRUM 2-8-0 hit the market), had a better pick-up system on the locomotive (thus, it stalled less frequently than the first runs of the Kato 2-8-2) and the tender had the same needlepoint axle pick-up that did the Kato, but because the 2-8-0 could pull , it was allright to weight the tender properly for optimum electrical contact.  Add to this that the user did not have to worry about launching handrail stanchions on the SPECTRUM (they were no problem for me on the Kato, but many complained about it) and that it could creep every bit as well as could the Kato, and all this with NO flywheels.

The other one that impressed me about B-personn was the doodlebug.  Despite its having only one powered truck, it will pull SIX Rivarossi HW passenger cars, STILL on their RR trucks up a one per-cent grade at thirty SMPH.  NO prototype doodlebug could do that.  Add to that its good operating characteristics and you have a fine model.

Next came the Standard Line Fairbanks-Morse roadswitcher.  It may be Standard Line, but it runs every bit as well as the Atlas roadswitchers.  My one gripe with it is the difficulty of MT conversion.

Finally, there is the USRA heavy 4-8-2.  Totally redesigned and the first winner of an average sized steam locomotive to appear in some time.

To be sure, there have been some problems with the
B-manns (the 2-6-6-2 being the most notorious), but even Kato has not been perfect nor have the others.  There are electrical problems with Kato's new 4-8-4.  IM has had problems with its tunnel motors.  There have been complaints about the Atlas Shay.  The LL 0-8-0 is a REAL disappointment and the 2-8-4, while it runs smoothly, it will not pull.  The C-C 2-10-2 has had legions of problems, although C-C's Gallopping Goose is a REAL gem.

How does Bachpersonn stack up against the others?  I would not hesitate to purchase its products.

[delljohnb]

In the past, Bachmann was known as a manufacturer of sets.  Generally these were of the quality that one would give to a child at Christmas.  HOWEVER...Bachmann has been working very hard recently at improving the engineering of their products.  I have a number of Bachmann products and I have found the Spectrum line to be similar in quality to some of the more expensive manufacturers.

If you are looking for a quality item at a reasonable price, I would suggest giving the Spectrum line serious consideration.

[Inder]

I have purchased 5 Athearn engines 2 had to go back.

I have purchased 4 Atlas engines 2 had to go back.

I have purchased 6 Kato engines 0 had to go back.

I have purchased about 20 Bachmann Spectrum engines 5 had to go back.

In my book Kato rates the best but it almost seems like Spectrum is 2nd.

Not by what I read from seasoned modelers but from my fleet, you can rest assure that if you buy Spectrum you are buying as good as engine as the competitors. 

I only have to 4-8-4 northerners from their standard line.  One of them is from the white cardboard box generation which actually runs better than the other one which is the latets generation in the clear plastic box.  They're both poor runners and it's a pick-up issue.  I like them a lot so when I get a chance I will convert their tenders to pick up as well. 
It's funny but spookshow's rating describes it spot on.  The cardboard box generation is actually the best runner. 

Stay away from their standard line unless you like to tinker with stuff is what I read in the forums.