You make two Baldwin Modern 4-4-0s for the L&N, #7, DCC and #144, DCC + sound. I have just taken delivery of Spectrum 80127 L&N 4-4-0 #144. This comes with various alternate parts, though I note that it does not have the oil bunker that used to be present with the Baldwin models.

I also have a book "Louisville & Nashville Steam Locomotives" by Richard E Prince. This has 4 pages, 13 photos of L&N 4-4-0s, all taken in the 1920s except #143 (twin sister to #144) in 1939 and #7 in 1947. All thirteen locos have the low tender as in your models, but only one (L&N #2 in 1922) has the "low" coal load as on your model. The other twelve all have a raised bunker on the tender top for the coal, which on all in the 1920s is clearly made of stout planks but on #143 and #7 might be steel sheet. Indeed the photo of #7 shows no coal-heap over-topping the bunker walls and it really looks like an oil bunker, and unlike any of the others it has the L & N lettering actually on the bunker side which to my mind confirms it is steel, but as the photo is at South Louisville why would #7 be converted to oil (it still operated on the Cumberland and Manchester from whom the L&N inherited #7).  I emphasis that these bunkers all sit on the tender top, within the pre-existing flared side-walls, and do not involve an extension of or alteration to the tender side walls on the models.

So I am wondering whether for future releases you might provide such an option for your 4-4-0s, rather as you provide the oil bunker option, which could be fitted by simply levering off the standard coal moulding and putting the bunker in its place using the existing pin-holes, much as the oil bunker is fitted. I suspect this increased bunker capacity was fairly common on railroads still operating small-tendered steamers from the 1920s onwards, and it will help model railroaders vary their stock.

Meanwhile I will be getting #7 shortly, so I need to sort out the coal or oil question, if anyone knows. Fortunately I have a spare oil bunker from the undec model, as I got four of the undec DCC + sound Baldwins from my favourite Brooklyn emporium when they were clearing them at $149.99 each. I also got one each of the B&O Baldwins, #1400 and #1401, so am pleased to see that a B&O 4-6-0 with small tender is emerging shortly. I also seem by default to be drifting towards Appalachia, which probably provides the best all-round scenic modelling as whilst the Rockies and the Rio Grande are spectacular they are also a might inhospitable!

Best regards,
Bill.

Hmmm. I am pleased to see the 4-6-0 back, but....

The opportunity fumbled - Texas & Pacific #316 - This is a preserved loco and so a welcome addition. The problem? Bachmann have two 4-6-0 models in their stable, one with 52" drivers, the other with 63" drivers. The real #316 has 63" drivers. So Bachmann use the model with 52" drivers - why? Its not as if the real loco is not there to check. Texas State Railroad confirm their #316 as being built by Cooke in 1901. In fact from a batch of 42 delivered by Cooke in 1901-2, to T&P class D9 built between 1900-6 by Rogers and Cooke, and the most numerous single class of 4-6-0 on the T&P. Driver Dia 63". And there are plenty of photos of #316 online.

There is one good point - it comes DCC ready so we don't have to pay for then throw away a limited spec chip to replace it with the real deal. Does it come with a speaker pre-fitted? That was something Bachmann promised for all new high-end DCC ready locos some years ago.

And the opportunity missed. I see a range of schemes for major RRs which may or may not have had Baldwin 4-6-0s with 52" drivers. But sadly none for the SAL, which really did have some Baldwin 4-6-0s with small drivers, e.g. SAL #689 from a class of four built 1907-10 for the Charlotte Harbor & Northern (56" drivers), and several others built by Burnham Williams for the Georgia Florida & Alabama, variously with 50" or 56" drivers, e.g. SAL #684 (50") or #686 (56"), and by various ALCo constituents for other small lines absorbed into the SAL.

This miss seems especially strange considering the extensive coverage of the SAL on the Baldwin and Richmond 4-4-0 series.

And there are no undecorated models.

I have mentioned these SAL small-wheeled 4-6-0s several times before in these pages in the context of future runs of the 4-6-0. Maybe next time? Or maybe we will see a "high-boiler" 4-6-0 for the SAL next year? They had several of those too - even some with spot-on 63" drivers and built by Burnham Williams / Baldwin.

One can but wish!
Bill.

Hi, I have a test track which comprises two parallel straight tracks with four Peco set-track turnouts arranged as a loop to test new engines. My Spectrum 2-8-0s always derail on running round the loop. I had assumed that this was because of the four driving axles, but today I accidentally send a Spectrum light mountain round the loop and it managed it perfectly. So I sent it back and forth several times, all without problems. I then carefully observed a 2-8-0 on the loop and found that the derailment is because the front pony cannot swing out far enough before the wheels hit the inside of the cylinders. This problem does not happen with the mountain because the cylinders are between the front and rear wheels of the leading truck when it swings. I am thinking that I can enable my 2-8-0s to go where they have never gone before if I file-off some of the inside of the cylinders. Before putting knife to plastic I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and has any advice to offer?

Thanks,
Bill.

To round this off with a conclusion, I have ordered a pair of Bachmann #81651 Spectrum N Scale DCC Ready USRA 4-8-2 Light Mountain Painted Unlettered which Trainworld have at $89.99, not least because this might be the last chance to get these without a decoder inside. I will provide a separate note on the light mountain in a new thread.

Thanks for your help,
Bill.

Thanks for all your comments. I have decided that the 4-8-4 will not do, as detail like the molded-on handrails will not compare well with my existing Spectrum RI 2-8-0, and the loco general appearance is too far from the RI 4-8-4, as is the 8-axle tender. The Spectrum 4-8-2s and 2-10-2 are also off-accuracy for the RI and lack the bulk of the RI prototypes (I am looking at the excellent "Rock Island Steam Power" by Krambeck / Edson / Farrell as my reference), but the level of detail is excellent and both get good ratings from Spookshow for performance so I think it is a matter of decaling one or both types. The unlettered light mountain looks a lot cheaper than the 2-10-2 !!! Actually in the course of searching web catalogs I have found the Kato RI F2A-F2A sets so I might need to buy one of those first!

Thanks,
Bill.

I should have added that an alternative for about the same price is an unlettered Spectrum #81651 Mountain which I know is an excellent model and could letter for the RI. Did Bachmann ever issue the 4-8-2 for the Rock Island?

Bill.

Hi, I am wondering about the Bachmann #58158 N Scale 4-8-4 Northern for the Rock Island. Am I right in thinking this is not a Spectrum loco?

I have seen one for $93 new, which seems a bargain but I am thinking of giving it a miss as the detail looks poor in the photo I can see and the model looks very much an approximation of the RI class it purports to represent.

The reason I am considering it at all is that the 4-8-4 did become the premier RI fast freight loco and I don't know of any other model. It has some of the character of the RI late 4-8-4s, e.g. box-pok wheels.

Customer reviews suggest that the front truck is inadequately loaded and does not track well, tending to derail on transitions between straights and curves, and that the coupling rods can dis-assemble themselves after a few hours running.

Can anyone recommend this loco, e.g. on grounds of performance / reliability / durability? Or that the appearance is better in the flesh than in online photos (I will have to buy mail-order and cannot inspect one first).

Grateful for advice,
Thanks,
Bill.

Hi Len, I type short messages direct onto the board and longer ones that take more time in Word, then cut and paste. Maybe that is it - Word is adding something? I have typed this direct, so will see how the dash and question mark come out. However, even the messages created in word look OK on preview, it is only after they are posted that the characters change. ' " -

Bill.

You will gather from my previous reply that the message board is unable to cope with quotation marks, apostrophes, or dashes. One wonders why not in the 21st Century, maybe there is a deep technical reason. I am using a classic Windows keyboard.

Bill.

Hi Len, thanks for your info. I have done further reading and found the following:

On the Fallen Flags website I found C&NW #833. There is no supporting information but #833 looks very like the Baldwin Bachmann have modeled, i.e. the domes are much more the right type of antiquated rather than the smooth domes of the ALCos, though neither this nor the ALCos have their domes in the same places as the model. It also has a shorter tender than the USRA medium coal.

Perhaps more importantly, I have found that the tender logo I had thought to be a C&NW badge and hence related to the merger era is not. I just got a book ?Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway 1880-1940 Photo Archive?. On page 47 is a photo of a system map dated 1895 which bears the logo. It is not quite as the later C&NW version, it has ?North Western? across the bar, and ?Line? below, but ?The? above where the C&NW put ?Chicago?. Apparently this early logo was adopted by four railroads as joint branding to suggest to customers a larger integrated system. It says on the map:

?These roads, advertised as ?The North-Western Line,? have a total of 7,966 miles, as follows:
Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha R?y - 1,492
Chicago & North-Western Railway ? 5,066
Sioux City & Pacific Railroad ? 107
Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad ? 1.301

On page 98 of the book the logo appears on the window of the Minneapolis city ticket office in 1912 with the general wording, i.e. ?The? not ?Chicago?. I don?t know if this was a joint ticket office. On page 84 it appears painted on the ground at Emerson, Nebraska, circa 1905, next to C.StP.M.& O. and "EMERSON"

In the book the logo only appears on the tenders of class K1 4-6-0 locos, presumably because they were passenger locos. The photos show that these ALCo 4-6-0s were delivered painted with C.St.P.M.&.O. on the cab and large numerals on the tenders, and that the number migrated to the cab and the logo appeared on the tender later, perhaps in the late 1930s, at least on K1 class #230 and #244, though those photos are not dated. There is also a photo of K1 #235 with the cab lettering / numerals as on the Bachmann models and the tender apparently blank, unless it is hidden by dirt. The numbers Bachmann have used are #236 (HO DCC Ready ? Spectrum 82306), #237 (N, DCC fitted ? Spectrum 51456), #238 (HO DCC + Sound ? Spectrum 84906).

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi Len, thanks very much. I do have a photo of #239, from Railroad Picture Archive, but that shows it with C&NW on the cab side, a large 239 on the tender, and the tender is a small oil tender, not the medium coal in your photo. See http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3580565 The text also suggest it is a CNW native, not a C.St.P.M&O, and the photo date of May 1934 supports that, but it is described as a K-1, and I see from Steamlocomotive.com that the K-1s were indeed built for the Omaha road. Clearly CNW locomotive affairs were more complicated than I imagined! The domes on C&NW #239 are in different places, so it has either been rebuilt or scrapped and an Omaha road engine has taken its number.

Thanks for the heads-up on fallenflags.org. I did not know that site existed. I will explore.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, I am assuming that Mr B bases his model paint schemes on photos of real locos, even if they are not quite identical to the models. I am puzzling over the "C&NW" 4-6-0. This has as the loco part C.St.P.M&O #237 attached to a medium USRA tender bearing the C&NW herald. Is there a photo out there somewhere?

The C&NW had a controlling interest in the Omaha Road from the 1880s but they did not begin the formal takeover until 1957, by which time the 4-6-0s would have pretty well disappeared. I believe that when Benjamin Heineman took over the C&NW in 1956 he set about scrapping the remaining steam fleet as quickly as possible, which he was able to do because he re-organised locomotive utilisation much more efficiently and turned a motive power shortage into a surplus. So unless this is a preserved loco the window of opportunity for this particular combination must have been very brief.

All the photos of Omaha road 4-6-0s I can find have C.St.P.M&O on the cab side and large numerals on the tender, not a logo. All the photos of C&NW 4-6-0s I can find have: early: C&NWR on the cab side and numerals on the tender, or late: the C&NW logo on the tender and the number on the cab, without initials. They also have the headlight mounted in the middle of the smokebox door, not on top as on the C.St.P.M&O and on the model. I have not been able to precisely identify #237. All the likely candidates seem to be built by Schenectady, not Baldwin.

I would be grateful if anyone could point me to a photo of the real #237. I am minded to simply lose the C&NW logo from the tender and replace it with numerals. Railroad Picture Archive has a very clear photo of C.St.P.M&O #338 which had 63-inch drivers and was of their I-1 class, built 1901-10, which is about right, though the domes are more modern than the model.

Happy New Year,
Bill.

Hi, For general information, UK retailer Hattons has the very good habit of posting photos of models beside a rule on its website. The link to the pics of the Spectrum USRA short coal tender is here: http://www.ehattons.com/38262/Bachmann_USA_89553_USRA_Short_Tender_Union_Pacific_/StockDetail.aspx 

A websearch by product code will often find old Hattons listings with photos for out of production items. Bachmann are just about the only US range they stock.

Hope this helps someone!
Bill.

Hi, the DCC ready Life-Like P2K models all say you need to change the light bulbs when you fit a decoder. The Spectrum steamers do not say this, so I am wondering whether they are OK just with Bachmann decoders or with any, decoder.

Also do the lights perform optimally if not changed? I think some lights would be difficult to change as they are located between the cast chassis sides.

Also, are some of the early Spectrum steamers not DCC ready and if so if they need a different approach?

I know there is an article signposted on the DCC FAQs board about adding DCC to a DCC Ready 2-8-0, but when you follow the link it is actually about adding sound to a DCC equipped 2-8-0 by replacing the Bachmann decoder with a Tsunami, and it clearly relates to a late production model as it refers to and shows a pre-moulded speaker mounting baffle located on the tender floor of the USRA Medium Coal tender which does not exist on earlier models.

I would be grateful for any experience / views.

Thanks,
Bill.

Quote from: Yardmaster on August 01, 2014, 09:25:24 PM
The sound modules are available for new spectrum locomotives. The decoder/sound chip on Sound Value locos are built into the PC board thus they are not modular.

Hi Mr B, thanks for your answer. To be clear, if you re-issued the Spectrum Baldwin 4-6-0 would that count as a "New Spectrum Locomotive" and come with a speaker fitted and ready for a sound module? I note that previous spectrum locos have been upgraded in successive releases, e.g. the Baldwin 2-8-0 originally came with a solid tender floor and unhelpfully positioned weights, then got a perforated floor and re-shaped weights to accommodate a speaker even for the non-sound versions.

One thing I would really like to see is the Spectrum Medium Vanderbilt Tender (coal and oil) with a speaker fitted, as that is a real challenge.

Best Regards,
Bill.