Bachmann appears to be a company dedicated to providing an outstanding  level of  service. I had trouble with the mechanism of my 70 Ton diesel and mailed it back. It had been custom painted in Rutland colors. The technician took special care not to damage the paint scheme, called me when he had some concerns, and rapidly swapped mechanisms and shipped the loco back. Service can't be better than that. Thank you Tom, and everyone at Bachmann for creating a customer oriented approach to service.

Dave,

I started with the green one, not realizing that there were different versions. The "as delivered" version in November, 1952, did not have yellow handrails (Rutland in Color, page 46), but the front and rear rails were eventually painted yellow. I can move 8-10 cars with no trouble.

I received my new GE 70 Ton diesel just before Christmas and immediately sent it off to the painter to be decorated as Rutland #500. I ran it for about 5 minutes before repacking it. It arrived today, looking great in Rutland green and yellow, and not only is it a smooth runner on DC, but it handles a prototypical load in the Rutland yard with ease. I had asked for it from time to time on this forum and I'm really pleased that Bachmann produced a fine model. Thanks a lot. It is a truly great job.

As a Rutland modeler, I'm all set with diesels and every steam locomotive except a modern 4-6-0. I'm envious of the positive feedback you've gotten about this new product, but the models are just too dissimilar from the Rutland/NYC more modern versions with the headlight mounted in the center of the front of the boiler. So, consider this a request for a variation from a grateful customer.

Let me add my congratulations as well. I model the Rutland and hope that a subsequent version is more modern and has a high boiler with a headlight mounted in the center of the door to the boiler. The last 4-6-0 with a high headlight left service ibn the early 1930's, so there's no fit.

Congratulations on your new 70 Tonner announcement. The Rutland had one, numbered 500, and I've been hoping you would announce this loco. I'm sure it will be as outstanding as your 44 Tonner.

The green version looks slightly different than Rutland green (like C&NW green). Do you know if the handrails can be easily removed for painting and decaling? Thanks again for a great new product.

The USRA short tender shell arrived today with floor and the replacement was flawless. Thank you Bachmann parts department for incredibly great service. I would include a picture of the finished product but I could only get the image size down to 132K, 7K above the limit. The loco runs flawlessly.

The 0-6-0 has worked out really well. It runs beautifully (once I made sure the drawbar was making contact with the locomotive), pulls well and is very smooth. All I am awaiting is the shell for the 2-6-2 tender; the new Bachmann parts online ordering is amazingly fast. I ordered the tender shell yesyerday -Sunday- and I received an e mail this afternoon (Monday) saying it shipped. The locomotive and slopeback tender are decaled for Rutland, but I shall be replacing the tender shell with a more prototypical one soon. The graphite smokebox got a coat of Neolube and looks great.

Thank you Skipgear for the photos and inspiration.

I'm interested in modeling a Rutland 0-6-0 using the new and improved 0-6-0 with a USRA Short Tender. Are they compatible, and can they be easily electrically linked together? The slope back tender 0-6-0 has gotten some good reviews. Thanks.

Count another vote for a 70 Tonner. Ideally, in the Rutland paint scheme, but any scheme will do.

Here's hoping that you capitalize on the spectacular success of your new 44 Tonner and produce a 70 Tonner, preferably in Rutland as well as other roadnames. The chassis is really close, and I wouldn't object to using the existing chassis and mechanism. Congratulations on a new success!

A new, improved 0-6-0 has been announced on the Brooklyn Locomotive Works web site. Congratulations. Can you please answer a few questions? Does it have all wheel tender pickup? You can apparently mount an MT coupler easily to the tender. Can you do the same with the pilot? If not, does the pilot knuckle-type coupler flawlessly couple with MT couplers? And finally, can you swap out the slope back tender and easily substitute a USRA short tender. (The Rutland had more square tenders, not slope backed) Thanks

Richard

Please include the Rutland 70 Tonner if you go ahead! Good luck.

As in HO, it would nice to extend the design concept to a (Rutland) 70 Tonner.