Large Scale Locomotive suggestions.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Sam,

Any time I read a thread and can't make heads or tails of it, I suspect "old, old resurrected thread", and look for the date. 

Comes with experience.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

 

[on30gn15]

Okay, this is an oooooold thread, still, since it's up, I'll add something.
My tastes are probably such a minority market it'll never happen, but oh well, here goes: my tastes generally prefer 1850s, 1860s, 1870s "Early" railroads.

How about 'up-scaleing' those HO scale John Bull, Lafayette, DeWitt Clinton, sets to 1:24 scale with adjustment to run on proportionally narrower track, roughly 3ft6in at 1:24 to the original's 4ft 8.5in in HO scale/guage.

One of those 1840s Baldwin Flexible Beam 0-8-0 locos like in John H. White Jr.'s book American Locomotives: An Engineering History, 1830-1880 Figure 202 on page 401.
Ah! Found it on google books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=1A4iiGAz628C&pg=PA397&lpg=PA397&dq=baldwin+%22flexible+beam%22+locomotive&source=bl&ots=pr1tynvYTx&sig=EtlcvwGYYXAV9iuvUyod8YupAl0&hl=en&ei=RrkYSozVBZb2MeCR5ZgP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA401,M1

Oh, to dream the impossible dream . . .

[Casey_Jones]

"How about 'up-scaleing' those HO scale John Bull, Lafayette, DeWitt Clinton, sets to 1:24 scale"

Awesome suggestion!

[Joe Satnik]

No, because 4' 8-1/2" --> 45mm = 1:32 scale

If you are going to move away from G or F (Bachmann's strong scale preferences in Large Scale), why not scale it properly?

Or, use the most popular 45mm standard gauge scale, which (unfortunately) is 1:29.

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Casey_Jones]

What do you mean 'NO"?

If we can have a Thomas in G why can't we have  John Bull, Lafayette, DeWitt Clinton?  I have nothing against rivet counters, but hey,  this is supposed to FUN! 

[Joe Satnik]

Well, Casey,

Beyond being fun, a proposed model has to meet certain requirements.

Again, you are asking Bachmann to depart from 1:22.5 and 1:20.3, its LS strong points, and whatever scale the new 45 mm gauge Thomas is.   

Why did you choose 1:24 (= over-scaled by 33.3 percent) for the John Bull, Lafayette, and DeWitt Clinton?

What scale is B'mann's new 45mm gauge Thomas?

What scale should it be for 45mm track (given that the show models are based on "face added" 4' 8-1/2" gauge real prototypes)? (See my previous post.)

Have other (e.g. O, HO) gauge Thomas models been over-scaled by 33.3 percent?

I'll admit that a bump to 1:29 (10.3 percent over-scaled) became popular for standard gauge prototypes on 45mm track, but 33.3 percent over-scaled (1:24) is way out of proportion.

So, please make your case to the Board of Directors for re-scaling (stretching) the body to 1:24 while leaving the wheel gauge proportion at 1:32. 

Will it sell more, or generate more profit for the company? 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

edit: spelling

[Casey_Jones]

With all respect,  I think you are taking this too serious.  I don't see anything wrong with making a train that is fun.  Why does it matter what SCALE it is.  1:29 is not technically correct for std gauge (1:32 is correct,  which is done by MTH and some others) yet it is produced by USA Trains, Aristo etc. and people buy them.   1:22.5 or 1:24 for american narrow gauge which is/was produced by LGB, Bachmann, HartLand Loco Works and Aristo is not correct (1:20.3 is) yet people buy lots of them and have FUN with them.

Again, I have nothing against folks who are rivet counters and want everything to be exact.  However, some of us just want to play with our trains  and don't  need a museum quality exact replica to do that.

The bottom line is this,  IF Bachmann thinks they can make money on it, they will make it, if not, then they will not built it, regardless of what you or I think. 

So, lets go enjoy our trains,  at least we can control our own railroads!

[mudzuks]

With all this scale and track talk I'll say it again, when is Bachmann going to make some spectrum 1:20.3 passenger cars
These I know will sell because everyone I talk to about it would like to have them. I don't need a new Steamer I need the cars to match.

Jeff
I Want my SPECTRUM Coaches NOW!

[Casey_Jones]

What ever happened to PLEASE

[Joe Satnik]

Dear CJ,

You didn't promote or defend the choice of 1:24 scale.  You just said sloppy sells and is fun.   

Dear on30gn15 and CJ,

You've decided to put your money where your mouth is and invest $100,000 in the mold making process.

Here's a fun pre-mold making research assignment for you. 

What are the boiler diameters of the John Bull, Lafayette, and DeWitt Clinton?

Either look up the prototype diameters, or the measure the Bachmann HO Scale model diameters with a caliper. 

Where are the tops of the driver wheel flanges compared to the center line of the boilers? ..

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Casey_Jones]

Dear Lord!

LOL!!!!

[mudzuks]

I Want my SPECTRUM Coaches NOW!
Pretty please with sugar on top and whipped cream a apple sauce.
If it will get the coaches. I will say it anyway needed 

Jeff

[zubi]

New locomotive? What new locomotive?? There is a new Bachmann locomotive;-))) grab one before they are gone!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110383063169 Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi

[Steve Stockham]

Interesting thread....kind of like the energizer bunny! Funny thing though, since this thread first was posted what has been announced? I'm going to go out on a limb and make a LS locomotive suggestion: any locomotive! Why not re-release the Indie or perhaps the Columbia upgraded with new gearing and more weight? The Climax has been out of production for almost 10 years now so it would be a good candidate. Heck, the 20th Anniversary of the Big Hauler is coming up! Now would be a great time to upgrade the tender (and add all of those DCC gizmos) which would bring the Big Hauler up to Spectrum standards in 1:22.5! Heck, I'm even ready for the Vulcan (Whooee! I never thought I'd hear myself say that!)

[nickco201]

ya very true...its all bout having fun.
  I would personally love to see some ET&WNC or EBT stuff in 1/20.3.  Then maybe Some SRR steam power in 1/29th that would be nice as well.