supply shortage of bachmann new EM1 2-8-8-4 &Q C problems

[kewatin]

MR BACHMANN,
being a strong supporter of bachmann products and having read reviews on your current EM1 on other n gauge forums&wanting to purchase a couple of these i am some what concerned, as there are rave reviews &negative reviews.example one purchaser bought 4 of them and had to return all 4 due to crooked pilot assemblies, bad &broken vale gear etc,but the real concern was the dealer had no more in stock to replace  his units with,the dealer even said WALTHERS had none. i don't listen to rumor or conjecture,so i thought i would come to you to alleviate my concerns #1 is there stock&do you plan do do another run if neccessary and #2 like anything new their will be some minnor issues but for the asking price,these should be miniscule.in closing i would very much like to purchase these but do nt want to be in a position of not being able to get a repair or replacement ,much like the heavy mountain,which there are many of us whom would welcome another rerun. maybe this is just a west coast problem with supply? awaiting your response before purchasing.
regards&later  KEWATIN

[Teditor]

I'm in Australia and took the risk of getting one, even with some negative comments in advance.

Mine arrived and is superb, smooth, quiet and a powerful puller (just needs sound now). This is fortunate as being down under, returns are a difficult option.

To put things in context, I have had good and bad from all brands I have purchased, unfortunately it's not quite like taking a car back to the dealer.

Where I purchased mine, there was plenty of stock and an exceptional price to boot.

As we say down here "I'm a happy little Vegemite!"

Ted (Teditor) Freeman
From the land down under.

[Bucksco]

There is no "shortage" of product. This is also the first I have heard of any problems with this loco. It is covered under warranty so any issues can be directed to our service department who will be happy to repair or replace any defective unit.

[skipgear]

There is no "shortage" of product. This is also the first I have heard of any problems with this loco. It is covered under warranty so any issues can be directed to our service department who will be happy to repair or replace any defective unit.

Here is one of the topics with photos of the affected loco's mentioned above.

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?153588-Bachmann-EM-1-problems-on-arrival

Our store got 12 of them in, 1 had a short circuit issue, other than that they have ran great. I did notice the pilots being slightly twisted on a couple, including the two that I purchased but none as bad as the ones photographed in that post. I didn't even look at the problem until those pictures showed up because unless you looked for it, you didn't notice it.

The only other issue that all of them seem to have is the coupler on the pilot is about a half a coupler too high. Some are better, some ar worse and it is probably related to the twisted pilot.

The pilot can be shimmed to cure the twist and the coupler height but it takes a lot of trial and error, and a little filing of the metal mount in some cases. I used small pieces of tape for shims on mine.

I love the loco and will put up with a few fixable issues to have a loco that I never thought I would be able to buy, so much so I was in the process of scratch building my own when these were announced. Both of my EM-1's together cost less than what I had invested in building a single one.

[Bucksco]

If there are problems with the locomotives Bachmann will deal with them. The product has a warranty and therefore we are obliged to stand behind it.

[ALCO539]

Thank you for the reply Yardmaster! I know that Bachmann stands behinds it's products 100%, I've been buying them since 1969.

I have the skills to fix most problems on N scale locomotives, and all brands have problems at times, I take that "fact" as a given. Some people don't have such skills or don't want to bother trying to attain them, perfectly understandable. I no longer work on my own automobiles, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. In my post, I wanted to clarify the situation with the TB thumbnails, and add my minor issues for completeness.

Anyway, like I said, I like the EM-1 and it is reassuring to know that if someone has a problem with one, you folks at Bachmann will take care of it. By the way I've just ordered my third EM-1 loco!!!!Thank you again.
Regards, Charley.