Well cars is there any chance bachmann will make them

[jbrock27]

Thanks Roger.  It's tough to tell from your response, if you ever owned any of the BB locos that had the improved gold can motor; it definitely was not part of their '70s line but came out in the early '80s and had brass flywheels.  The sintered metal wheels continued until they were replaced with nickel ones in the RTR series.

[rogertra]

Thanks Roger.  It's tough to tell from your response, if you ever owned any of the BB locos that had the improved gold can motor; it definitely was not part of their '70s line but came out in the early '80s and had brass flywheels.  The sintered metal wheels continued until they were replaced with nickel ones in the RTR series.

I probably did not own any of their "improved gold can motor".  By the time that was released, I'd switched over to the better quality models offered by Kato/Atlas, P2K et al.

As stated previously, the only Athearn locos I now operate are two each of the 4-6-2 and 2-8-2 models.  I avoid Athearn diesels as there are still better and more accurate models available for my 1958 era GER than those produced by Athearn.

Cheers

Roger.

[jbrock27]

Thank you.  The gold motor is a good motor IMO.
I like the Proto 2000s and 1000s myself.  Just need to have care for the fragile detail parts and have spare axle gears on hand for the P2Ks.  I don't particularly like the tabs on the shell for some of the P2Ks.  You know where the P2K cloned a lot of ideas in their design from, don't you?

[rogertra]

Thank you.  The gold motor is a good motor IMO.
I like the Proto 2000s and 1000s myself.  Just need to have care for the fragile detail parts and have spare axle gears on hand for the P2Ks.  I don't particularly like the tabs on the shell for some of the P2Ks.  You know where the P2K cloned a lot of ideas in their design from, don't you?

Main reason I discontinued Blue Box diesels was the inaccuracy of the body castings. The Blue Box hood unit's bodies were too wide, so as to accommodate the motor and plus the lack of stand off details.

It's the fragile detail parts that are the selling point for me. So the combination of finer details and a better running chassis and scale width bodies that was the reason I retired all my Blue Box units.   

And I know you can swap P2K gears and axles with Blue Box gears and axles. 

Cheers

Roger.

[jbrock27]

Part of my point in mentioning the newer gold can motor, is that is was made narrower, thereby curing the "wide body" detail issue.  I understand your point, as even those models did not likely have all the kinds of details (at least stock anyway) you like to look for and have.

[ilikeconrail]

What help!!!

[jbrock27]

What help!!!

What's this mean?

[ilikeconrail]

They didn't help me

[Jerrys HO]

They didn't help me

I believe they did....

Have you checked Ebay, there are many there.

Kato make them, Walthers make them, both sell in three packs and sell for around $70 to $75 for a three car set.

Remember, these days, modellers do not want cheaply made, poorly detailed freight cars.  They want well made, well detailed quality products as I'm Bachmann well knows.

The days of the inexpensive, Athearn Blue Box kits are long past, even though, by the standards of the day, they were considered a good product.

So, if Bachmann were to compete with the other two makers, they'd need to produce a product of equal quality and that means a similar price range.


Cheers

Roger.

As you are finding out, this hobby can get pretty expensive but still cheaper than some of my other hobbies .

Jerry

[jbrock27]

Jerry's right ILC and I beg to differ with you.  Your question was addressed early on and your choices presented to you.  Now it is time for you to make some choices.  I don't know what else you would expect of folks. 
As far as the information you are perceiving as unhelpful; even though it may not all be about the topic you were interested in, it is information nonetheless.  Ever hear that knowledge is power?

[rogertra]

They didn't help me

Like jbrock27, I beg to differ.

There was a suggestion to search E-Bay and my post explained why a cheaply made, poor quality product will not sell in today's market.

You are looking at $65 to $80 for a three pack and that's the way it is, unless you can find something on E-Bay.

This can be an expensive hobby (Don't tell my wife) as the days of a $5.00 to $10.00 freight car kit are long gone.  How much clearer can we make it?

Cheers

Roger.