Some suggestions for future large-scale products

[Tom Lapointe]

Hi Mr. B!
   Don't know if you'd remember, but I happened to mention that at the Springfield, MA show back in January that I picked up a used Large-Scale Climax (the Pardee & Curtain #6 version) there at a VERY GOOD price! 

Tried it quickly when I got back home, it ran when I applied power; since I had other "irons in the fire" & hadn't converted it to DCC yet, it sat quietly on a shelf.

Earlier today I did a bit of work on the garden railway (on vacation most of this week); we just had the roof re-shingled on our house over the last several days, so I had to strip ALL the structures off the railroad in the "drop zone" nearby.  After putting them back, I did a little trackwork on ironing out some trouble spots.  I ran a quick test train with a 2-truck Shay earlier, & all looked well.

Late at night (remember I'm a "second shift" guy ), I noticed the Climax sitting kind of "forlornly" on the shelf & decided to give it a more extensive track test.  Put it upside down in a work cradle to lube it, found a good amount of fresh grease in the gearboxes when I removed the lube plugs, so I just lubed the valve gear & put conductive lube on the pickups.  Didn't have a DC power pack immediately handy (remember I run DCC), so I grabbed a small 12 V. gel-cell battery & brought it out to the garden railroad.

When I hooked up the battery to the rails, I found out I got a REALLY good buy! - It just glided off down the track smooth & silky!   The smoke unit & all the lighting (including the "firebox flicker") worked great as well.

Since it had the original Bachmann couplers on it (& all my other rolling stock is either Kadee or Accucraft couplers), I looked for something for it to pull; noticed a couple of brand-new 4-wheel wood dump cars I had never really run earlier.  Brought them out & coupled them to the Climax, & let the short train run quietly around the railroad for about an hour.

Watching it run prompted some thinking; I know the emphasis lately has been on bigger locos the last couple of years (i.e., the 3-truck Shay, the K-27), but some really small locos would be nice too, both for those with limited layout space, & as small tight-space switchers on larger layouts.  (My original Climax now serves as a dedicated "mine switcher" on my mining branch.  ).

Accordingly, here's a few suggestions -

Do a new, "up-to-date" run of the Climax (DCC / RC-battery ready, metal gearboxes).

Produce some of the smaller prototypes from the ON30 product line in 1:20.3.    I think the little T-boiler Shay would a major hit (I know I'd go for one! ).  The tiny 0-4-0 & 0-4-2 Porters & the little 4-wheel, side-rod Davenport diesel I think would be major hits as well.

OK, lets see how many others chime in on this....    Tom

[smcgill]

Tom do you mean like this thread

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,4916.0.html

[chuckger]

Tom,
  I think the time is right for a 120.3 afordable 2-6-0  or a 4-6-0 or a 2-8-0, also maybe Bachman would consider following up the K27 with a K28? I'm no expert but the K28 doesnt look much different than the K27 and might be easy to produce using parts from the K 27
  Another thought, If B-man produced a 2-6-0 I would like to see them also make as an add on kit for the engine  different smoke stacks both rounded and fluted domes different piolits, so you could costomize the engine and make it look different.
  As a proud owner of a 455 post wreck  I'm amazed [with all the komotion about the big board in the tender] that I have not seen one post on any of the train sites where someone has had it fail or had a problem with it.
 
  chuckger

[Spule 4]

Unfortunately, the trend even in the smaller scales is "bigger is better" for whatever reason.  The small locos would (I think, but who am I) fill a void.  I have always been a fan of smaller locos, so there is a bias I guess.  The current side tanker Porter is nice, I have one along with the saddle tanker that are slowly getting a few odds and ends detail wise.

Some good options in your list, but the light early Porter was already done by Accucraft in brass, with another relase this fall, so maybe not wishing to go there, dunno.....

Working with what Bachmann have some tooling for already:

I would hope that the Climax would be on the short list, maybe even a backdated version with oil box headlamp and wood/steel cab?

And maybe Bachmann took note of the Porter and Bell project of the Bachmann "Indie"  on My Large Scale?

An updated 1:20.3 version of the 2-4-2T Baldwin would be nice too....

Nice to dream I guess.

EDIT:  puctuation use gives strange smiley faces?

[DTRAINS]

 The T-boiler Shay,0-4-2 Porter or the Davenport Diesel any of them would be nice. Pleace remember us R1,R2 people,and us that are on a small buget.Large is nice,but around $500.00+ alot of us will never have one,the 0-4-0 Porter around $100.00 is ok.For some of us it's money for gas in the car and not trains for now.

[Charlie Mutschler]

The K-28 is a completely different animal from the K-27, so there isn't much tooling that will work for both.  The K-27 has 40 inch drivers, the K-28 has 44 inch drivers,  just for starters.  Besides, I think the EBT folks are hoping for something from that road before another western mike shows up . . . and there too, the need will be for all new tooling.  Meanwhile, we shall anticipate. 

Charlie Mutschler

[calenelson]

Interesting links?

http://www.45mm.jp/page175.html

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/forumid/4/postid/37675/view/topic/Default.aspx

OK Bachmann here is your chance to beat all the pundits on the scoop..........

[Superheater]

Too late.

This guy has tech specs and everything.

http://120pointme.blogspot.com

John Fitch

[nak56]

Hey how about doing some of the early big hauler 4-6-0 engines as annie's  like the royal blue or the blue comet  the southern or the chattanoga. I have several of these they run ok but it would be nice to have them with the annie chassis and the extra annie details.   

[the Bach-man]

Hi, Tom!
What I really remember is that you promised SOMEBODY a Eureka!
Heh, heh, heh...
the Bach-man

[Steve Stockham]

Hey Bach-man,
  Please pass on our kudos to the guys in Philly! The offerings for 2008 are going to bring a lot of smiles to large scaler's faces! Oh, since this is a thread about future products and someone intimated that it would be nice to see some more road names for the Annie, I thought I'd remind you of a beauty that was done by David Fletcher about five years ago: the E&P #6 Reveille which is a stablemate of the Eureka but instead of being a 4-4-0 American, it's a 2-6-0 Mogul! It's a perfect fit for someone that already has a Eureka and wants a Mogul! The beauty of it is that the cab color is different and there are some minor detailings that would have to be added but other than that the engines are almost identical!

Here is David Fletcher's version from his website on 4largescale.com:

[Tom Lapointe]

"Hi, Tom!
What I really remember is that you promised SOMEBODY a Eureka!
Heh, heh, heh...
the Bach-man"

I've got one on order - Ridge Road had a clearance sale price on them last month that was just too good to pass up!   Just waiting for UPS to show up with it now...

I did order it on the condition that she  comes out & actually runs it instead of just me telling how the railroad should be "decorated"!

                                                                                                   Tom

[Gunslinger87]

Hey Tom!

I like the idea of wanting smaller engines, especialy a 1:20.3 version of the On30 0-4-0 Porter I would Love!

But the thaught of Bachmann releasing a K-28 or other large Locomotive has me happy! The K-28 is my personal Favorite locomotive EVER! Especialy #473 in the "Bumble Bee" sheme.

Of course I'd like to see some other engines to, like some D&RGW C-16s and C-18s. Heck, maybe even a C-21!

And on the note of 4-6-0s, what about a D&RGW T-12s! In terms of Ten Wheelers, I think there a very atractive locomotives. Both the strait stacked and dimond stacked versions!

In any case, what ever Bachmann releases next, I'm sure we will all like!

[jpipkin]

How about some small 4 wheel cars to go with the small engines?

[Nathan]

In the 22.5 kit area I would like to see the stock car in kit form.

I have enjoyed building the others in the line, and like to build them while at the club layout at the museum while visitors are there.  Very few non model railroaders get to see us building equipment.

Nathan