Hours of service?

[Redtail67]

Jim Banner:

I found your post to be very informative and would love to have you follow up with another along these lines.

As a newbie and one that wants to learn from the voices of experiance, I ask if you have any charts or other information concerning reliability that you would be willing to post for our benefit?

That information based on your and your clubs actual experiance with various manufacturers and types of equipment would be very helpfull to us all.

As a matter of fact I have seen nothing posted anywhere about actual reliability of various products. I have seen many general statements such as "So and so company is better" and then a list of someones idea of how they rank.

Yet, to see how the reliability stacks up from real use on a layout would be great as well as having the ability to know just what fails (the weak part of the design) would help guide me as well as others when making a purchase.

Thanks for the great post!

Redtail67

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Jim What kind of oil are you using on the track??

[Pacific Northern]

My hobby shop tests all locos before handing them to you. i love that and on ebay would rather buy a c-8 that runs great and has been tested than a c-10 which was not tested.

My LHS will give me credit only for an item returned due to malfunctions. They advise to send the unit to the manufacturer for repair/replacement.

I only shop there on rare occasions due to that policy.

That policy has led to my using either e-bay or a select few on line model railroad stores/vendors for the vast majority of purchases.

[Yampa Bob]

I primarily buy from two sources for two reasons.

If the item is defective within 30 days from date of purchase, they replace it, no questions asked. They will even send me a prepaid shipping label to return the unit, and no shipping charge for the replacement, or give me the option of a refund, in which case they even credit the original shipping cost.  I am not out a penney.

If after receiving the item I don't like it or simply change my mind within 30 days, they give me a refund, no questions asked. All I'm out is the shipping cost.

During the first 25 days, I put my locos through the ringer.  I won't play games with either the factory or vendor, I demand quality and service.  Just like my ranch equipment and support vehicles, I don't pamper my railroad equipment either.  If it can't take it I don't want it.

I hesitate to recommend, not recommend, evaluate or review any company's products, including Bachmann's, on any public forum.  To do so would be merely giving my opinion as I am not an expert in the engineering and manufacturing of model railroad products. 

[Jim Banner]

to see how the reliability stacks up from real use on a layout would be great as well as having the ability to know just what fails (the weak part of the design) would help guide me as well as others when making a purchase.

Redtail67

I wish I could supply such data but most of our early testing, before settling on Bachmann's 2-8-0s, was done on single samples or at most on pairs.  To rank any company's products on such small samples would be grossly unfair, particularly so when the models tested may no longer be in production.  We selected 2-8-0s because they were commonly used by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1910 in this part of the world, and that is what we are modelling.  If I told you that the Bachmann 2-8-0s we originally tested suffered from gear failure and poor pickup, you might well hesitate to buy a Bachmann 2-8-0 today.  That would be grossly unfair to Bachmann as the first Bachmann 2-8-0s we tested were the old #530 "sidewinders" with the flat gears.  We were fortunate that the mechanism in these locomotives was upgraded at about that time to the Plus version with can motor and large flywheel/worm gear.  These were the mainstay of our operation until the Spectrum 2-8-0s replaced them.  But if I told you that they picked up only on the locomotive wheels and that those wheels tended to wobble, making the locomotive waddle down the track, you might still hesitate to buy a Bachmann 2-8-0 today.  Again unfair to Bachmann, as todays 2-8-0 is an entirely different design.  But telling you what I have found to be the strengths and weaknesses of a particular type of locomotive under the conditions we operate it and in the quantities that we have used them, is fair game.

The only other comment I would like to make on this concerns our brief trial of some brass locomotives.  They were ten times the price of the Bachmann Plus and caused us ten times as much trouble.  So much for the magic of brass.

Jim What kind of oil are you using on the track??

Any of the light weight, plastic compatible oils will do.  Bachmann E-Z Lube (the Conductive Contact Lube, cat.no 99981, not the gear lubes and greases) or  Hob-E-Lube ultra light oil or Conducat Lube & Cleaner or Labelle 108 or Wahl Hair Clipper oil.  The last two do not claim to be plastic compatible but experience has shown that they do not attack Delrin plastic wheels.

Do NOT use 3-in-1 oil. It is too heavy.  And avoid oils with additives, such as motor oil.  Any oils that tend to oxidize will cause grief when they turn to varnish on your tracks.  I have tied hydraulic oil and automatic transmission fluid with reasonably good results on my outdoor layout where the trains are heavier.  But even outdoors I usually stick to the oils listed above.

Rereading Bill's question, I most often use Labelle 108 on the H0 tracks, both at home and on our group's display layout, and Wahl Hair Clipper Oil on my outdoor layout.

[Daylight4449]

I am planning on picking up 5 spectrum 2-8-0s for my mainline operation, after all, i can get them at 45 bucks each, if you know where to go...

[Pacific Northern]

I am planning on picking up 5 spectrum 2-8-0s for my mainline operation, after all, i can get them at 45 bucks each, if you know where to go...

And the place to go is where?

[Daylight4449]

normaly, keep it a secret because the more people know the higher the price but the ebay store called "The favorite spot" has them and i have seen them go at prices from $30 to $55, they come with full manufacturers garenty and warrenty because they are ma factory athourized dealership and they sell bachmann products. They are 12 dollar shipping to the us with other rates for international and combine shipping. great place. and no i don't work there.

[Pacific Northern]

normaly, keep it a secret because the more people know the higher the price but the ebay store called "The favorite spot" has them and i have seen them go at prices from $30 to $55, they come with full manufacturers garenty and warrenty because they are ma factory athourized dealership and they sell bachmann products. They are 12 dollar shipping to the us with other rates for international and combine shipping. great place. and no i don't work there.

Thanks, will keep an eye on the site.

[Redtail67]

Jim Banner:

Thanks for your reply.

After thinking about what you said I agree that it would be unfair due to the small samples taken.

Thanks again,

Redtail67

[Rashputin]

normaly, keep it a secret because the more people know the higher the price but the ebay store called "The favorite spot" has them and i have seen them go at prices from $30 to $55, they come with full manufacturers garenty and warrenty because they are ma factory athourized dealership and they sell bachmann products. They are 12 dollar shipping to the us with other rates for international and combine shipping. great place. and no i don't work there.

    I've done a lot of business with them and have never had even a minor problem.  Their prices, at auction or not, seem to be among the lowest you can find and even when they may be a few bucks higher than the lowest price I can find anywhere on the web or Ebay, I know that if I buy from them I'll be in good shape.

   Regards