Bachmann Plus - what years?

[Pacific Northern]

What year was this brand name started and when did it end? I assume that the Spectrum line came after the Plus line ended, is that correct?

I am referring to HO scale.

[Yampa Bob]

I don't know the dates, but another member commented that it used to be "Plus" and "Spectrum", the Plus being dropped to avoid confusion.  I think modelers coined the word "Standard" to mean non-Spectrum.

I am only familiar with the 2007 and 2008 listings.

Remember the days of "Invicta vs LeSabre vs Electra"?

[richG]

This is from a Google search for Bachmann Plus Trains.

Today and DCC

In an effort to gap the quality between the Spectrum brand and the regular Bachmann trains, Bachmann introduced a mid ranged "Bachmann plus" series in 1992 when production was moved to China.[14] Eventually the entire product line would be upgraded to the quality of the plus series which led to the drop of the plus series and the birth of the current silver series in 1997.[17] Bachmann doubled the MSRP of its products, and cars are now packaged in clear plastic display jewel cases.[19] In 2001, Bachmann started to produce trains in On30 scale (O scale on HO tracks).[20

Link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachmann_Industries

Some people do not like Wikipedia so you can do a search Google yourself.

Rich

[Yampa Bob]

That makes it sound as though the price was doubled due to the packaging. 

I read once that packaging often costs as much as the product. I hate those blister packs you can't open without destroying the plastic.  Then you can't return for a refund as you no longer have the "original" packaging. The factory's defense is that it helps curb shop lifting, but for the purchaser it's a pain.

[Pacific Northern]

Thanks for the information.

Then the Plus line had a relatively short life from 1992 to 1997.

I am still somewhat surprised at how many Plus engines in new condition keep turning up for sale.

[Yampa Bob]

To be safe, I only buy Spectrum from a reputable dealer.

There was a warning in an Ebay review that went something like this:

"Like new"....has maybe 100 hours of running, but still looks great.

"Mint in Box"...same thing, they just saved the box.

"Needs minor repair"...it's shot and parts aren't available.

"Brand new sealed in plastic"...who sealed it?   

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Dear Pacific Northern,

Here is what I have.

Bachmann 31497(WP&Y),   31498(ET&WNC), 31499(D&RGW), are the only Bachmann Plus locomotives.   They first appeared in the catalog in 1992 and remained in the catalog until 1997.   Althought still in the catalog in 1997 under the above numbers the were no longer referred to as "Bachmann Plus" in 1997.   There was a huge production run over the 5 year period, which is why you still see so many.

The effort was to improve the image because of the poor runing qualities of the earlier Big Haulers.   The big sales pitch was that it had a new worm gear drive, full valve gear, and metal handrails.  As for valve gear the D&RGW and WP& Y had the plastic simplified Stephenson Valve grar while the ET&WNC has the plastic simplified Walshearts valve gear. 

This was the beginning of the version 3 chassis, which came out in 1994.  The production run crossed the version 2 & Version 3 chassis dates and I never seen one with a Version 4 chassis. 

Basically the Bachmann Plus were still poor runners and prone to the bad  gearbox problems of the time. 

If you really like the "plus" body, it is easy to swap the latest Version 5 Chassis into it,  but with version 5 Chassis 4-6-0's available in in the same road names it really maks no sense.  All three roadnames are available in both the Big Hauler(now often refered to by Bachmann as the "Standard" line), and in the Anniversary 4-6-0 and all have the version 5 chassis except for the WP&Y Big Hauler.  At today's low prices the Annniversary versions are a great buy.

Like most Wickpedia items there are several errors and mixing of HO & G Scale in the same sentence.  Blister pack refer to HO scale and other scales but not G.  There were no Silver series in G Scale.  Anyone can put whatever they want into Wickpedia, so I find I must get verification from other sources.   

[Jim Banner]

Loco Bill, I think that like Wikipedia, we are mixing G-scale and H0-scale in this thread.  There were many more Bachmann Plus locomotives in H0-scale, which may be what Pacific Northern is talking about.

The H0-scale Plus locomotives were a big step up from the previous Bachmann offerings, many of which were side winders with  flat "pancake" motors mounted with their shafts crosswise in the locomotives.  The H0-scale Plus locomotives had large worm gear/flywheels, can motors, sprung axles and lots of weight.  Their bodies were interchangeable (with a bit of work) with the earlier versions.  Generally, they ran well and were much, much quieter than the sidewinders.  But the occasional one had eccentric wheels which caused it to waddle down the track.  As they aged, the axle springs often collapsed, reducing the reliability of pickup, which was only on the locomotive wheels.  I have several of these, mostly Consolidations and Northerns, and while they are not as good as the Spectrum series, they were great runners in their time and are still good runners even today. 

[Santa Fe buff]

While researching of my own will, I found this interesting Wikipedia article:

Kader takeover
In light of falling profits, in 1981 Kader acquired Bachmann. It changed the name to Bachmann Industries[6] and used the new brand to expand worldwide, such as the European market. It is also part of the strategy to take over other failing companies in Europe and put them under one single name. The packaging changed from plastic jewel cases to white paper boxes with cellophane window.[6] Starting from 1982 Bachmann began to slowly retool individual product lines one by one. A typical example would be the replacement of metal gears to plastic ones in the Diesel locomotives. By 1992 all cars were manufactured in China.[14]
-Wikipedia.

Same year "Bachmann Plus" came out...

[Barry BBT]

As I recall the first gen drive was the original battery powered all plastic.
Second gen, was the first track powered, metal wheels, same gearing.  This was followed by the Plus, which by definition was an "improved model" in existing tooling.  The fourth gen was the first drive with a metal motor mount.
It looked like the answer, but the plastic bearings kept moving and the single worm gear got chewed up.  And lastly the fifth gen/10th ANNIE drive.  Which has proven that it will last a long time, if you don't overload it.  If you do I'm still making conversions.

The Plus drive was a pretty good design, in theory, but the motor moved off of the mount and chewed the cluster gear.

The timing of the breaks in the successive generations is not exact, but can be approximated.  1st gen to second, about 1990, second to third (Plus) about '92 until '96-'97, then the 5th gen came in.

The definition of the Plus (an improved model in existing tooling) was blown away when the first revamped Porter, was announced as a Spectrum model.   Really this was a classic Plus by the old definition, but we move on.  This was shortly after the first Spectrum, the Lyn 2-4-2, Baldwin's English loco.  Didn't run too well and has been overshadowed by the latest Spectrum models.

Barry - BBT

[Loco Bill Canelos]

This is the Chassis Version Identification

Version 1  1988-1990  Battery Powered R/C Units                              
Version 2  1990-1994  Smooth Bottom Cover  You can turn drivers by hand and motor will turn                              
Version 3  1994-1998  Smooth Bottom Cover You cannot turn the drivers by hand                              
Version 4  1998-1999  Large wide hump dead center between the rear drivers on bottom cover                              
Version 5  2000-Pres  3/8th inch wide hump offset between the rear drivers and a plastic lubrication plug the size of a dime to the rear of the hump..                     
         
Note that the dates overlap and as of Nov 1, 2007 have not been fixed more precisely, but I believe all new sets introduced in 1999 with the VHS instructions were version 5                              
The following sets released in late 1999 were Version 5 Chassis 90031, 90032, 90033, 90034, 90035 and 90037.                              

[Barry BBT]

Nice work, Bill.

I was working from memory, you can see how good that is!!

Barry - BBT

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Jim and others,

My info is strictly about Large Scale,  not the HO plus.  None of my posts should be applied to HO or other scales.  it can be hard at times to be sure what scale the original writer or responders are refering to at times.

Sorry for not specifying that earlier. 

Barry,   Thanks for the good words!! When it comes to the large scale 4-6-0 gearbox  and drive train no one is more knowledgeable than you are.   I use you for reference all the time.  My memory is pretty poor and getting worse.   I have to keep writing all this stuff down just to try to keep straight!!!  An even then I can't always figure things out.