how close ,if any closness at all is the bachman passenger cars ie.,a combine,coach,diner,pullman.i dont really think there is much similarity but would like some input from other folks. tuxedo
Hmm…what scale???
ho guage heavy weights brought out about 1996. thanks for asking.
Probably PRR p70 cars although most had four wheel trucks.
I wonder why Bachmann does not currently offer HeavyWeight cars for sale, too much competition?
Competition, perhaps, but while they were nice looking, their couplers left a lot to be desired. I don’t really know if that affected their sales over time, but I suspect so. They were competitively priced, often better than Walthers, but those couplers needed work.
I forget where, but I picked up a four-pack with one of each back in 2006, and the price was pretty good. I haven’t seen them advertised anywhere since.
Crandell
You hit the nail on the head with your observations. I found the cars to be very nice looking and bought an original four pack equipped with horn hook couplers when they first came out. I also purchased a matching ABBA set of F7s that were offered by Bachmann at the same time. The coupler mechanism however was so unreliable that the cars pretty much just cat on a shelf. Over time I tinkered with them until I just gave up, removed the linkages and factory supplied coupler boxes. I then body mounted some Kadee #5s and the problem was solved. This method however will no longer allow the car to negotiate 18" radius curves. I do use them on 22" radius curves with no problems. I picked up two additional cars for this set that were later releases with knuckle couplers and they actually perform quite well right out the box. A small washer to stabilize the coupler in the box and both lined up with the Kadee height gauge. They are now in regular service and see quite a bit of run time.
Take Care
I have about 10-12 of them and don’t have any problems. My minimum radius is probably close to 26-28 inches. All of them came with knuckle couplers but I don’t really like the look of the swinging coupler. May try to body mount some Kadee’s but they aren’t necessary.
-Bob
The swinging coupler is generally quite loose and the coupler height can be all over the place (slack or under tension), if you don’t need the swinging motion due to tight radius it is best to body mount the couplers. The JB adjustable position box will work quite well especially if couple/ spacing needs to be adjusted as not to bind on the hard diaphrams. If you need to remove the roof, use care w/ the fragile lighting conductors.
Kadee has a swing box conversion. Don’t know the # off hand, but you can check the web site.
thanks everybody for the info about the couplers,i have noticed that problem my self.what i would really like to know if any santa fe modelers out there know if any of these cars resemble a santa fe prototype.thank you all very much.
The cars are based on a PRR prototype, the P70.
What’s a shame is Bachmann isn’t offering the car in PRR livery, and they’ve replaced the four-wheel trucks of the prototype with six wheel trucks.
I’ve heard they were considered lacking in detail by some fastidious PRR modelers, but I’d like to get a few at a decent price.
I believe Athearn’s old Blue Box heavyweights - both arch roofed and clerestory - were based on ATSF prototypes, but are shortened.
The Bachmann cars are more or less correct length.
Eric
thank you eric for that info.i was almost possitive that the cars were not sante fe prototypes.i also know that the pullman name is a sp car.again thanks for info. tuxedo