Has anyone bought one of the above models? Any critiques/feedback?
Andy
I have the Niagara in DC, and I have had no trouble with it.
It needed to be opened and the gears lubed just a bit (the grease had all moved to one side of the loco in transport/storage), and the wheels and siderods were completely dry though, Bachmann did not oil them at the factory as it would have all leaked out anyway (or so their info sheet said). I’m not too thrilled with the amount of slop in the drivers though - soon as i figure out a good way of tightening them up, that’s happening; although the slop allows the loco to negotiate 18"radius curves (the tender is another story altogether, it needs 22" or larger). Overall I like it, it is a good/quiet runner, and pulls all of my cars (a paltry 15) easily - i bet it could pull 30-40 properly weighted free rolling cars no problem (of which none of my cars are).
Thanks for the info.
Andy
Andy,
I have one of the old DC Bachmann Niagara’s that I installed a MRC steam sound decoder in. While not proto-typical it does make the locomotive quite impressive.
After a little tinkering the Niagara will navigate all of the BRVRR including the reverse loop which has some 18-inch radius track in it.
It accelerates smoothly and pulls well. A good loco for the money IMHO.
My grandson has a Bachmann DCC equipped N&W 611, 4-8-4 that I installed a Soundtraxx DSD-100LC decoder and speaker in. It is essentially the same loco with the DCC receptacle installed. The sound decoder just plugged right in and the speaker was an easy installation too. It too is a good puller and quite impressive with sound in it. Converting your DCC equipped Niagara should be just as easy if you decide to go that route.
Lube your loco according to the spec sheet and do the basic maintenance when required and it should last a long time. My Niagara is 3+ years old and gets a lot of running time.
IMO, for the money, the large Bachmann steam locomotives are hard to beat.
Good luck and enjoy your Niagara!