Has anyone tried out one of these models yet? I don’t think the GP-9 has been released but the GP-7 has. I would imagine they use the same mechanisms. Any comments on the model?
Thanks,
Roger Huber
Yea, nice loco for a cheap train set…
Mark
A local club near me has bought about a dozen of GP-7’s. They have been running them hard for about six months now with no problems. Our Round Robin group vists this club about every six t oeight weeks. The locos run nice, and are quiet and powerfull.
They are not as detailed as Proto or Atlas, but not bad looking at all. This is a completely new drive unrealated to anything made years ago and seems to pretty good, as are the recent FT’s, F3’s and Sharks from Bachmann.
Sheldon
I have the GP7 DCC OnBoard Bachmann and have had no problems with it and love it!
I have several Bachamnn DCC OnBoard locos and love everyone of them.
They are far more detailed than Bachmanns of yore {perhaps the older B’s were toy train like} , but maybe not as detailed as some other brands.
People say the Spectrum Locos are the best, but I have no problems with the standard models. Many of their Spectrum brands become standard locos after their runs as Spectrums.
How are the grab irons done on these? I have been looking at the Santa Fe GP9 but the pictures are to small to tell. Are they wire, plastic blobs or anything at all?
Thanks
SB
The GP7’s run quite well. I have 2 of them and have had no problems with them. The GP9’s are in stock and available on the Bachmann site and on the Walthers site.
There are no grabs…You buy 'em and add 'em.
Is there any bolt detail like Athearn stuff?
Thanks
SB
There is some bolt detail, mostly on top. There’s also some detail on the doors and vents.
Not much bolt detail at all.
I don’t own any. They might run well, but P2K has much better shell detail, and run quite well I think, so I have a few of those.
Yes the Proto 2000 are more detailed, but them again at triple the price you would expect them to be more detailed. The Bachmann can easily be upgraded. I have seen these run and they are smooth running.
The price is right and enough inexpensive detail can be added to satisfy the not too pickey modeler but in testing one out at my local hobby shop I found that it had a loud and distracting buzz coming from the decoder or motor. I had an older Atlas GP40 with a dual mode decoder that did the same thing until I replaced the Atlas decoder with a Digitrax.
Ray
Strange. I don’t get any buzz from my 2 GP7’s or my GP30’s.
By the way, for those who don’t know, the GP7’s are very easy to upgrade with better non-sound decoders. Just unplug the Bachmann decoder and plug in the other decoder. As for upgrading to sound, I don’t think there’s enough room for it. It’s pretty tight in there.
That CN version looks goooood…
The Bachmann GP7/9’s are what one could consider a super detailers model. They lack the detail so you can decide how much you want and then do it yourself. The prices of these reflect that, and that is great!
It seems in the day and age of RTR and super detailed loco’s from the factory, at high prices, that people were whining that they can’t buy “cheaper” loco’s to detail themselves (a la the old Athearn blue box kits). And now that Bachmann offers such a deal, people want to complain about the lack of detail. Well, you can’t please everyone all the time. Everyone should recognize these models for what they are, base models with the potential to be detailed cheaply exactly to your taste and skill level.
For the guys who want to complain about lack of detail, an that they must be cheap quality cause the price is cheap, then stick with your more expensive stuff with the better detail from the factory. For the guys who want a cheaper model they can customize, then these are for you.
I personally like the PRR GP7 I have. It’s quiet, pulls great, runs great, and I can chose what details to add (sometimes I don’t like all the finicky fragile stuff on the expensive factory offerings) how I see fit.
Many thanks to all that supplied answers to my question about these engines. I need several GP-9s and maybe I’ll add a couple GP-7s to my Western Maryland roster. I prefer buying a nice runner to a well detailed engine. The WM had a lot of details and I can add them to please myself. The price is right and Micro Mark will get an order.
I looked at a P2k GP-9 and it was really nice however with all the negative comments about cracked gears and all I prefer to avoid P2K stuff. I don’t think I should have to locate and replace gears in any engine for that price.
Sure wish Bowser/Stewart would make the GP-9s. All my Stewarts are fantastic engines.
Roger Huber
Roger,
As I posted earlier the Bachmann model is nice, especially for the price. However I feel I should comment on what you had to say about Proto.
Yes they had an issue with cracked gears - that was one large production batch of gears more than ten years ago! And that remains the only such problem they have had.
Not choosing a Proto product today would be like not buying a new Ford F150 (best selling truck for 33 years) because Ford once built Pintos.
I have a large fleet of Proto, and a large percentage of that fleet is GP7’s, and yes I replaced most of the gears - with free ones from Proto/Walthers - not one replacement gear has ever failed.
I will say I am a big fan of both these brands. Bachmann and Proto account for about 80 of my 125 locos. I have been in the hobby for over 40 years, and spend many of my early years also working in hobby shops and even managing a train department in one.
My long experiance with model railroad products from every brand tells me it is foolish at best to judge “by the brand”. Over the years they have all made winners and duds. I am very inclined to judge each product on its own merrits, without regard for the name on the box.
Back to Proto GP7’s for a bit, they are exceptionally well detailed and as a freelance modeler I am always looking for undecorated versions. I have eight Proto GP7’s, all run exceptionally well and all bought at bargin prices and fixed with free gear sets from Proto. The gear replacement, if needed, does not even require removing the shell or any real disassembly. A cover plate snaps off the bottom of the trucks and the offending axles and their gears fall right out. In goes the new ones and the cover plate snaps on. Done.
The original Athearn/Proto diesel truck is a very well detailed, reliable and user friendly design. Maybe that’s why Proto “borrowed” it from Athearn.
It just sounded to me like you really did not have all the info, so if you find a Proto or tw
While I don’t own one, I have got to play with one and I must say it is a big step up from previous Spectrum diesels that we all love to hate. I got to play with a Chessie GP7 that belonged to a friend. It was new out of the box so I had to set the start voltage to match our standards but once I did it kept step with an Atlas GP7 without any bucking or drive issues. The unit was also quiet. I did expect to hear the non silent running decoder buzz but it was not there which makes me wonder if Bachmann as upgraded their decoder line over some of there previous releases such as the GP40. One nice thing I think is they have designed the unit to be ready for a sound decoder. There is a place for a speaker in the fuel tank.
The overall paint job of the Chessie unit looked pretty good. Better than P2K has ever done. Color selection was good and the lines were all straight. Road number and number boards looked a little funny but overall some of the higher priced manufactures have done far worse. I would have bought one of these if they would have done a C&O Chessie unit with dynamic brakes. I already had non dynamic brake GP7s from Atlas and Proto in Chessie so another one was not needed.
Speaking of the dynamic brake, it is a separate part that just sits over the long hood. If Bachmann sells the part, one could easily make a dynamic braked unit out of the Chessie engine.
I am looking forward to getting one of the B&O GP9s. For what ever reason, Proto ignored this paint scheme (except those done for the B&OHS) which was very common on the B&O before Chessie. Pictures look pretty good so I am excited to see what can be done with it. I do want to get it on Decoder Pro and see what all the decoder supports.
Unless after running a few of them and finding out there are drive issues, I can see this loco becoming a stable for those needing large quantities of geeps. Wal
That’s too bad. Walthers has the Chessie GP7 (non-dynamic) on sale for $62 right now.
For what it is worth, I have a single (PRR) GP7, and a single (PRR) GP9. In each case I was disappointed by their performance out of the box, but after replacing the OEM decoder with a Digitrax, I became pleasantly surprised at the performance.
Both engines need added detail to complete the model, but after spending less than 50 bucks each on the engines, I replaced the couplers with Kadee scale wisker couplers, and ordered details to model these engines as what they were in 1965/1966.
BTW: I recently opened a box containing six PRR GP7/9 P2ks purchased for well under list as a closeout from a reputable dealer. 4 of 6 are DOA out of the box, while the other two run but need work.
These Protos will need as much tlc as the Bachmann’s to get them up to snuff. Considering that the Proto bodies are better detailed, they are more of a disapointment under the hood. I’m just thankful I didn’t pay full MSRP for them, considering their performance.
Joe Witcofsky