Does anyone have an opinion on the Bachmann Spectrum Heavyweights? I know they are not Prototypical, but i was just wondering about the overall quality of them in comparison to other RTR passenger cars.
Thanks.
You’re talking about the passenger cars, not the Heavy Mountain, I take it. From what I’ve heard, the Spectrum Heavyweights are actually based on PRR prototypes. I have a friend with a set of coaches, and he likes their weight and rolling qualities pretty well.
Actually, they’re quite nice, and VERY prototypical, IF you’re a Pennsy modeler (every car is correct for at least ONE PRR car. The coaches are great)
Overall, the cars are a bargain. They’ve got good looks, loads of detail, and are cheap. Their downsides include bad rolling characteristics (fixed with new wheelsets), and a goofy coupler system that allows too much droop in the coupler (replace the coupler with either a fixed coupler, or with a yoke that keeps the coupler and box where they’re supposed to be)
While these cars aren’t as detailed as either the new Branchline or Walthers cars (the BL cars are the best on the market, and Walthers are #2) they are overall very good cars and a great way to build a respectable heavyweight roster on a budget. Don’t forget to add a few Athearn HW full baggage cars and an RPO to the consist! (I really wish Bachmann had come out with a 60’ full baggage to complete the set)
I have the BLI NYC Hudson, and i wanted to assemble a decent looking consist. I wanted to make sure the quality of the cars would match the quality of the engine. Thanks for the replies!!
I have one HW left out of a set of 6 or 7, MR review April 98
Nice obs. lighted car but too much wheel drag. I still have not figured out how to forse out the stock wheel set w/o damaging the die-cast metal truck. There’s no flex in the metal side frames.
I have the Santa Fe set, and they are good except for the interior lighting. As with practically every other manufacturer, Bachmann uses a single bulb mounted in the center of the car with a plastic light guide to distribute the light, but these things never work right. The center of the car is illuminated, but the light gets very dim towards the ends. They come with full interiors, but it is all in cream colored plastic, which does not look as good as a darker color would. I think Bachmann uses the light color to help reflect the lighting.
On a related note, may I add that Bachman’s heavyweight cars vissual appearance can be greatly improved by adding opperating diaphragms by American Limited. These kits are easy to build and look great when installed on these cars. American Limited makes a special kit designed specifically for Bachman’s heavyweights, if your interested in retrofitting your cars you can get these kits from Walthers. The part numbers are 147-9300 (for a single pair) or 147-9306 (for a six pack).
I have two sets of the PRR cars and except for droop in the coupler mentioned by orsonroy, the cars are good for the Pennsylvania. The Intermountain baggages came along with their coaches and now I have a fairly good train, as the PRR mixed and matched many of the lesser trains.
Body mount the coupler and add the Intermountain baggages and coaches to mix up the consist.
If you are doing steam era, use the Intermountain with the lettering, not the Keystone version, as both were available recently.
Bachmann’s HW cars are nice, I like them alot. Except for one flaw, might just be my luck. The light bulbs seem to die really quickly, which stinks. But thats minor.
Another thing to do about the couplers is pick up packs of offset couplers.
Alvie.
Are these 60, 72, 80 or 85 footers??
I highly recommend them! They are about a 60’ car - I got a set of 6 from trainworld last winter - moved the light bulb to the floor of the car, and the light is ok. I added seated and standing figures to all 6 cars, and they look a lot better - also painted a few window shades on some of the cars, and did an interior and figures in the baggage car - took a lot of work though. I got the NYC set - haven’t had any problems with couplers or anything - I am satisfied with mine!
[quote]
Originally posted by styrene wizard
I highly recommend them! They are about a 60’ car -
/quote]
The version I was referring to in my earlier reply was the 80-foot Spectrum HW that was featured in a MR review April 98.
There were at least two production runs on this model according to KD and therefore different coupler applications.
On the first run a modeler snapped off the coupler box, drilled thru the hole that’s already there with a 1/8 bit, glued a Jay-bee coupler pad into the hole & let dry. Mount a KD#5 box to the pad with the supplied screw. Courtesy of Paul Cutler lll.
IThe second version has a better coupler mount and on my obs car the box has accepted a KD.
I have a set of UP’s and like them alot. The detail for the money is great. I think I payed $2 more than what you would pay for an Athearn RTR and the Bachmann HW is 50 times better. The one gripe I have is that they are noisy at first and squeek really bad. After running a few minutes that goes away. I just haven’t taken time to look at the wheels and trucks yet.
RMax
It appears that there are at least two(2) versions of the Bachmann Spectrum Heavyweight Passenger Cars. Is there some way of distinguishing one from the other when searching websites, i.e., part numbers?
I’m trying to put together another passenger set for my small 9x6 layout and am limited by 18 and 22 inch radius curves. I have a set of Athearn 72 footers and they just make it. Also since I’m looking for small Midwestern roads such as Wabash, I’ll probably have to take undecorated ones if at all available.
George
oren wrote:
As mentioned, they are correct for PRR. IMHO, the detail is a little heavy (or maybe it’s the paint), but they look alright. Compared to other RTR’s, they are ok. Not the best, but not the worst, as far as detail goes. They have truly atrocious couplers, and their trucks could be better (they need to be oiled, usually, at each journal out of the box). The lighting system is poor, and at least for the New Haven models, the paint jobs are a joke. Still, they are okay. I really like how the Pullman looks, but the coach and the combine don’t quite look like I think they should (but maybe that’s just me).
orsonroy wrote:
Cheap? Not hardly. Walthers.com has them for $30 ea., and that ain’t cheap in my book.
Hmm… My cars roll pretty good with the old wheelsets, but I did have to put a drop of light oil in each journal bearing to stop them from squeaking. Every once in a great while, they start to squeak again and another drop of oil is added. I don’t consider this to be too bad because my P1K RDC’s do the same thing.
cacole wrote:
Another problem is that they are power hogs, too. When a member at my club put 16 of these cars on a train, it kept popping the DCC circuit breakers we had installed (PSIII’s). Since then, I’ve snipped the interior li
I think that the Bachmann heavyweights are very bad
The wheel drag was too-too much. That’s why I unloaded six, kept the Penn Obs car
and oil the journals. It’s a nice looking car but I still can’t figure out how to get the stock wheel sets out of the rigid die-cast metal frame.
Since this is my first post on this forum let me briefly introduce myself. 58 year old retired opal jeweler. Started collecting HO 18 years ago but never got a layout started because of upcoming relocations.
I lost my several thousand dollar HO collection in a theft while moving to FL where I now reside. For the last many years I was too discouraged to begin again. My son persuaded me to begin again last month, so here am I. I’ve even placed a mega order with Fast Tracks!
My question:
I just picked up a Pennsy HW 9 car set from ebay and immediately ordered (back ordered) the diaphragm kits from Walthers along with boxs and KD #9s. I figure I may as well go ahead and order new wheelsets as well. Can anyone reccomend a “best” wheelset for these cars?
there are two screws on each side frame that hold them to the inner frame.
they are hidden under the equalizer bar which is mounted by two friction pins.
wiggle or gently pry up on the equalizer to remove exposing the screws.
opalman,
Welcome to the forum! Good to have you aboard!
FYI: You may just want to start a whole new thread on your inquiry rather than tagging it on a 7-year old thread. Just click on the Write a New Post link at the top of each main forum page.
Tom