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Bachmann Trains HO scale Baldwin 4-4-0 steam locomotive
For $475 it should have working headlights and marker lights. Big oversight by Bachman!
Looks nice, but it seems a bit pricey. A Broadway Limited Imports GS-4 (4-8-4) has a $25 lower list price for their models with sound. Their lights function too.
Wish it were also available as DCC ready, without sound at a lower price. Looks great! Thanks for the review.
I like it.
I’m sorry but $425 seems like a bit much for an HO steamer. I’m afraid it will not be appearing on my layout any time soon. The model looks great but the price, but not at that price.
There is way too much PRR stuff out there already. A belpaire firebox would make what is now a fairly generic locomotive into something usable for mostly one road, the PRR. If Bachmann did something to that engine, I’d rather see one with a vintage wheel base offered, with the rear driver axle directly under the cab.
And… these 4-4-0 boilers would look great on a 2-6-0 mechanism. No one offers an HO 2-6-0 right now.
The reviewed oil-burning 4-4-0 with the 1880’s domes, the visored headlight, and the big modern cross-compound air pump… it looks a whole lot like some of the 1900-era-rebuild sugar-cane mill switchers that were down here in Louisiana up until around WW II or so, bumped down to that task in the early 20’s or so when the Class I’s retired them. I wish that I could get this version undecorated instead of with a green boiler that needs repainting for any road except the GN… which it does not truly resemble anyway.
And the price … it’s already at discount houses at prices at 60% of the list price or less. Look around, folks, it’s there.
Way too much money for a Bachman engine!!!
And of course, it’s not right as usual.
rr
My eyes and ears tell me that there is no sync between the chuff and driver movement. Certainly, this loco should not have slipped through with this serious flaw.
Are you sure that the Baldwin 4-4-0 has a sound cam? This would be a first for an HO scale Bachmann locomotive. I doubt that the reviewer got that purported fact correct. Nothing in Bachmann’s literature supports that comment.
Prices are getting into the stratasphere.
$475 for this locomotive is more than a little steep I thought stuff made in China et al was supposed to be affordable. Have the Asians suddenly realized what the market can bear? As a pensioner this is way beyond my means. Thanks anyway R
Ordered the undecorated DCC/no sound (item 80101) version several weeks ago. The bell was in the bag of extra parts, no mounting hole provided. Oil bunker front piece was missing, and the oil bunker mounting pins do not match the holes left in tender after removing the coal load. Asked the Bach-mann about the missing part and mismatched oil bunker, waiting for reply. No sound sych cam according to the parts list. As Patrick notes above, they can be found for much less than MSRP.
looks good price too high
ONE OF THE BEST RUNNING ENGINES IN MY COLLECTION.SOUND IS GREAT,PRICE IS RIGHT.
I purchase three of these from Micro Mark for much less that MSRP. They all run fine after you fix the small things. The biggest problem I have had is with the pilot truck mounting. It does a poor job of tracking and has taken a lot of little adjustments so that it does not derail.
All that have said the price is too high have not checked out Trainworld ($220). My 4-4-0 runs good and the sounds are good except right out of the box they are too low. I tried reprogramming the address with my Digitrax Zephyr and I could not change it. I thought all DCC/sound decoders and DCC command systems have to meet NMRA standards and are compatible. I had no problem reprogramming my Walthers 0-6-0 steam loco with DCC/sound (QSI). Hope I can change the CVs that control the volume.
Bachmann has really outdone itself with modeling this classic locomotive. I have to say, for Bachmann’s defense, that there are very few standardized parts in American steam railroading; so modeling all the variations will be a challange. But, this loco gets 5 stars.
This is a very useful model but I am surprised that you do not mention one design flaw with this and the Baldwin 4-6-0. The rather stiff cable comes vertically out of the bottom of the tender and plugs vertically into the bottom of the loco beneath the cab. This creates a loop of cable which fouls anything between the rails, e.g. uncoupling magnets, or when passing through turnouts. It also tends to lift and derail the tender front truck. This contrasts with the more practical horizontal connection provided with the P2K switchers or my BLI PRR H10s, for example. It is puzzling, as Bachmann Europe provide a neat horizontal cable link on all their British outline locos. As the Spectrum 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s seem to be out of production at present perhaps this flaw can be rectified before the next run. It should not be necessary to fiddle with this problem on a $475 loco before you can run it.